The FBI has come under scrutiny after a leaked document showed the bureau warning that "radical traditionalist" Catholics pose as an extremist threat.
Kyle Seraphin, a former FBI special agent and federal whistleblower, obtained the document from the bureau's field office in Richmond, Virginia, and published it on the UncoveredDC website.
The document is titled "Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities."
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The FBI in Richmond discusses monitoring Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVE) and their interests in so-called "Radical-Traditionalist Catholics" or RTCs.
The memo notes that FBI investigations have found that there is a "growing overlap" between the far-right white nationalist movement and RTCs.
The January 23 document claims that RTCs are a small minority of the Catholic Church. They adhere to "anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-L**T and w***e s*******y" ideology, while also preferring the "traditional Latin mass."
The memo notes that these Catholics reject the Second Vatican Council and show a "disdain for popes elected since Vatican II."
Also included in the memo was a list of Catholic organizations that are defined as h**e groups by civil rights advocates the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). These include the Catholic Apologetics International in Pennsylvania and the S***es of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in New Hampshire.
The FBI has since confirmed to several news sites that it has removed the document from its systems because it does not meet the "exacting standards of the FBI."
https://www.newsweek.com/fbi-memo-catholics-radical-traditional-leaked-1780379The FBI has come under scrutiny after a leaked doc... (