Washington D.C., Feb 13, 2023 / 19:44 pm
Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond on Feb. 13 called on members of Congress from Virginia to publicly condemn a leaked FBI memorandum that sought to link Catholics to violent extremists.
According to the leaked FBI memo, “radical-traditional” Catholics who are interested in the Traditional Latin Mass are likely to have ties to “the far-right white nationalist movement.”
The internal memorandum, titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” was produced by the FBI’s Richmond field office and published Feb. 8 by the website UncoverDC.
Calling the memo a “threat to religious liberty,” Knestout called on lawmakers to “ensure that such offenses against the constitutionally protected free exercise of religion do not occur again.”