FBI Documents Raise Concerns About Traditionalist Catholics
Recent disclosures from Congress indicate that the FBI has classified conservative Catholics as a more significant threat of violent extremism than previously acknowledged. Iowa Republican Rep. Chuck Grassley reported on Monday that the FBI’s worries regarding “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology” have been more extensive than what they have publicly stated under the Biden administration. His letter to the FBI reveals that memos accessed by various FBI field offices across the U.S. point to the potential for traditionalist Catholics to evolve into violent extremists, countering the FBI’s earlier claim that such a memo originated from only one field office.
Moreover, Grassley noted that the FBI had been preparing another memo on Catholics but decided against it after facing criticism from Congress. The original document, originating from the Richmond Field Office, was purportedly widely circulated among more than 1,000 FBI staff before being disclosed by whistleblowers in 2023.
Documentation obtained by Grassley shows that the Richmond office collaborated with offices in Portland, Milwaukee, and Louisville to generate these notes. This raises questions regarding former FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony from 2023, which asserted that the memo was a singular product from one office.
One analyst from the Richmond FBI suggested that Catholicism includes a certain “Catholic lifestyle.” Grassley remarked that this ideology bears similarities to certain aspects of Muslim thought. The FBI has not commented on the matter.
The original Richmond memo categorized “Radical Traditionalist” Catholics as increasingly prone to “racial or ethnically motivated violent extremism.” It suggested that rejecting the Vatican II council and favoring the traditional Latin Mass might be indicators of violent extremism and white supremacist tendencies among Catholics. The document also recommended that the FBI cultivate an informant within the Catholic Church to monitor congregational activities.
In its claims, the FBI referenced materials from the Southern Poverty Law Center—a left-leaning group that tends to label mainstream conservatives as part of “hate” groups, which raises skepticism about the credibility of their sources.
Furthermore, Grassley released drafts of memos that the FBI considered disseminating agency-wide before retracting the Richmond documents. These drafts warned that interest in the indoctrination of Catholics by violent extremists “is likely to increase over the next 12-24 months” as the upcoming election cycle progresses. It is unclear whether the memo’s specifics include priests or parishioners within the Radical Traditionalist Catholic community who may be involved in recruitment or radicalization.
Grassley has requested FBI Director Kash Patel to locate additional records on the subject for his office. He emphasized the need to restore the FBI’s reputation for fairness in justice.
The White House established a federal “Task Force to Eliminate Anti-Christian Prejudice” in February, citing the Richmond memo as part of a concerning trend of the Biden administration targeting peaceful Christians.
