Catholic churchgoers in America were spied upon by undercover government agents, leaked documentation has revealed.
At least one undercover operative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was commissioned to secretly gather evidence which might link Catholics to “the far right nationalist movement”, a US government committee has heard.
The FBI focused in particular on Catholics who were interested in the Traditional Latin Mass as the group within the Church allegedly the most likely to be sympathetic to violent extremist activities.
Documents also show, however, that the FBI planned to not only to infiltrate irregular traditionalist organisations like the Society of St Pius X, but also the mainstream Church.
Agents were also planning to engage in outreach to “mainline Catholic parishes” and “diocesan leadership”, a heavily-redacted 18-page document shows.
At least one agent was sent out to spy on Catholics who were worshipping at churches and chapels in the Richmond area of Virginia.
The revelations were made by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
In response to its inquiry, the FBI released to his committee a censored document which reveals limited information about the agency’s espionage operations on Catholics.
The committee requested the disclosure following the leak of an internal memo of January 23 from the FBI’s Richmond division which asked for such operations against traditionalist Catholic communities, according to Catholic News Agency.
The memo, called “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities,” prompted Mr Jordan to subpoena the FBI for the full documentation along with other details of activities into religious groups by the agency.
“We now know the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis,” Mr Jordan said in a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray when he made his request for a full disclosure.
He said the document also revealed that the agency intended to use local religious organisations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development”.
Mr Jordan said the document was reviewed and approved by two senior intelligence analysts and the local Chief Division Counsel at the FBI.
In his testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Mr Wray said the leaked memo from the bureau’s Richmond division did not reflect the FBI’s exacting standards and said he was “aghast” when he learned of it.
“We do not conduct investigations based on religious affiliation or practices, full stop,” Mr Wray said.
“We have also now ordered our inspection division to take a look at how this happened and try to figure out how we can make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” he added.
Mr Jordan said however that the FBI spying operations against the Catholic Church were not only “shocking” but that they reinforce “the committee’s need for all FBI material responsive to our request”.
“The documents produced to date show how the FBI sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners,” he said in a letter to Mr Wray.
“Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment. They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called ‘tripwire’ sources or other informants in their houses of worship.”
He said the committee remained “unclear” about “how many FBI employees explored ‘new avenues for tripwire and source development’ in Catholic houses of worship across the country as a result of the FBI’s Richmond document”.
An FBI statement given to Catholic News Agency said that the agency “recognises the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress’ oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities”.
It said: “The FBI is actively working to respond to congressional requests for information – including voluntary production of documents.”
In February, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin demanded full transparency from the FBI about its spying operations on Catholics and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares signed a letter with 19 other state attorneys general which requested the FBI provided all documents related to the memo.
Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, also criticised the FBI for spying on Catholics.
He said: “People of all faith groups have long found refuge in the constitutional protections of our great nation.
“We all seek to share in God’s gift of life, enjoy the fruits of liberty that our nation offers, and assist one another in ensuring the common good.”
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