The FBI mounted spying operations on traditionalist Catholic churchgoers across the whole of the United States, according to new evidence obtained by politicians.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in February accused of secretly gathering evidence which might link Catholics in the Richmond area of Virginia to “the far right nationalist movement”.
At least one agent was sent out to spy on Catholics who were worshipping at churches and chapels in the area, a U.S. government committee was told.
New revelations by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday have revealed, however, that the espionage against Catholics was far broader, also encompassing the activities of agents in the West Coast states Oregon and California at the very least.
There were “multiple” field offices of the FBI coordinating an investigation into traditionalist Catholics, according to the committee.
In a press release, the Judiciary Committee said that “information recently produced to the committee” demonstrated that the FBI “relied on information from around the country … to develop its assessment” that some Catholics could become terrorists.
The committee said that new information originated from FBI officials based in Portland and in Los Angeles.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, said that the latest evidence debunks the claim by FBI director Christopher Wray that the first leaked memo represented “a single product by a single field office”.
Leaks revealed that 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”.
At the time of the leak, Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond responded by criticising the FBI for spying on Catholics.
“People of all faith groups have long found refuge in the constitutional protections of our great nation,” he said.
“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.”
The FBI operation was defended, however, by Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a Catholic who was Hilary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election.
Senator Kaine said the purpose of the investigation was to find violent extremists who were targeting “radical traditionalist Catholics” in an effort to recruit them
“We’ve done the same thing for years working in tandem with mosques because there have been groups that have tried to target or radicalise, especially young people,” the senator said on WSET-TV.
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