A recently leaked FBI memo noting an “increasingly observed interest of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists in radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology” has triggered great alarm in conservative and religious media. Republicans like U.S. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio and Texas state Representative Lance Gooden have seized on the now-retracted memo as evidence that the FBI is “targeting” Catholics and in the process, muddied the waters around what exactly we should be concerned about.
On the one hand, the leaked memo’s suggestion of “tripwire and source development” rightfully raises concerns about unnecessary surveillance and potential infringement of First Amendment rights. After all, it’s something the bureau has done for decades to minority communities, whether it’s the history of targeting Muslims in the wake of 9/11 or the recent news of a violent felon-turned-FBI informant infiltrating the Black Lives Matter movement in Denver.
On the other hand, what’s also concerning are the reports of “radical traditionalist” Catholic groups finding common cause with openly fascist movements—a reality that is downplayed in the right-wing reaction to the memo. As I’ve reported for the Texas Observer, openly fascist groups—such as Groypers, Proud Boys, Patriot Front, the American Nationalist Initiative, and the Aryan Freedom Network—have protested outside LGTBQ+ events alongside two hardline Catholic groups: the New Columbia Movement, founded by a member of the Mussolini-loving “American Black Shirts”, and the Family Tradition and Property group, originally founded by a Brazilian antisemite who wrote about the “Jewish problem.”
