Wray's Federal Bureau of Intimidation

The FBI's already tarnished public image is deteriorating. Recent incidents are shining a light on the agency's increasing targeting of Americans for activities the bureau has labeled as domestic terrorism. In the latest revelation, the FBI spied on Catholics in a clear violation of the First Amendment.  

During the last 18 months, the FBI has used its assets to go after Americans speaking out at school board meetings, coordinated with social media companies to suppress speech, illegally spied on a political campaign and surveilled black activists. The conduct is taking a toll on trust in the FBI.

The latest NBC News Poll, conducted in July, found that only 37% of registered voters surveyed had a positive view of the FBI.  In the same poll in October of 2018, more than half of Americans (52%) viewed the FBI favorably.  That's a precipitous fall that should concern FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Apparently, it doesn't.

How else can you explain Wray's testimony before a Congressional committee about reports the FBI targeted so-called "radical traditionalist" Catholics as potential domestic terrorists? 

The director testified in July before the House Judiciary Committee about the disturbing allegation.  A smiling Wray under withering interrogation assured members the FBI's action was limited "to a single office" in Richmond, VA. He claimed it was a regrettable blunder that he immediately halted.  

The clamor died down until House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan requested an un-redacted copy of the Richmond office's memo.  The agency document divulged the Richmond office relied on information from field offices in Los Angeles and Portland for contributions to the threat assessment.

The new information proves that Wray's statements  were inaccurate. And that's being overly charitable. The agency's actions were not limited to a single office.  If multiple offices were involved, how could the FBI director be so ill informed about his department's probe?

The FBI memo reviewed by the committee reveals "radical traditionalist" Catholics" were targets over concerns their beliefs may be interpreted as violent views.  Volatile issues cited in the memo include views on "abortion rights" and "LGBTQ protections," writes the National Catholic Register.

The FBI memo appears to imply that being pro-life or holding beliefs that there are only two genders (male and female) are tangentially related to violent, extremest views, which threaten public safety. This  appears to criminalize the doctrine of the Catholic Church.  

Included in the memo is an Orwellian recommendation that FBI agents attempt to recruit traditionalist Catholics to keep tabs on so-called "radical traditionalists" in their congregation.  The FBI conduct smacks of Soviet-style efforts to intimidate houses of worship that don't embrace government dogma.    

Let's make it clear what is going on at the highest levels of government in Washington. If your beliefs run counter to government doctrine, then the FBI considers you a potential terrorist threat. The chilling inference is that religious theology must align with the federal government's doctrine.   

The FBI's action is a direct threat to the First Amendment guarantee of the free exercise of religion and sends a frightening message about the practice of faith.  Whatever your political affiliation, this is a stunning abuse of power.  Do you want the FBI criminalizing Americans religious beliefs? 

What's ironic is the FBI appears to have no interest in investigating the rise in attacks on Catholic Churches. Last year there were at least 272 incidents in 43 states, including arson, vandalism, the beheading of statues, smashed windows and gravestone defaced with swastikas and anti-Catholic slurs. 

The spike in violence appears to have escalated after the leak of the Supreme Court's draft proposal to overturn Roe V Wade. In anticipation of the final decision, abortion activists unleashed a wave of angry protests against pro-life pregnancy centers and Catholic Churches. 

The result was an increase in anti-Catholic rhetoric from politicians, government officials and activists. It is ironic, since Pew Research polls have shown 56% of Catholic believe abortion should be legal. That is almost the same percentage of all Americans (61%) who support abortion. 

Instead of snooping on Catholics, the FBI should be dedicating resources to address the rising attacks against all churches.  A recent Hostility Against Churches report, authored by the Family Research Council, found that incidents in the first three months of this year are three times higher than last year. 

The research council study identified 420 incidents, including gun-related incidents and bomb threats from January 2018 to September 2022.  The FRC warns the "anger and division" in American society endangers not only churches but erodes religious freedom.

Christians aren't the only ones being targeted. Antisemitic incidents skyrocketed 36% last year. A report from the Anti-Defamation League found there were 3,697 incidents of harassment, vandalism and assaults targeting Jewish people and communities.  

The report concludes that public officials, including some in Congress, famous artists and social media stars have been "instrumental in normalizing longstanding antisemitic tropes."  To some, lack of action by federal law enforcement implies the threats do not rise to level of FBI concern.  

Christopher Wray needs to be hauled before Congress and questioned about what the FBI is doing to stop the rising violence against religions and religious people.  The FBI's mission is to uphold the Constitution, which guarantees the right to practice religion free from intimidation.

Americans religious beliefs are not subject to FBI oversight.  Period.  

An Open Letter To Pope Francis

Dear Pope Francis:

Not since the Reformation has the Catholic Church endured the scathing censure is so richly deserves.  With the latest revelations about hundreds of Pennsylvania priests abusing minors, the church's already unholy reputation has been left in scandalous ruins.

No amount of mea culpas will suffice for the morally reprehensible conduct of pedophile priests and church leaders who covered up the widespread abusive behavior in Pennsylvania.  Your expression of "sorrow" for the victims does not erase the heinous nature of the sinful conduct.

According to a two-year grand jury investigation, priests groped, raped and performed oral sex on minors as young as nine-years-old. More than 300 priests were involved in decades of child abuse.  Meanwhile, Pennsylvania church hierarchy hid the crimes and shielded guilty priests.

It is unconscionable for you Pope Francis to assume your remorse suffices for your gross disregard for moral accountability.  In any other setting, secular or religious, those who condoned the transgressions by their silence are guilty. They deserve swift judgment and punishment.

You can no longer pretend these priestly scandals are rare. Despite the covert efforts of your church managers (i.e. the archbishops, bishops and cardinals) to coverup the misconduct, wave after wave of credible reports have surfaced over the last couple of decades exposing the abhorrent behavior.

And the incidents are not isolated.  Diocesan leaders across the U.S. have been exposed for harboring sexual predators.  The allegations are worldwide, having spread to Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Austria, German, Belgium and Mexico, to name just a few countries.  It is an epidemic.

Under your leadership, the church continues to dither.  Catholics are growing weary of the same broken promises to clean up the sordid mess.  You keep talking about change and accountability but from the view in the church pews we Catholics are convinced the situation has grown worse.

There was hope when you assumed the role of Pope that you would not repeat the same mistake as your predecessors, who disregarded vows of a no tolerance policy.  You pledged the same.  Yet the man who presided over the Pennsylvania dereliction today remains a cardinal in Washington, D.C.

Quit listening to church apologists and your lawyers.  Act now or watch your once holy church be relegated to a footnote in religious history.  Claim what tattered moral authority remains invested in your office and boldly decide the buck has been passed long enough. It stops at the Vatican.

And order your surrogates to cease trying to mitigate the damage by pointing out pedophilia is not exclusively a church issue.  Of course, it's not.  But no one cares.  People expect the church to set an example of Christian behavior.  Words no longer matter.  Only actions will make a difference.

First, open all the records of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania to the authorities.  Defrock any pedophile priests who are still living.  Demand the bishop who presided over the scandal resign immediately.  In fact, fire him.  That's not church protocol, but don't stand on ritualistic formality.

Secondly, announce from this day forward any priest accused of abuse will be immediately suspended.  Law enforcement will be called in to investigate.  Any bishop or other senior official who fails to report an incident to the authorities will be summarily fired.  No exceptions.  Period.

Thirdly, you can no longer evade your obligation to review the church's policy of priestly celibacy.  It is not wholly to blame for the sickening behavior, however, therapists who have worked with clergy are convinced it contributes to sexual immaturity which may help explain the deviant tendencies.

Do more than study the issue to death.  Do something.  Priests should be allowed to date, marry and explore their sexuality.  Clinging to the past will only ensure the problems of today will be the same ones tomorrow.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth among traditionalists.  Remain firm. 

The church stands at a crossroad.  It can no longer weather the legal, financial and criminal storms gathering outsides its doors without disastrous consequences. This is your moment to display moral leadership.  Your responsibility cannot be delegated.  Take decisive action or resign your papacy.

A Disillusioned Catholic,

Drew Roy

Pope in a Box

The news media is sharpening its knives to carve up the Catholic Church again over the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the denomination for more than a decade. While the current reports have all the earmarks of previous coverage, there is one difference. This time the media has painted a big bulls eye on Pope Benedict XVI in an attempt to link him to cover ups of priestly misconduct.

This latest offensive was fueled by a New York Times barrage of news stories, columns and editorials fingering the Pope as responsible for failing to vigorously investigate and prosecute abuse in the U.S. The Times dug up a Wisconsin case, where the abuse occurred from 1950 to 1974, and tried it to hang it around the neck of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. When the case finally reached the Vatican, the year was 1996 and the future Pope was head of the Vatican's doctrinal office.

For its material, The Times drew extensively from documents obtained from cooperative lawyers, who are suing the church on behalf of sexual abuse victims. It is very easy to understand the motivation of the attorneys. They would like nothing better than to link the cover up of abuse all the way to the Vatican. That would open the Vatican's coffers to settlements that would easily dwarf the financial resources of local dioceses. To these attorneys, the Vatican's bank accounts are the Holy Grail.

The media is the willing accomplice in this moral play because they view the Pope as too conservative for their tastes. If the media can raise questions about his handling of sexual abuse cases, it will undermine the Pope's moral authority on issues such as right-to-life, stem cell research and same sex marriage. The media wants to neuter the Pope to the point where the public dismisses the church's position on controversial matters.

Some in the media, including The Times, have called for the Pope to step down in the wake of the latest news reports. Their editors must have the Vatican confused with Congress. Popes don't just resign because of allegations in the media. Deaths end their papacy. The whole notion of a Pope resigning because of unsubstantiated charges in a news articles and columns may be the most preposterous suggestion, even for The Times.

An unbiased reading of the record suggests that the Pope, far from being an enabler in this scandal, has been an outspoken advocate of reporting any evidence of sexual crimes to civil authorities. For the first time, the Pope recently put into place standards and practices to help bishops deal with these abuse cases. These are clear signs Benedict will not sweep abuse under the rug. Now he should be judged on what he does, not just what he says.

What's so interesting to watch is that the media never mentions Pope John Paul II, who served during the height of revelations about the sexual abuse. His papacy began in 1978 and spanned 26 years until his death in 2005. To be charitable, he was gravely ill during the final years of his reign. However, the Pope never appeared to grasp the severity of the crisis. He relied on American bishops to deal with the cases with little guidance from Rome. His record was spotty at best. Yet the media has given him a pass, primarily because news organizations saw Pope John Paul as a modern vicar with a progressive agenda. Never mind that he was even more of a doctrinaire than his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

The blame for lack of action and cover ups belongs squarely on the shoulders of the bishops, who shielded abusive priests from facing criminal charges. Once the scandals became media fodder, the bishops hid from view and relied on lawyers' advice to clam up. It was a costly mistake. They should have handed over their files on abusive behavior to the authorities and pledged cooperation to prosecute the guilty.

Many Catholics watched helplessly as their church turned a deaf ear to public demand for full accountability. For its reticence, the church was rightfully dragged through the media muck for its painful past mistakes. Once the lawsuits started and the scope of the problem became apparent, Pope John Paul II should have hauled the American bishops to the Vatican and promised to defrock any leader found guilty of protecting abusive priests. Then he should have followed up with an inquiry that would have rid the church of these derelict bishops. To now blame Pope Benedict for this mess seems a stretch even for lawyers intent on collecting millions more in fees.

The thread the media and lawyers are using is the role Cardinal Ratzinger played as head of the Vatican's arcane doctrinal office. The Times and others broad brush his role to insinuate that somehow every new abuse allegation was elevated to Cardinal Ratzinger for handling. The truth is that the Vatican office deals almost exclusively with issues of church doctrine. If abuse cases would have come before the office, it likely would have been in a tangential way. For example, the office might be expected to grapple with the issue of sex abuse as it relates to church doctrine on the celibacy of priests. However, the media has painted a picture of cases files being delivered daily to Cardinal Ratzinger's office desk for his action. That's nonsense. The media either misunderstands the role of the doctrinal office or more likely they are deliberately out to destroy Pope Benedict's credibility.

None of this is to diminish the horror of the sexual abuse scandal. Catholics were again reminded of this ugly chapter in church history this month when the Diocese of Vermont agreed to pay $17.6 million to dozens of former altar boys who alleged sexual abuse by priests. The alleged abuse took place in the 1970's. Most of the cases involved one priest, who has since been defrocked under Pope Benedict's papacy.

Yet even in these dark hours for the church, there seems to be a light. Last year, there were six new cases of abuse reported to authorities. While even one case is too many, at least the perpetrators are slowly being weeded out. By comparison, during the five-year period from 2001-2005, some 2,570 teachers in the country had their credentials revoked, denied or sanctioned because of sexual misconduct.

The decline in reported abuse cases is a sign of hope for a church faithful who have endured some of the most damning revelations about the priests they trusted and then had to cough up funds to pay for their diocese's mistakes. At least now it seems there is a Pope who grasps the enormity of the situation and has pledged to do something about it.