Catholic priest suggests AG Garland meet with church leaders about alleged anti-Catholic animus in FBI

After Attorney General Merrick Garland was grilled at a congressional hearing over Catholics being allegedly targeted by federal law enforcement, Father Steve Grunow, the CEO of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, suggested he meet with Catholic leaders.

The Department of Justice has received criticism for their treatment of some American Catholics and their causes, including prosecution of several pro-life activists, not being more aggressive on pro-choice groups vandalizing and targeting pro-life centers, the targeting of parents who attend school board meetings to contest controversial curricula, and a leaked FBI document from an FBI field office targeting traditional Catholics who are associated with the Latin Mass.

Garland denied at a tense congressional hearing that the Department of Justice has any bias towards Catholics.

"The idea that someone with my family background would discriminate against any religion is so outrageous," he said. Garland's family fled antisemitism in Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. 

PURPORTED FBI DOCUMENT SUGGESTS AGENCY MAY BE TARGETING CATHOLICS WHO ATTEND LATIN MASS

A memo shared within the FBI became a national controversy after it targeted traditionalist Catholics as potential terrorists. The FBI Richmond internal memo, titled "Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities," was leaked in January and drew instant criticism from Republicans. It identified "radical-traditionalist Catholic[s]" as potential "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists" and argued there are opportunities for "threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development." 

One source the memo listed was an entry on Radical Traditional Catholics by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a left-wing advocacy group frequently cited in mainstream media as an authority on hate groups. The entry cites these types of Catholics as people "who may make up the largest single group of serious antisemites in America" and embrace "extremely conservative social ideals with respect to women."

Garland said that he and FBI director Christopher Wray "were appalled by that memo."

Fox News Digital spoke about these incidents with Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, which is widely known for the work of Bishop Robert Barron to share the Catholic faith with the world. Barron has spoken before about the vilification of the Catholic rosary, a set of prayer beads and a crucifix used by Catholics in meditative prayer, as an "extremist symbol."

"Given the long, unfortunate history of anti-Catholic prejudice in our country, it is indeed troubling that the FBI might have suspected or suggested that attendees of a particular form of Catholic worship, along with Catholics who engage in lawful activities including peaceful, non-violent protest in support of the Church's well known pro-life teachings, constitute a threat to the nation," Father Grunow told Fox News Digital.

"The evidence cited in the redacted FBI documents does not seem to indicate that the majority of Catholics who attend the Latin Mass or who are pro-life activists could be considered anything but law-abiding citizens whose constitutional rights and civil liberties should be protected by agents of government and law enforcement," Father Grunow continued.

He added that "politically diverse groups of Catholics" should "not all be categorized as a threat by fears regarding a few real or imagined violent extremists."

ATTACKS AGAINST CATHOLIC CHURCHES APPROACH 300 INCIDENTS SINCE MAY 2020: REPORT

He warned that anti-Catholic prejudice is a very real and tangible historical phenomenon, with real threats of violence. He called it "troubling" that government agencies like the FBI would be even consider targeting Catholics. 

While he assumed many American Catholics will take Garland’s defense of law enforcement in good faith, he suggested one way he can truly earn their trust.

"I think that Catholics of goodwill are willing to take FBI Director Garland at this word," Father Grunow wrote. "But perhaps as a gesture of goodwill on his part and on the part of the FBI, and perhaps this has already taken place, he might want to meet with Catholic leadership and clarify precisely why this association of Catholics with violent extremism was made and what actions that the agency under his leadership might take to impart to its agents a better understanding of Catholic beliefs and practices, as well as greater sensitivity regarding the history of anti-Catholic prejudice in the United States."

When contacted by Fox News Digital, the FBI National Press Office denied that it is "targeting Catholic churches nor any other religious faith" and shared multiple public statements the Bureau has made about the controversy. 

"As we have said repeatedly, this product did not meet the FBI’s exacting standards and was quickly removed from FBI systems. There were failures in the production and approval of the document and we have taken corrective actions to ensure future products meet the highest professional standards, which include new training initiatives, heightened approval requirements for intelligence products, holding employees accountable, and updating policy and guidance," the FBI wrote.

The FBI also claimed that it was a single office that produced the document, noting that, "While the document referred to information from other field office investigations of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist (RMVE) subjects, that does not change the fact the product was produced by a single office."

The FBI added further, "To be clear: the document was a domain perspective which is an intelligence product designed to address potential threats in a particular area—in this case, the Richmond Field Office’s area of responsibility," later noting that "a review was launched to determine how it was produced in the first place."

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