A new report released by the Department of Justice revealed that, under the leadership of President Joe Biden, the FBI’s Richmond Field Office “associated beliefs held by many Catholics with domestic extremism and investigated two priests as a result.”
It’s UNREAL that these slides are from an actual FBI report.
— Eric Schmitz (@EricSchmitz1) August 29, 2026
Traditional Latin Mass. Conservative family values. Opposition to abortion. “Rejection of modernity.”
As a Catholic who attends the TLM, it’s disturbing to see ordinary Catholic beliefs and practices presented in this… https://t.co/TBqVF4bzrU pic.twitter.com/NxKrcbxNuw
DOJ officials claim that the Richmond Field Office produced and circulated an assessment entitled the “Richmond Domain Perspective.”
“This assessment documented the purported rise of domestic extremism among those who hold conservative beliefs associated with a wide variety of Catholics,” the Justice Department said in a release. “It also documented the investigation into two priests and the FBI’s surveillance of one of them.”
Officials say that cause for the investigations was based on “biased and unverified materials” published by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Internal documents distributed amongst the Richmond Field Office looked into the dangers of “traditionalist Catholicism,” and raised concerns about commonly-held Catholic practices and beliefs, such as Latin Mass attendance, “conservative family values/roles,” and a “rejection of modernity.”
The documents also raised attention to groups entirely approved by the Catholic Church, including the Priestly Society of St. Peter and the Institute of the Good Shepherd.
The documents were originally leaked in February of 2023, which raised numerous concerns about First Amendment violations.
“After the leak, internal reviews concluded that the Richmond Catholic Memo did not meet FBI standards, including by improperly suggesting that certain domestic terrorist and religious viewpoints aligned without supporting evidence and by creating the impression that the FBI conducts investigative activity based on religious affiliation,” the new report on the matter read.
Attorney General Todd Blanche has indicated that the individuals involved with producing the documents are no longer employed by the Department of Justice.