{"id":2007680,"date":"2023-08-22T01:24:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T05:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-the-fbi-spying-on-my-california-church\/"},"modified":"2023-08-22T01:33:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T05:33:12","slug":"is-the-fbi-spying-on-my-california-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-the-fbi-spying-on-my-california-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the FBI monitoring my California church?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fis-the-fbi-spying-on-my-california-church%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2007680&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>Commentary<\/h2>\n<p>One\u2064 of \u200dthe reasons \u200bI like writing for The Epoch Times is its commitment to religious liberty. The\u2062 paper was founded by\u2062 members of the Falun Gong, a \u2064religion severely persecuted in China by the Chinese Communist Party, as described in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/falun-gong\/panel-persecution-of-falun-gong-helped-chinese-regime-pioneer-21st-century-surveillance-apparatus-4613799\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">coverage<\/a> such as, \u201cPanel: Persecution of Falun Gong Helped Chinese Regime Pioneer 21st Century Surveillance Apparatus.\u201d They know personally the horrors of\u200d religious persecution, and defend the \u200breligious liberty of all faiths, as guaranteed by the \u200bFirst Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>I recently was shocked to \u2064find \u200cmy own government now could be persecuting me \u200bby \u200busing its\u2063 own vast\u2063 \u201csurveillance apparatus\u201d to spy \u2064on my church, which is Catholic, right here in Orange County and the\u2062 rest of California.\u2063 On Aug. 9, Rep. Jim \u200dJordan\u2064 (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, sent\u200c a <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/2023-08-09-jdj-mj-to-wray-re-catholic-dp.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scathing letter<\/a> to FBI Director\u200d Christopher \u200bWray.<\/p>\n<p>They wrote: \u201cThe Committee on the Judiciary is continuing to conduct oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s (FBI) assessment\u200b of traditional Catholics as potential domestic terrorists.\u200d From information recently produced to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on information from around the country\u2014including a liaison contact in the FBI\u2019s Portland Field Office\u2062 and reporting from\u200c the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office\u2014to develop its assessment. This new information suggests\u200c that the FBI\u2019s use of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jonathan-emord-the-dhs-disinformation-board-and-the-attack-on-individual-sovereignty\/\" title=\"Jonathan Emord: The DHS Disinformation Board and the Attack on Individual Sovereignty\">law enforcement capabilities<\/a> to intrude\u200c on American\u2019s First Amendment \u2062rights \u200dis more widespread than initially suspected and reveals inconsistencies with your previous\u2063 testimony before the Committee. Given this \u200cstartling new \u200cinformation, we write to request additional information to advance our oversight.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/documents-reveal-fbi-targeted-catholics-as-domestic-terrorists-2024-covid-variant-arrives-5455958\">Documents Reveal FBI Targeted Catholics as Domestic \u200dTerrorists; 2024 COVID Variant Arrives? | Live With Josh<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/10\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/documents-reveal-fbi-targeted-catholics-as-domestic-terrorists-2024-covid-variant-arrives-5455958\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/fbi-memo-naming-radical-traditionalist-catholics-involved-multiple-offices-jordan-5455619\">FBI Memo Naming \u2018Radical Traditionalist Catholics\u2019 Involved Multiple Offices: Jordan<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/10\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/fbi-memo-naming-radical-traditionalist-catholics-involved-multiple-offices-jordan-5455619\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis revelation raises the question of why you redacted this information in previous versions of the document you produced to the Committee, and it reinforces the Committee\u2019s\u200c need for all FBI material responsive to the\u200d April 10 subpoena, \u200dincluding the production of FBI\u2019s Richmond document\u200d without redactions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2062 prefer the terms \u201cCatholic\u201d or \u201cRoman Catholic\u201d to \u201ctraditional Catholic.\u201d But this is about those, like me, who prefer\u2062 the Traditional Latin Mass, which was the predominant form for centuries until the 1970 promulgation by Paul VI of \u200bthe Novus Ordo, which was in the vernacular\u200c languages.\u200d In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued the Moto Proprio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/benedict-xvi\/en\/motu_proprio\/documents\/hf_ben-xvi_motu-proprio_20070707_summorum-pontificum.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Summum Pontificorum<\/a>, which allowed widespread \u200cuse of the old rite along\u200b with the Novus Ordo.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, Pope Francis issued the\u200c Moto Proprio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/francesco\/en\/motu_proprio\/documents\/20210716-motu-proprio-traditionis-custodes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Traditionis Custodes<\/a>, which \u200dplaced\u2062 new restrictions on the Latin Mass. But this is \u2063an internal church matter which should be of no concern to a government bound\u200c to follow the First \u200dAmendment protections of religious liberty.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"aligncenter\"><figcaption>A man holds rosary \u2063beads outside a U.S. Catholic church.\u200b (Rob \u2063Carr\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Richmond FBI Memo<\/h2>\n<p>The FBI memo from its Richmond, Va. office that started this\u2064 is from Jan. 23, 2023. It\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/fbi-anti-catholic-memo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">titled<\/a>, \u201cInterest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists \u2062in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly\u200b Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.\u201d Excuse the FBI\u200c jargon, but here\u2019s a translation: RMVE is \u201cracially or ethnically motivated\u2064 violent extremists\u201d; and RTC is \u201cradical-traditionalist Catholic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s\u2063 a key passage from the memo: \u201cIn making this \u2064assessment, FBI Richmond relied on the key assumption that RMVEs will continue to find RTC ideology attractive and will continue to \u2064attempt to\u2064 connect with RTC \u200cadherents, both virtually via social media and in-person at places of worship. Indicators that \u2064would cause FBI Richmond to revise the judgments or confidence levels in its assessment \u200dinclude increases or decreases in RMVE subjects\u2019 attendance at RTC or traditionalist Catholic places \u200cof worship;\u200c increases or decreases in RMVE subjects\u2019 activity on social \u200bmedia platforms and forums maintained or frequented by RTCs; or the public distancing \u200bof prominent\u200c RTC \u2063or traditionalist Catholic personalities or institutions from RMVE ideologies. FBI Richmond assesses\u2063 RMVE interest in RTCs is \u200dlikely to increase over the next\u2062 12 to 24 months in the\u2062 run-up \u2062to \u2064the\u2064 next general election cycle, complicating\u200d the overall RMVE threat picture\u2062 while also creating new opportunities for mitigation efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So they\u2019re interfering in the 2024\u2063 election, too. The Jan. 23 memo supposedly was rescinded, but the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s inquiry shows\u2062 a \u200cthorough investigation needs to be conducted \u2062to see if it has been rescinded, and what \u200celse is going on.<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s Really Going On?<\/h2>\n<p>The\u2063 two main Traditional Latin Masses in OC are \u200cat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stmarysbythesea.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">St. Mary\u2019s by the Sea<\/a> in Huntington\u200b Beach, which is my parish, and <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnthebaptistcostamesa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">St. John the\u2062 Baptist<\/a> in Costa Mesa, \u200dwhich I sometimes attend. Both \u200bare approved by our bishop, Kevin Vann. The Diocese of Orange is part of the \u2062Archdiocese\u200b of Los Angeles, headed by Archbishop <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jos%C3%A9_Horacio_G%C3%B3mez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jose\u2062 Gomez<\/a>. I also am OK with the Novus Ordo Mass in English,\u2063 and on\u200b Aug. 15 attended Mass \u200dfor the\u200c Feast of the \u200bAssumption at St. John Neumann parish in Irvine. The Mass in Vietnamese is chanted in that language and is beautiful.<\/p>\n<p>If you attend the Latin\u2064 Mass at these two churches, \u200bhere\u2019s what you will not find: \u201cwhite nationalists\u201d in KKK white hoods.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what you will find: The pastors of both churches are Asian-Americans.\u200d Specifically, both are Vietnamese-American refugees from\u200b Communist Vietnam. They are \u201cBoat People\u201d \u200bwho came here after North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam in \u20631975 so they\u200c and their families could practice religious and other liberties. I\u2019ve heard their harrowing stories of escaping in the boats. Now, in their home of refuge in\u2064 the Land of Free, a different oppressive government could be spying on them?<\/p>\n<p>The priests saying the Latin Mass could be white, Asian, \u2062Latino, black, or\u2063 other. Look at the folks in the pews, and they\u2019ll be of similar ethnic backgrounds\u2014the usual diverse mixture from Southern California\u2019s population. Latinos I know attending are from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries.\u200c Asians are from Vietnam, the Philippines, China, and\u200b Japan. Whites are of Irish, Italian, Polish, German, and other backgrounds \u2064from Europe. There also are \u2064various folks from Middle Eastern and backgrounds.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"aligncenter\"><figcaption>A Roman Catholic church is \u200dpictured in a\u200b file \u2062photo. (Armando Franca\/AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Different Traditional Catholics<\/h2>\n<p>It should be noted there are different types of traditional Catholics. In the main group are those, like me, who attend\u2062 only the Latin Masses approved \u2062by our local bishop, such as Vann and Gomez. After that are those who basically reject most or\u200c all of the changes since Vatican Council II (1962-65). The second largest group is those belonging to the Society \u200bof St. Pius X, called SSPX.\u200c Briefly, in 1988 the head\u200d of the order,\u200b the since deceased Archbishop Marcel Lefevre, ordained \u2062four new bishops without the\u2062 approval of Pope John Paul II, who then excommunicated all five.<\/p>\n<p>The excommunications were lifted in 2007 by Benedict XVI. In 2016, Pope\u200c Francis wrote in an <a href=\"https:\/\/sspx.org\/en\/news-events\/news\/pope-francis-statement-sspx-confessions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">apostolic letter<\/a> SSPX priests\u200d \u201ccan validly and\u2062 licitly receive the sacramental absolution of their sins.\u201d All\u200d along, the SSPX bishops and priests have recognized the legitimacy of the reigning pontiff. However,\u200c currently their status is considered \u201ccanonically irregular.\u201d From what I can tell, the \u200dSSPX churches generally are on good terms with their local bishops.<\/p>\n<p>Third are anyone else, such\u2064 as the Society of St. Pius \u2063V, which does not recognized there is\u2062 a legitimate pope, and have no sort of approval from their local bishops. There \u200dalso \u200bare churches independent of any overall group. All \u2062these are considered\u200c schismatic.<\/p>\n<p>The January FBI memo notes\u2014please excuse more government jargon\u2014\u201cFBI Richmond \u200bassesses\u200c the increasingly observed\u200b interest of \u2064RMVEs in RTC ideology almost certainly presents new opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues \u2062for tripwire and source \u2063development. This assessment is based on reporting from an FBI UCE \u2062 [undercover employee], jail calls associated with [name blacked out by FBI], <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-implies-christian-super-bowl-ads-are-attempt-to-make-fascism-look-benign\/\" title=\"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Implies Christian Super Bowl Ads Are Attempt \u201cTo Make Fascism Look Benign\u201d\">local law enforcement agency reporting<\/a>, and liaison and contact reporting demonstrating RMVE actors have sought out and attended traditionalist Catholic houses of worship, as well as used language indicative of adherence to RTC ideology in social media postings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The document misuses the word \u201cideology,\u201d\u2062 which means political movements, such as communism or fascism, not a religious movement. And\u200d who are they, anyway, to discriminate among different Catholic groups? \u200bOr Protestant, Jewish,\u2062 and other groups?<\/p>\n<p>And\u2063 FBI \u201ctripwire\u201d\u2063 is where they look\u2063 for something that could lead to a terrorist attack, such as someone buying fertilizer \u2062or chemicals to make \u2062a bomb.<\/p>\n<p>There are millions of criminals in America. Many \u2064of \u200cthem attend churches (Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and others), mosques, temples, and other religious \u200cservices. Are\u200d all of these places \u2064also to be spied upon?<\/p>\n<p>The memo also mentions \u2064\u201cthe increasing collaboration of the far-right Catholic media outlet Church Militant (and\u2063 its activist wing, the Resistance network) with the America First\/groyper\u2019 movement.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.churchmilitant.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Church\u200b Militant<\/a> actually is not a traditionalist Catholic group, but really is just a \u2063\u201cmedia outlet\u201d that is not focused on the \u200dLatin Mass.<\/p>\n<p>It is headed by Michael Voris, a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Epoch Times&#8217; dedication to religious freedom is why I enjoy writing for them. Founded by Falun Gong members, who faced severe persecution by the Chinese Communist Party, the paper sheds light on this issue. Their coverage, like &#8220;Panel: Persecution of Falun Gong Helped Chinese Regime Pioneer 21st Century,&#8221; exposes the plight of this religion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1801,"featured_media":2007681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2007680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2007680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2007681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2007680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2007680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2007680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}