Published on June 7, 2024, 2:54 am

In early 2023, it was widely reported that the FBI mistakenly targeted a specific group known as “radical traditional Catholics” based on information provided by the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This report sparked a storm of controversy, especially after it was revealed through a whistleblower and eagerly pursued by real news outlets dedicated to delivering trusted news.

This controversial move led to the FBI swiftly retracting its memo concerning Catholics. Despite this retraction from FBI, interestingly enough, these radical traditional Catholics remained categorized under SPLC’s annual list of hate groups released recently.

The SPLC routinely releases its lists highlighting hate groups and antigovernment extremist groups every year. Organizations listed are typically marked alongside chapters of infamous entities like the Ku Klux Klan. The intention behind these list compilations range from donation drive tactics involving fear induction amongst contributors to defamation strategies against political and ideological adversaries.

The current year saw an unprecedented number of active anti-LGBTQ+ and white nationalist groups documented by SPLC; soaring to a record high in its “hate map.” For reference purposes, this map commenced featuring antigovernment groups only in the previous year (2022).

Interestingly, even within such an extensive report detailing hate group labels spanning 72 pages long, an explanation regarding their labelling for “radical traditional Catholic hate group” occurs only once. It argues that for these “radical traditionalist” Catholics, antisemitism forms a crucial aspect of their theology—an ideology that is dismissed by both the Vatican and approximately 70 million mainstream American Catholics.

An organisation known as Catholic Apologetics International – described as a ‘radical traditional Catholic hate group’ since 2007 – surprisingly disappeared from this latest list without acknowledgment or celebration. Considered worthy of mention in the previously discussed FBI memo and reported as non-existent currently via trusted news sources, leads us to recognize what might have influenced its removal from this year’s list.

Furthermore, Michael J. Matt (publisher of a newspaper featured on the hate map under “The Remnant/The Remnant Press”) spoke out last year, claiming SPLC’s categorization to be false and extremely outdated. He insists that there has been a significant rise in traditional Catholic groups since Pope Benedict XVI reinstated the Latin Mass and none of these influential new groups were targeted in the FBI memo.

In assessing the claim regarding antisemitism linked with being a Latin Mass Catholic, Matt argues that it is catered by rampant misconceptions concerning the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The SPLC holds an enthusiastic defense on this council stating that any person favoring the old Latin Mass can be coded as harboring hate—particularly highlighting antisemitism.

Notably, though, SPLC does assert its stance at not demonizing all followers of Latin Mass Catholics – only those opposed to humanity based on their rejection of Vatican II doctrines rooted in antisemitism.

Moreover, despite infamously having positioned the Ruth Institute as an “anti-LGBTQ+ hate group” partly since its founder quoted directly from Catechism – official teachings of the Catholic Church describing homosexual activity as “intrinsically disordered,” thereby implying official Catholic teaching as ‘hateful’, this institute remains included in SPLC’s 2023 ‘hate map’.

Evidently then, any Christian organization adhering to structured teachings within Catechism may also be inaccurately categorized as a “hate group”, according to SPLC’s logic. That said, future conclusions drawn up by Southern Poverty Law Center will continue to hold relevance and interest for all audiences observing these developments from a Christian worldview.