Is it being assumed that the chapel prior (priest) at the SSPX chapel in Virgina is guilty of collusion with the FBI? If so, where is the proof of that?
I didn’t get that from the article, but since the SSPX has said nothing at all regarding being approached for that purpose, those familiar with the Society’s zeal to maintain a good public image, it’s recent cooperation with secular authorities’ intrusion into the spiritual domain during COVID19, the ongoing prosecution and investigations related to pedophilia, etc, and any reasonable person would wonder how they responded.
That's a long way from alleging collusion.
Well, glad to see that you aren't alleging that the SSPX prior in Virginia is guilty of collusion; at least not yet.In Saint Marys, Fr. Wagner (the District Superior at that time) ordered Fr. Rutledge to close the Chapel and not offer public Mass (not even secret Masses for the faithful). What made the situation even worse, is that the SSPX closed it's chapel before the Governor ordered a lock down!!
And regards to the secular authorities' intrusion during covid, are you aware that in some areas of the world during the supposed Covid "Crisis", that the SSPX were the only ones to continue to offer the True Mass? I don't recall that any SSPX chapels were closed down during Covid, but maybe I'm wrong about that. And that in many areas, masks weren't mandatory at SSPX chapels? Despite the stance of the leadership of the SSPX during Covid, at least there was still access to the sacraments at that time.
In Saint Marys, Fr. Wagner (the District Superior at that time) ordered Fr. Rutledge to close the Chapel and not offer public Mass (not even secret Masses for the faithful). What made the situation even worse, is that the SSPX closed it's chapel before the Governor ordered a lock down!!
Sorry to hear that. How long was the chapel closed?I do not remember the exact number of weeks, but there was no Holy Week or Easter at the SSPX. They did not have any public Masses until the lock down was lifted.
Well, glad to see that you aren't alleging that the SSPX prior in Virginia is guilty of collusion; at least not yet.If I'm not mistaken, in Ohio for example the SSPX closed and followed the orders of the state, meanwhile Fr. Jenkins stayed open the entire time and had an influx of parishioners to the SSPV.
And regards to the secular authorities' intrusion during covid, are you aware that in some areas of the world during the supposed Covid "Crisis", that the SSPX were the only ones to continue to offer the True Mass? I don't recall that any SSPX chapels were closed down during Covid, but maybe I'm wrong about that. And that in many areas, masks weren't mandatory at SSPX chapels? Despite the stance of the leadership of the SSPX during Covid, at least there was still access to the sacraments at that time.
If I'm not mistaken, in Ohio for example the SSPX closed and followed the orders of the state, meanwhile Fr. Jenkins stayed open the entire time and had an influx of parishioners to the SSPV.
I refer to 2020 as "The Year of No Easter".I call it "The Year of the Good Lent" because we all had much suffering to offer up.
Well, you guys were lucky. Our SSPX chapel was permanently closed and sold off during COVID. The SSPX found a better-paying clientele in the county north of us.Sorry. That should be thumbs up; not down
Are the Sspx chapels under diocesan bishops?At least partially, yes (ie., the SSPX will not perform weddings without receiving the delegation from the local bishop, and in France, when a couple was married without it by one of their priests, the SSPX applied to a bishop for a sanatio in radice).
I wonder if they targetted Saint Athanasius (Fr. Ringrose).
But I'm sure that the SSPX leadership would be happy to cooperate in exchange for some donations to help with their various building projects.
I count Fr Ringrose as a personal friend of mine, and I have every confidence that he would tell them to pound sand.I think Father Ringrose does have to be careful being where he is and so close to Washington D.C. I think that this is the reason why he temporarily shut down Saint Athanasius during COVID until he could figure out a way to follow the rules and still have Mass. He was partially open again by Easter 2020 but since then there have been drones sighted watching the chapel and more. I remember there being a "night watch" every night at the chapel for awhile because there were concerns that something fishy was going on.
EXCLUSIVE: Latin Mass Churchgoers Witnessed Suspicious Activity After FBI’s ‘Radical-Traditional Catholic’ MemoOh, wow... Hadn't heard of this one yet... And it is our local area.
Tyler O'Neil (https://www.dailysignal.com/author/tyler-oneil/)/ @Tyler2ONeil (http://twitter.com/Tyler2ONeil) / April 30, 2023
https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/04/30/exclusive-fbi-agents-appear-place-traditional-catholic-church-surveillance-sources-say/
(https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2023/04/Immaculate-Heart-of-Mary-Chapel-Linden-385x200.png)
Two parishioners at Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel in Linden, Virginia (pictured) told The Daily Signal that they witnessed two vehicles they suspected were associated with the FBI, a month after the FBI's Richmond office released a memo urging agents to develop sources with access at traditional Roman Catholic churches, citing the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Google street view, Oct. 2021)
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Two parishioners at a Latin Mass Catholic church (https://www.dailysignal.com/tag/roman-catholic) in rural Northern Virginia say they witnessed suspicious activity from what looked like FBI vehicles in February, a month after the FBI’s Richmond office published a now-rescinded internal memo focused on “radical-traditional Catholics.”
The FBI’s Washington, D.C., office, which monitors the church’s area, denied any knowledge of such activity in a statement to The Daily Signal (https://www.dailysignal.com/author/tyler-oneil/).
The two witnesses told The Daily Signal that they saw two cars approach the church, drive through the parking lot as if they were writing down license plate numbers, and then leave, on two separate instances outside Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel in Linden, Virginia (https://www.dailysignal.com/tag/virginia), some 63 miles west of Washington, D.C., between Feb. 12 and Feb. 26. (The memo had been published on Jan. 23 and rescinded on Feb. 9.)
“I saw a black Ford car with dark tinted windows and a knoblike antenna on the top,” one parishioner, who spoke on the condition on anonymity, told The Daily Signal. “It was driving very slowly by all the cars, and I could see a laptop in the center front.”
“I could not see the person inside, and no one ever got out,” the witness added. “They did leave as soon as they saw me looking at them.”
“I saw a white [Chevrolet] Tahoe car, with very tinted windows and lots of antennas, driving slowly through the parking lot,” the other witness told The Daily Signal, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Looked like a male. He had an open laptop in the middle of the car, not sure if he was typing, as the window was very dark.”
“He never got out of the car, but by the time I saw him, he was on his way out, and drove back towards the highway after pulling through,” the second parishioner added. “Not sure how long he was out there, as we were all inside. Everyone else was still inside the chapel, so he must have been going around while we were all inside at Mass/catechism.”
“I suspect that it was the FBI (https://www.dailysignal.com/tag/fbi),” the witness added. “However, I could not confirm, since he never got out of the car.”
The witnesses reached out to The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, which connected them with The Daily Signal. (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s media outlet.)
Sacred Heart of Mary Chapel is affiliated with the Society of Saint Pius X, a traditional international priestly society that comprises almost 700 priests and supports the Latin Mass.
“The Washington Field Office is not aware of that activity,” the FBI national office, speaking on behalf of its satellite location in D.C., told The Daily Signal in an emailed statement Friday.
The incidents took place about a month after the FBI published an internal memo (https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/02/08/whistleblower-docs-fbi-cites-southern-poverty-law-center-in-report-on-radical-traditionalist-catholic-ideology/) urging agents to develop “sources with access,” including in “places of worship,” to probe an alleged relationship between “racially or ethnically motivated, violent extremists” and “radical-traditional Catholic ideology.” The memo, dated Jan. 23, cited the Southern Poverty Law Center, a left-leaning litigation nonprofit infamous for branding mainstream conservative and Christian organizations “hate groups,” placing them on a map alongside chapters of the Ku Klux Klan.
After a whistleblower published the memo on Feb. 8, the FBI’s national office rescinded it on Feb. 9.
“While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, this particular field office product—disseminated only within the FBI—regarding racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism does not meet the exacting standards of the FBI,” the FBI told The Daily Signal (https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/02/09/breaking-fbi-rescinds-radical-traditionalist-catholic-ideology-docuмent-citing-southern-poverty-law-center/) in a statement at the time.
“Upon learning of the docuмent, FBI headquarters quickly began taking action to remove the docuмent from FBI systems and conduct a review of the basis for the docuмent,” the bureau added. “The FBI is committed to sound analytic tradecraft and to investigating and preventing acts of violence and other crimes, while upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans and will never conduct investigative activities or open an investigation based solely on First Amendment-protected activity.”
The FBI national office directed The Daily Signal to remarks from FBI Director Christopher Wray on March 8 before the Senate Intelligence Committee (https://www.dailysignal.com/tag/senate).
“Well, first, let me say that when I first learned of the piece, I was aghast,” Wray said at the time. “And we took steps immediately to withdraw it and remove it from FBI systems. It does not reflect FBI standards.”
“We do not conduct investigations based on religious affiliation or practices, full stop,” the director added. “We have also now ordered our inspection division to take a look at how this happened and try to figure out how we can make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. I will note, it was a product by one field office, which of course we have scores and scores of these products, and when we found out about it, we took action.”
“We do not and will not target people for religious beliefs, and we do not and will not monitor people’s religious practices,” he added. “That’s not acceptable.”
The FBI statements have not addressed why the memo cited the Southern Poverty Law Center. As I explain in my book “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center (https://www.amazon.com/Making-Hate-Pay-Corruption-Southern/dp/1642934399),” the SPLC took the program it used to bankrupt organizations associated with the Ku Klux Klan and weaponized it against conservative groups, partially to scare donors into ponying up cash and partially to silence ideological opponents.
In 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said (https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2018/08/08/jeff-sessions-the-doj-will-not-partner-with-groups-that-unfairly-defame-americans-like-the-splc-n60066) he ordered the Justice Department—of which the FBI is a part—not to partner with groups that “discriminate.” Speaking of the SPLC, Sessions pledged that the Justice Department would not “partner with groups that unfairly defame Americans for standing up for the Constitution or their faith.”
Kyle Seraphin, the former FBI agent who leaked the memo, joined other FBI sources in telling The Daily Signal that the FBI had previously trained analysts not to cite the SPLC (https://www.dailysignal.com/tag/splc/).
The Front Royal Police Department, which covers Linden, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com (letters@DailySignal.com) and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.
I count Fr Ringrose as a personal friend of mine, and I have every confidence that he would tell them to pound sand.
And they spy on us using not so smart tv in chapels and churches.I'm not at all comfortable with these priests taking their smart phones into the confessional
I'm not at all comfortable with these priests taking their smart phones into the confessionalIf "THEY" really want incriminating information then not only the priest's cell phone but every cell phone of those present at a chapel is a sneaky means to achieve that.
Father's chapel has been infested with Marranos for years.They are not just in the Churches but also in Apologetics (the Novus Ordo neo-Marano Trent Horn) and the Diamond brothers.
I count Fr Ringrose as a personal friend of mine, and I have every confidence that he would tell them to pound sand.
I'm not at all comfortable with these priests taking their smart phones into the confessionalOh no. That’s worse.
Oh no. That’s worse.I highly doubt SSPX priests bring their phones into the Confessional! If any of them has, it was surely by accident. The few SSPX priests I’ve dealt with in recent years have all spoken to the issue of not bringing phones to Confession or even inside the chapel if possible. At the least, turn them off, not just on vibrate, and leave them outside the Confessional with someone or in a designated spot.