Bishop Barry Knestout suspended the Latin Mass at Holy Comforter Catholic Church until receiving a renewal from the Vatican, but there are reports that Rome is ready to shut down all Traditional Masses not affiliated with an approved Ecclesia Dei institute.
Acting FBI assistant director Christopher Dunham provided the House Judiciary Committee with a 'less-redacted version' of the Latin Mass surveillance memo after the committee's chairman Rep. Jim Jordan threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress.
According to Rep. Jim Jordan's April 11 letter, the FBI's plan included contacting 'mainline Catholic parishes' and the local 'diocesan leadership,' as well as leadership within the SSPX in Richmond to 'develop news sources' to report on what the FBI alleges to be 'suspicious activity.'
The USCCB noted in its statement on the FBI memo that the conference 'fully supports the work of law enforcement officials to keep our communities safe.'
'A preference for traditional forms of worship and holding closely to the Church’s teachings on marriage, family, human sexuality, and the dignity of the human person does not equate with extremism,' Bishop Barry Knestout wrote.
While 20 attorneys general and a slew of non-Catholics have condemned the FBI’s bombshell memo targeting Latin Mass-goers, comments from the USCCB have been conspicuously absent.
In this exclusive interview, Father Mark White explains how a simple blog discussing clerical sex abuse and the Theodore McCarrick scandal has led to an effort by Bishop Barry Knestout of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond to laicize him.