To the editor:
Last month, an FBI memo leaked suggesting a sect within the Roman Catholic church might be a breeding ground for a particular version of white nationalism; and as might be expected, certain members of the church immediately began to cry "persecution." It didn't matter that it was a memo, not policy. Neither did it matter that the FBI promptly announced it wasn't something they intended to act upon.
One clergyman who cried foul was the Rev. Dave Pivonka, TOR, president of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In the National Catholic Register, Pivonka hyperbolically wrote, "Massgoing Catholics are a threat to national security. Or so the FBI thinks."
What the memo actually said was that racially motivated violent extremists could target "traditionalist" Catholics in the U.S., either through social media or in person at services, viewing them as soft targets for infiltration. This assessment was based on the increased attention known RMVEs were showing to the Latin mass.
From my POV, there are two approaches one can take when learning there's an element of malefactors in one's midst -- one can call out those bad actors, as did Matthew J. Cressler, professor of religious studies at the College of Charleston, writing in the magazine US Catholic: "There is an increasing overlap between the far-right of U.S. politics and the far-right of the Catholic church."
He then borrowed the following information from Salon as evidence: "(F)ar-right figures including Milo Yiannopoulos, the Canadian white nationalist Faith Goldy, 'Stop the Steal' organizer Ali Alexander, and the so-called 'Kent State gun girl' Kaitlin Bennett have all 'rebranded' themselves as 'traditional' Catholics …' They have also 'allied themselves with an existing network of far-right Catholics that includes Pizzagate provocateur-turned-conservative-commentator Jack Posobiec, Trump confidant and adviser Steve Bannon and groyper-guru Nick Fuentes himself."
Alternatively, the other option is double-down on the "persecution card" and play victim, lending cover to the problematic element. Of course, we all know that's not something the church would ever do.
Right?
Pivonka's reaction to being informed that white nationalist extremists may be exploiting an element of his flock was to write this: "Christians once felt entitled to speak freely without adverse consequences. No longer. Many people of faith feel like they are being pushed underground. In fact, anyone who professes traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs on morality, marriage, the sacredness of the human person, gender, and sexuality are marginalized, persecuted and 'canceled.'"
Personally, I doubt even the FBI, a group which famously covered up that it was once led by a transvestite who called his stage persona, "Debbie," and which is currently 75 percent white, has plans to target the entire U.S. RCC (a body which is only 22 percent Caucasion) as a "white nationalist hate group."
As for Pivonka, I have no idea what his position toward white nationalism is. Nor do I know if his article was intended to give cover to the unsavory element in his midst or if he was an unwitting compatriot, but he sure is quacking like a duck.
J. David Core
Toronto