Latest / The Catholic Current / LTACL: Wishful Thinking Will Kill Us (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.)

Transcript

LTACL: Wishful Thinking Will Kill Us (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.) · The Catholic Current

• 0:01
  I think too many of you may have already had this experience.
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  Imagine a friend who suffered violent domestic
• 0:08
  abuse, and your friend is happy and says, good news, I can
• 0:12
  never be abused again. And you ask, what do you mean?
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  Your friend produces a piece of paper and said, see,
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  I've got a restraining order. Now I can
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  never be abused again.
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  I'm sure you'd start thinking as I would, hey, you know, that kind
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  of wishful thinking is going to get you killed. But what if the victim
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  of domestic abuse wasn't just an individual,
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  but was the Catholic Church? Then what?
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  Stay with me, I've got a story to tell. Hi, I'm Jesuit Father Robert McKeague,
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  your host every day of The Catholic Current, coming to you from the Station of
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  the Cross Catholic Media Network. Let's take a closer look. Glad you're
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  here. On August 28th of this year, the US Department of Justice
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  issued a report by the Weaponization Working Group. Well, what is that?
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  Well, some people realized that elements of the FBI were
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  being weaponized against American citizens because,
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  well, you know, because reasons.
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  This particular case goes back to January of 2023.
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  The FBI field office in Richmond, Virginia produced
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  a report that it wanted to send to the entire FBI.
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  Suggesting that communities of what they called radical traditional
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  Catholics, hereafter referred to as RTCs,
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  could be attracting or even generating white supremacists
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  and other racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.
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  And you say, gosh, Father, what are the hallmarks? What are the distinguishing
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  features of radical Catholics that
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  have to be investigated by the FBI? Well, Among other things,
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  the FBI says rejection of Vatican II,
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  disdain for post-Vatican II popes, conservative family roles,
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  rejection of modernity, and isolation.
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  You can read all of it yourself in the show notes attached
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  to this report. Long story short, the report generated
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  a lot of blowback, and the FBI tried to hide it, say it was a
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  misunderstanding, et cetera, et cetera. But good news, this year the
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  FBI investigated itself.
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  Okay, and then what? Well, and now the special agent in
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  charge of the Richmond office who approved this memo
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  targeting radical traditional Catholics,
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  RTCs, he has a new job.
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  He works for the governor of Virginia as her secretary for
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  public safety and homeland security. Well, that's a
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  relief, especially for all our friends in Virginia. Meanwhile, the people who
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  now run the FBI— and they run it
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  for now— they say that all this was a
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  very bad thing and they won't
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  stand for it ever, ever again. No,
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  sir. Okay.
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  Good news, I suppose.
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  Should all Catholics, indeed all Christians,
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  every American breathe a great sigh of relief?
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  Can't we sit back and say, we're saved, we're saved,
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  FBI be praised? Well,
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  this is when I can't help but think of that domestic
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  violence, uh, victim And the restraining
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  order, that magic piece of paper,
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  is that really the very best that we can do?
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  I'm open to suggestions. Comment in the show notes below or
• 3:48
  contact me at thestationofthecross.com/askfather.
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  What would you like to see be done next to make sure for real that
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  this doesn't happen again? Meanwhile, think on these things today. Take them
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  to prayer and talk about it with those you love. Go in peace,
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  and please do pray for me, for I am a