DOJ Task Force Report Accuses Biden-Era FBI of Targeting Traditionalist Catholic Groups

On April 30 2026 a bipartisan DOJ task force reported that the FBI’s Richmond office acted on a January 2023 memo—originating from the Southern Poverty Law Center—to open a “Guardian profile” on Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Society SSPX Chapel and to investigate its priest. The memo labeled “radical-traditionalist” Catholics as threats. The report describes the FBI’s actions as a “two-pronged attack” on traditionalist Catholics, citing special agent Stanley Meador’s email “No apology needed.”

The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) opposes Vatican II reforms and celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass. In January 2023 the FBI circulated a memo—citing the SPLC—that labeled “radical-traditionalist” Catholics as threats. The task force says the memo prompted the Richmond office to target the SSPX chapel.

Xavier Louis Lopez, a “radical traditional Catholic,” received an eight-year, one-month sentence for weapons possession. Stanley Meador, then Richmond special agent, authored the “No apology needed” email. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche chairs the task force; Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray are also cited.

Jan 5 2023: FBI notes Lopez’s attendance at the SSPX chapel; Jul 8 2023: internal email references the memo; Feb 2025: Lopez sentenced; Apr 30 2026: task-force report released.

Lopez received an eight-year, one-month sentence. The task force found only one Guardian profile on the SSPX chapel, with no other churches linked to the weapons case.

FBI agents reported the SSPX priest expressed discomfort, needed to consult attorneys, and visited Lopez in jail six times.

The report says the Biden administration reversed conscience-rights protections for a Christian nurse, fined Christian universities over vaccine mandates and girls’ athletics, and “regularly clashed with a Christian worldview,” burdening traditional religious practice.

Acting Attorney General Blanche said no American should fear federal punishment for faith. Garland called the memo “appalling.” FBI Director Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee that the memo produced no investigative action.

Wray’s testimony that the memo led to no investigative action conflicts with the task force’s claim that the memo justified profiling SSPX clergy.

The case highlights tensions between national security investigations and First-Amendment protections, and sets a precedent for future law-enforcement actions involving faith-based organizations.

• “No American should live in fear that the federal government will punish them for their faith,” — Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General

• “as far as what we can tell, did not result in any investigative action, none.” — Christopher Wray, FBI Director

• “No apology needed.” — Stanley Meador, former special agent in charge, Richmond Field Office

• “The Biden Administration’s policies regularly clashed with a Christian worldview and burdened traditional religious practices,” — DOJ task force report