An important follow-up:

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has confirmed that protesters led by the Native American activist Nathan Phillips attempted to disrupt the celebration of Mass on the evening of Jan. 19.

On Jan. 23, a spokesperson for the Washington, DC basilica released a statement to CNA confirming the previously reported events of Saturday night.

The statement said that while Mass was being celebrated, “a group of approximately 50 individuals attempted to gain entrance to the basilica while chanting and hitting drums.”

The statement clarified that the protesters attempted to gain entrance to the basilica during the celebration of a specially arranged Mass being celebrated at 7 p.m, and not, as had previously been reported, during the basilica’s regularly scheduled 5:15 p.m. Mass.

“At this time, Mass was being celebrated in the upper church where the individuals attempted to enter,” the statement said.

Read the whole thing. 

Matthew Schmitz points out that one of the organizers of the Indigenous Peoples March is an Ecuadorean bruja who says she wants to fight Catholicism:

Bruja in Spanish means witch. Latin America and my culture is in tune with magic, though many live in shame due to the colonization aka Catholicism. Being bruja is about telling the narrative of your ancestors and decolonizing it. I live that in my life by reviving community and creating a safe place for WOC to heal.

It’s important to understand the nature of this battle.

Every time the media refer to poor Nathan Phillips and his group as gentle indigenous innocents set upon by bigoted Catholic schoolboys, remember that Phillips and his comrades tried to invade a Catholic Church during mass, and disrupt it with protest.

Is anti-Catholic bigotry like this officially okay with our media? What about with the Catholic bishops? Are they fine with it too, because it was carried out by some Native Americans?