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Mass-going Catholics, who consider themselves ‘traditional Catholics’ are concerned about far-right neo-Nazi supporters identifying as traditional Catholics.
The two Catholic women who do not wish to be named reached out to Cathnews after reading an article in the NZ Herald about four neo-Nazis identifying as traditional Catholics at the Posie Parker rally last Saturday.
They say they feel aggrieved because their faith has no relationship to what the neo-Nazis stand for.
“Antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia have nothing to do with the 10 Commandments, nor the Beatitudes,” one said.
“The Gospels and Jesus Christ are positive guides to good living,” said the other.
As traditional Catholics in a Synodal Church, they want to make a stand and distance themselves from the suggestion in the article.
Before the rally in Auckland, the four neo-Nazis had covered their faces with skull masks and were pictured flashing Nazi salutes.
They wore symbols of the Azov Battalion – a far-right ultra-nationalist regiment of the Ukrainian military – and an American far right group called the Boogaloo Boys.
Although British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, aka Posie Parker, calls neo-Nazis “abhorrent”, her rallies seem to attract them.
There were several far-right groups among the 150-200 people who showed up to support her Let Women Speak event. They included right-wing populists, Christian fundamentalists and a selection of neo-Nazis.
Paparoa is a body of researchers focusing on Aotearoa-New Zealand’s extremist organisations. They are also concerned the emerging so-called traditional Catholic neo-Nazi group promotes extreme antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia.
The Paparoa researchers say also among the far-right protesters at the rally was Sam Brittenden. He’s a member of the white nationalist group Action Zealandia.
In 2020 Brittenden allegedly made an unproven threat against the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch. He was previously found guilty of disorderly behaviour for making anti-Muslim slurs while a student at the University of Otago.
Researcher Byron Clark says the far-right individuals were mostly on the fringes of the rally.
While most Parker supporters aren’t on the far-right, Clark says the far-right sees them as a group they can find an audience with.
Transphobia had become a large part of the far-right’s ideology, he says.
“They see it as a kind of deviation from the ideal of a straight, cisgender white person, in the same way they see homosexuality and disability as being deviated from this ideal.
“It’s become prominent because it’s still something of a more socially-acceptable prejudice, more so than racism, so they can use this as the thin edge of the wedge to gain an audience among the more mainstream conservative crowd.”
After around 2,000 protestors drowned out Parker’s and she abandoned her tour, citing safety concerns.
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