By Gretchen Keiser

A virulent new anti-Catholic poster, which claims that Catholics were responsible for the crimes of Nazism and that the Nazi symbol of the swastika is the “Catholic emblem,” have been plastered on buildings in downtown Atlanta.

The new posters were first noticed March 28 and brought to the attention of the Catholic Communications Office by a building owner who found 40 of the posters covering windows on one of his buildings on Piedmont Avenue. He said the posters were put up between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. while workmen were temporarily away from the site. The posters were also seen on vacant buildings on Peachtree Street. No one has taken responsibility for the new posters, the second wave of anti-Catholic posters to appear in four weeks.

The first group of unsigned posters charge that the Vatican secretly controls federal and state governments, the news media, the post office and telephone company, organized crime and virtually every major political movement. In addition to copies put up on vacant buildings in Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Nashville and Washington, D.C., a copy of the poster was sent to the Georgia Bulletin and to Catholic newspaper editors in more than 40 dioceses.

Because many of the posters were postmarked Little Rock, Arkansas and because the allegations in the first poster are similar to those made in the past by the Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation in Alma, Arkansas, suspicion pointed toward the foundation as the source.

In an interview with the National Catholic News Service, Tony Alamo, head of the foundation, denied responsibility for the posters, but said he agrees with their content.

The new posters are “signed” with the phrase “B.A. Christians,” possibly meant to stand for “born again Christians.” Alamo publications have alleged in the past that “born again Christians” are under attack from the media and other sources because the media supposedly is controlled by the Vatican.

The new posters allege that “all high ranking SS officers in World War II were either Catholic or Catholic priests” and that the swastika is the “Catholic Jesuit Nazi emblem.” According to Atlanta police, a building owner can prosecute anyone who puts up posters without permission. However, the police also warned that in order for the posters to be removed, the permission of the building owner would have to be obtained.

The building owner who first reported the new posters said that he would remove the posters, but estimated that it would cost over $100 for him to hire someone to tear the signs down.