Opus Dei, MAGA, the Dark Money Cult, & the 2024 Election

Daily Meditation by Matthew Fox - October 12, 2024

 Many people, when they hear about the rise of Christian nationalism in America, think it is all about evangelicals who are Trump supporters.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  

The fascist wing of the Roman Catholic Church amply represented by Opus Dei (and others such as the Legion of Christ), have played a major and expanding role in Washington, D.C. ever since the papacy of JPII that linked up with the far-right CIA of the day to bury liberation theology and base communities operating in South America.  

Those who stood by the poor, such as Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador who was martyred while saying Mass, were badly treated by Rome.  Indeed, one of Archbishop Romero's close friends, Bishop Casigalida with whom I spent a week in the amazon which was essentially his diocese was silenced by the Vatican of that time for daring to call Romero a saint (Romero has since been canonized under Pope Francis).  

I wrote about these goings-on 15 years ago in my book, The Pope's War, which traces such matters under Ratzinger and JP II and includes a significant chapter on Opus Dei.  New Testament scholar Bruce Chilton, who wrote the Foreword to the book, called it "prophetic." 

Now Gareth Core, a British financial journalist, has released the best book ever written on Opus Dei, with special emphasis on the mighty role they have played in recent American politics:  e.g., rendering SCOTUS beyond recognition and a wing for the Republican party.  Yes, part of MAGA, which I propose in my new book on the antichrist, stands for:  "Make America Grotesque Again." 

Gore's book is called Opus:  The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church.  It is 450 pages of solid research and clear storytelling of the takeover of American politics, including of course SCOTUS and the Republican Party by the fascist wing of the Catholic church, which is dead set against Pope Francis.  It includes the conversions of Newt Gingrich, former Senator Sam Brownback, Robert Bork, Larry Kudlow, and Laura Ingraham to that peculiar version of Catholicism.  Trump players like Bill Barr, Pat Cipolione, Steve Bannon, belong to the same religious club.  

Now vice-presidential candidate J. D. Vance should be added to that list of hardline climate deniers and Trump acolytes.  If Trump and Vance are elected next month, the Opus Dei wing of the Catholic Church will be one step away from the presidency.  

Pretty scary indeed, considering the already own the unsupreme court and Trump is currently the oldest presidential candidate and showing serious mental and physical decline not to mention his ethical and spiritual ill health.  Or, in traditional language, his links to the archetype of the antichrist.  

Gore tells the story of how Leonardo Leo led the fight to forbid Obama from nominating a justice for the Supreme Court because it was "too close to the next election."  Of course, Senator Mitch McConnell was all in on that unprecedented move, but Leo provided the legal ammunition.  Later however, with Trump as president, it was not too late to appoint Judge Barrett even though the election was already in progress.  

Leo is a far-right Catholic who barely admits that Pope Francis exists (or his excellent encyclical Laudato Si that defends the rights of Mother Earth and the rights of the poor).  He prefers the company and ideology of billionaires like Harlan Cros, sugar daddy to ever willing Supreme Court judges like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.  Gore makes clear that Leo is also very chummy with Ginni Thomas.   

A fine summary of the book can be found in the New York Magazine by investigative journalist Nina Burleigh.  It is called "How Opus Dei Conquered D. C."  (September 19, 2024).  Read it and weep.  And act.  And spread the news of the antichrist in waiting. And get out the vote for alternatives.

FROM REDEEMER TO REVOLUTIONARY

 

God of the Absurd  

Jesus of Nazareth was declared God and Redeemer through his crucifixion by the Council of Nicea.  Now that the myth of original sin is historically and theologically found impossible as a credible myth, Jesus and his death can now be looked at as a challenge to the Roman Empire.

Jesus of Nazareth was not the first to be crucified by the Roman Empire for advocating freedom.  He is the best known for advocating a nonviolent jihad for freedom.  

See:  

God & Empire by John Dominic Crossan  2007

Jesus, A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan  1994

Original Blessing by Matthew Fox  1983

Recovering the Sacred: Teilhard, Newell & the Celtic Tradition By Matthew Fox October 5, 2024

Celtic Spirituality, Philip Newell, Teilhard de Chardin, The Sacred

I ended my Daily Meditation yesterday with the all-important practical question:  What other ways are there for recovering a sense of the sacred?  Meaning, besides Lakota teacher buck Ghosthorse's practice of going without water to recover the sacredness of water.

And Thomas Berry's teaching that bringing back the experience of awe and wonder that the "numinous" universe gives us.  (And, let me add, what the Webb telescope makes available daily to us.)

I am reminded of Teilhard de Chardin's observation on the death knell of religion in the West.  Because it is not sufficiently moved by a truly human compassion, because it is not exalted by a sufficiently passionate admiration of the universe, our religion is becoming enfeebled.

These words were translated into English in the year 1968, the spring I sat in class with Pere Chenu and he named the creation spirituality tradition for me the first time.  Chenu had great respect for Teilhard.

Teilhard elaborates in another place.  I give the name of cosmic sense to the more or less confused affinity that binds us psychologically to the All which envelops us.  In order that the sense of humanity might emerge, it was necessary for civilization to begin to encircle the Earth.  

The experience of awe and wonder at our home, the universe and the cosmic sense, Thomas Berry equates with our moving from a human-centered and narcissistic relationship to nature to a sense of the sacred.  Teilhard again:  The cosmic sense must have been born as soon as humanity found itself facing the frost, the sea and the stars.  And since then we find evidence of it in all our experience of the great and unbounded:  in art, in poetry, and in religion.  

We find the awareness of the sacred well named by Celtic scholar Philip Newell in our time.  "The Celtic tradition has been saying all along, "he reminds, "that we cannot contain the sacred.  Rather, we are to look for it everywhere, and we are to observe it and be liberators of it in one another and in the earth."

And he reminds us that there is work ahead.  "The labor pains of a new birthing will be mighty.  there is no going back to the small God."  Anthropocentrism and human narcissism is in no way the future--of religion or politics or a viable path for humanity.  

What I call "deep ecumenism" in my book on the Cosmic Christ is born of this renewed sense of the whole.  As Newell puts it:  We now know too much about the interrelatedness of all life to pretend that well-being can be sought for one part alone and not for the whole, for only one religion, one nation, one species.

There is no returning to the limited notion of sacredness as if it were somehow the preserver of one particular people over another, of one race gender, or sexual orientation.  Sacredness is the birthright of all that is.  It is the grace that comes with existence."

The Working Catholic: How to Vote by Bill Droel

Whom should U.S. Catholics vote for in the presidential election? The question, in so many words, was posed to Pope Francis during his recent return flight from Asia. Choose, he replied.  Both major candidates are flawed. Vice-president Kamala Harris does not fully respect life with her position on abortion. Former president Donald Trump does not respect life with his position on immigrants. “Decide according to [your] conscience,” the pope concluded.

Electoral politics is about incremental improvement, not about perfection. There is no perfect candidate for a Catholic voter, or in fact for any voter. Pope Francis is preaching humility, writes David French in The New York Times (9/22/24). His words are “an invitation to introspection, a call to examine your conscience.” French contrasts thoughtful humility with “absolute certainty.” He offers MAGA Christians as an example of having minds “largely free of doubt.” They are sure that “you cannot be a Christian and vote Democratic,” writes French.

Interestingly, only a small percentage of voters describe Donald Trump as religious. His supporters, a recent survey suggests, don’t care if he is religious or not. Even though those supporters might identify as Christian, they have other motivations for supporting Trump.

A Catholic voter or a Catholic office holder should strive for consistent application of principle, explains Steven Millies in A Consistent Ethic of Life (Paulist Press, 2024).However, he continues, consistent does not mean equal. Some issues are more pressing, others have wider consequences. The virtue of consistency requires experience, prudence and some sophistication. There is little value in adding-up checkmarks on a so-called guide for Catholic issues. The moral method is prior to the issues. (More from Millies in a subsequent blog.)

A faithful Catholic who practices thoughtful humility is not a relativist. He or she has strong principles but is savvy enough to consider contingencies. Simply signaling one’s virtue is arrogant. A sincere Catholic realizes that what is good for an individual or a group this month may not serve the common good in six months. The common good, by the way, is different from the greatest good for the greatest number. The common good looks further along the calendar. It considers the good things citizens can achieve only acting in common: neighborhood and school safety, clean water, a thriving economy and the like.

Who to vote for? Strategy is an additional consideration.

Some Catholic leaders of late advise voting for the individual, not for the party. This advice is directed to Catholics who favor multiple issues associated with a party, but who know that one or more of its candidates are mistaken on an important issue. Split your vote, this advice says.

This strategy is a big departure from what U.S. Catholics have long been taught: Vote the ticket. Unless a party controls a legislative body (city council or House of Representatives), there will be gridlock. No meaningful improvement will occur. Second according to the traditional Catholic strategy, benefits to a neighborhood or a family come by way of a united party, not by a solitary office holder. Third, it is the party that can best corral any office holder that goes rouge.

Humility, consistency and a view to the future are among the imperatives Catholics exercise in the voting booth.

Droel edits INITIATIVES (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629), a print newsletter on faith and

The Working Catholic by Bill Droel

  

A victim syndrome underlies the divisiveness in our society, explains Frank Bruni in The Age of Grievance (Simon & Schuster, 2024).

Each of us experiences frustrations. We complain that the line in the grocery is too long and it was a mistake to shop or the neighbor’s dogs bark all day and a move to a No Pets apartment would be wise.

Grievance goes beyond such feelings of bad luck. We can normally get past daily frustrations with a swear word or two and a little wine at night. Grievance, however, is the belief that I have “been wronged,” writes Bruni.  It has damaging psychological and social repercussions. Grievance is excess agitation and excess sensitivity. It leads to “wildly disproportionate outbursts” and perhaps conspiracy theories. They are out to get me, an aggrieved person suspects. Grievance is “an all-encompassing lens” through which past hurts regularly reappear, Bruni continues. It is unfortunately a conflation of “the picayune and the profound.”

Grievance is also different from bad luck in that it reduces frustration to fault in others. An aggrieved person sees that someone is above or ahead of them. The advantage, our aggrieved person quickly concludes, was unfairly gained at his or her expense. An example is someone who says, my tax dollars go toward assisting those lazy, illegal migrants.

Although he is our Whiner in Chief, Donald Trump did not start the grievance trend. Bruni mentions Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) of France, who toured the U.S. and then famously wrote his generally positive impressions. However, de Tocqueville pointed out that people on our shores are forever “brooding over advantages they do not possess.” The grievance trend has steadily increased since the late 1960s as our culture and our economy have tilted away from organic communities and heavily toward individualism.

We no longer live in a Garden of Eden. There is bad luck, sin and dysfunctional institutions all around. However, children can learn to navigate life and thus develop a healthy disposition as adults. Erik Erikson (1902-1994) named stages of development. The crucial first one is trust vs. mistrust. That is, a child must come to believe that the world is generally a reliable place; that its scrapes and bumps and slights can soon enough be hopped over. Trust and thus happiness are achieved with dependable parents and a circle of good playmates.

Of course, Donald Trump doesn’t help matters with his harangues about scams and rigged processes and fake news and polluted institutions and losers. But Bruni goes beyond Trump’s pessimism to provide many examples of aggrieved behaviors. Bruni calls out those young adults who have a hyper-craving for safety. They want a buffer against what they consider offensive language, against teachers who present a full range of literature or history, against guest speakers with opposing views and more. A key word for these young adults is hurtful.   

In addition to Trump, other forces are fueling grievance. For example, elements in the self-help movement have morphed into a presumption that “all feelings are presumed meaningful and warrant a group’s attention.” This hypersensitivity assumes a right to be “protected from disappointment,” leading perhaps to temperamental antics by an individual or groups.

The massive wealth gap is another accelerant. It undermines our country’s promise of upward mobility. The gap hits home through an array of cultural signals like elite seating at stadiums, concierge health care arrangements, displays of luxury porn in magazines and on TV, executive-only washrooms and the like.

Bruni also mentions the prevalence of dystopian movies and internet sites in which destruction and end times are depicted. These films support pessimism and justify grievance.

Don’t misunderstand. There is injustice in the world. The healthy response to which is the virtue of social justice. It is unhealthy to respond by fantasizing villains lurking all around, by hallow displays of annoyance or by posturing oneself as a victim. Social justice is organizing like-minded people for improved policies or institutions. It requires competence, an end game and a good enough for now plan B.

Get What Is Social Justice? from National Center for the Laity (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629; $5)

"A Female President of the United States: A Hope?" by Leonardo Boff

 This weekend I received the following article from my friend in Brazil, theologian Leonardo Boff. I have cut it some to fit our format. Matthew Fox in his Daily Meditation from August 19, 2024

The real possibility that a woman, Kamala Harris, will become president of the imperial power, the United States of America, would represent a novum in the history of that country, and perhaps a step forward in the new relationship between genders. 

The USA, independent since 1776, has had 44 presidents, all men and none women.  Many see the president exclusively in military terms, more as the head of the Armed Forces--the one who holds the red telephone and the button to launch a nuclear war--than as the promoter of the common good. 

That's why they keep fighting wars everywhere.  Virtually all presidents, including Obama, are imbued with "manifest destiny," the belief that the United States is anointed as "that new people of God with a mission to bring (bourgeois) democracy, (individual) human rights, and peace (of the market) for the world".

Under the patriarchy that has lasted for ten thousand years, since the Neolithic era, with the formation of villages and agriculture, women have always been relegated to the private world.  Even knowing that a historical era existed, twenty thousand years ago, of matriarchy forming egalitarian societies that integrated with nature and was deeply spiritual.

Patriarchy, the predominance of the male (machismo) was one of the greatest mistakes in human history.  The type of State we have is attributed to patriarchy, including war and violence as a way of solving problems, the private appropriation of land, and the generation of inequalities and all types of discrimination.  

In capitalism, in its various forms, it gained its most expressive configuration, with the rate of social inequity it brings with it.  

Throughout this process, the main victims were women, along with those deprived of strength and power.  Since then, the destiny of women, in historical-social terms, has been defined based on the man who occupied every public space. 

But slowly, starting in the United States, in the 19th century, women became aware of their autonomous identity.  The feminist movement grew, became active in practically all countries and occupied public spaces.  Entering universities and then into the job market, women brought their unique (non-exclusive) values as women:  more given to collaboration as opposed to competition from men, more care, more flexibility, more ability to deal with complexity, more human sensitivity and heart, finally, more open to dialogue against sexist and patriarchal authoritarianism.  

In a word, they brought more humanity to a rational, rigid, competitive, efficient world, marked by the will to power as domination:  the world of men.  They, by their nature, represent rather the will to live and to relate.  

Even so, the fight for gender equality is far from being fully won.  It was only in 1920 that women gained the right to vote in the United States.  In Brazil only in 1932.  Today 52% of the electorate is female.  

Empowering women's identity and relational autonomy will generate a new paradigm:  that of reciprocity, of cooperation between men and women....

Politically, the best way to express this civilizational advance would be participatory, socio-ecological democracy, in which man and woman cooperatively and in solidarity would build a dream world that responds to the deepest desires of the human psyche.  

The Working Catholic: Two Labor Days by Bill Droel

  

The original Labor Day parade was held in 1882, in New York City. It was sponsored by the Knights of Labor. Its organizers were two Catholics. Though not related, they share the same last name. Matthew McGuire (1855-1917) was a machinist from New Jersey; Peter McGuire (1852-1906), working in Chicago at the time, was a carpenter. In 1894 Labor Day became a national holiday and was set on the first Monday of September.

St. Joseph, also a carpenter, is associated with Labor Day in round-about fashion. The saga begins here in Chicago where on May 1, 1886 a federation of labor unions began a campaign for an eight-hour workday. A subsequent rally in our now trendy Haymarket area turned violent when someone threw a stick of dynamite. Police then fired wildly into the crowd. Four workers and seven police died. Seven workers were rounded-up and sentenced, four of whom were hanged in November 1886.

In July 1889 communist leaders in several European countries designated May 1^st as Labor Day to honor the Chicago Haymarket workers. (Illinois Labor History Society; www.illinoislaborhistory.org)

 In 1956, to offset the communist influence on Europe’s Labor Day Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) established May 1^st as the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Some U.S. bishops immediately asked to observe the new St. Joseph feast on the first Monday of September in our country only. Permission was granted. Nonetheless instead of the September date, the May 1^st date for St. Joseph took hold in the U.S.

 Ed Marciniak (1917-2004), a Chicago labor activist, saw in the two dates a significant difference in worldviews. People in the U.S. “have never developed a strong class consciousness,” as did those in communist-influenced Europe, he wrote. Working families in Europe drifted away from Catholicism because Church officials there and in Latin America got too much “in league with the wealthy against the poor.” By contrast, U.S. Catholicism “has never had…a hostile working class.” (Since 1968 many Catholics in our country have left the church behind. They walked away out of indifference or lately in disgust, but not out of economic or political hostility.) 

An economic system predicated on “class struggle…will be inadequate and distorted,” Marciniak concludes. So maybe having two dates in our country (May 1^st and first Monday in September) contains a hidden blessing. 

(Learn more about Marciniak in Ed Marcinaik’s City and Church, National Center for the Laity, PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629; $20).