It's An Opus Dei World

We always knew who the real groomers were. Now we have the proof.

YOU GOTTA BELIEVE
Last weekend we were doing get-out-the-vote work on the campus of Temple University when I was stopped by an older gentleman who wanted to share his vision of the world based on a small, well-worn book he was holding in his hand.

For the next twenty minutes we got into it. I wanted to understand what his concerns were and how, as a Black man of faith, he could so quickly reject my suggestion of voting for a Black woman in favor of a White racist. I tried to follow Pierce Watkins’ (S2E35) approach of active listening and then echoing back what I was hearing. This did indeed lead to a more civil discourse, but of course when one is indoctrinated to believe that they are on a mission from God, there’s really no convincing them otherwise.

Nor was that my objective. Going in I knew I would never convert this man into someone who respected women’s bodily autonomy or dissuade him from believing that homosexuality was merely a gateway to bestiality. These are things, he said, that his book told him. And he takes his book as gospel.

Religious proselytizing is as old as religion itself. It’s also intoxicating. To convince someone to live under your proscriptive beliefs is a type of power. You get to make the rules. You stand above others in your glorious righteousness.

OPUS DEI
In the 1930s, a young Spaniard named Jose María Escrivá had convinced himself that he was the recipient of a vision from God and, not unlike the man standing on the corner of Broad and Montgomery, it was his personal mission to “reChristianize the world.” Over time the movement Escrivá founded, Opus Dei (God’s Work) won the financial backing of Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco, the imprimatur of the Vatican, and massive influence in the halls of the United States Congress and Supreme Court.

Kevin Roberts, architect of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s roadmap for a second Trump presidency, has close ties to Opus Dei and, according to The Guardian, “receives regular spiritual guidance from an Opus Dei-led [Catholic Information Center] in Washington DC, a hub of activity for the radical and secretive Catholic group.”

In a recent article for New York magazine, author Nina Burleigh explains how a Catholic priest named C. John McCloskey arrived in Washington in the late 1990s to convert some of the most influential American conservatives to the teachings and practices of Opus Dei, “among them Robert Bork, columnist Robert Novak, Kansas senator Sam Brownback, Larry Kudlow, Newt Gingrich, as well as lesser-known figures like right-wing publisher Alfred Regnery. Fox News host Laura Ingraham credits Opus Dei–connected lawyer Pat Cipollone with her conversion.”

How this “vision” of one random individual in 1930s Spain became a financial and politically influential global powerhouse — not to mention its responsibility for the collapse of one of Europe’s largest banks — is the story behind the new and engrossing book “Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church,” by journalist Gareth Gore.

From the press release: “Drawing on unparalleled access to bank records, insider accounts, and exclusive interviews with whistle-blowers from within Opus Dei, Gore reveals how money from the bank was used to lure unsuspecting recruits—some of them only children—into a life of servitude. He also tracks the ascent of Opus Dei within the United States, exposing its role in bankrolling many right-wing causes, including the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.”

In our final episode before the election, Unreasonable’s conversation with Gareth Gore returns us to our mission of informing you of the forces driving religious encroachments on our secular society. In the past, we’ve introduced you to the New Apostolic Reformation, The Family and, more recently, Ziklag. As it turns out, Opus Dei is the OG of seven mountains dominionism, seeking to impose its worldview on every part of society. And its success has laid out the modern-day template for monied elites to impose their superstitious beliefs on how we live, what we read, who we love, even the children we bear.

Listen to our interview with Gareth Gore today.

If the Democrats lose this election, Kevin Roberts, The Heritage Foundation, Leonard Leo, the apostles of NAR, and Opus Dei, will take full control of this country, and Escrivá’s vision will take one giant step closer to reality. #vote

Bennett