Posted on 09/27/2002 8:45:33 AM PDT by ultima ratio
Letter to the Pope
A LETTER TO HIS HOLINESS, JOHN PAUL II, FROM FORMER MEMBERS OF OPUS DEI, THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN HARMED BY OPUS DEI AND OTHER CONCERNED INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEEPLY APPREHENSIVE ABOUT THE IMMINENT CANONIZATION OF MONSIGNOR JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA
Your Holiness,
We ask you to open your heart and mind to us, and to believe that we are deeply in earnest, for we are aware that in asking you for a hearing on the grave matter of Opus Dei and the canonization of its founder, Monsignor Josemaria Escriva, we speak as witnesses before Truth itself-Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the Just One, who searches the reins and hearts and from whom nothing is hidden. We pray, of course, that Monsignor Escriva is at peace with God, but worry that canonization will promote him, as well as Opus Dei, as a model for holiness. We appeal to you now, at this late hour, because all earlier efforts have been ignored, and because the peril is profound. We believe that the truth we speak should be heard and acted on for the sake of the Gospel, the consciences of the faithful, the honor of the Church, and the future authority of the Papacy.
Because we believe that this truth has in large part been kept from you, we set forth our testimony now to warn you about the danger to the faith posed by unjustified reverence for the man you plan soon to canonize and by the highly questionable organization he created in his own image and spirit. We speak not only from deep and wounding personal experience but on behalf of other people from a great many nations who have been deceived, mistreated, and dehumanized as members of Opus Dei. Many of them, by the grace of God, have found it possible to leave in good conscience, but many others continue to suffer grievously within Opus Dei.
These members of an organization calling itself holy live and work not in the joyful spirit St. Paul calls "the glorious liberty of the children of God," but in a mind-controlled parody of Christianity and in the shadow of an idol whom they call "the Father" and "our Father." We are well aware of your regard for him, and know how shocking and implausible these charges must seem to anyone unacquainted with the darker side of Monsignor Escriva and Opus Dei. But we also know these charges are true. We therefore pray that that truth you praised so memorably in Veritatis Splendor will speak through you even at this late hour and prevent this terrible and unthinkable travesty from taking place.
In that celebrated encyclical, you wrote, "man is constantly tempted to turn his gaze away from the living and true God in order to direct it toward idols." That is especially true, your Holiness, when the idol wears a monsignor's purple, makes benevolent public pronouncements, and presents himself as a champion of Catholic orthodoxy--even as he alienates children from their parents, even as he seeks prestige and honors, even as he fosters a cult of personality and promotes his own canonization.
No doubt, your Holiness, you have both witnessed and been told about a very different Opus Dei. You have seen its other side-its zeal and efficiency, its apparent financial generosity, its help in combating communism in Poland and its contribution to countering pro-abortion propaganda in the developing nations. Yet such efforts only bring to mind the efforts of another Catholic organization, the Sillon, which a century ago won high praise before earning a firm and lasting rebuke from the great Pius X. With Opus Dei, as with the Sillon, the rod of correction is sorely needed. None of the good that individual members, or the organization, may have done or may now be doing can begin to compensate for the terrible harm it has done by dividing families, by turning many parents of members away from the Church, by its tireless and unscrupulous campaign to gain power and wealth, by the moral damage it does to its members through its culture of secrecy and dishonesty, and by the psychological damage it inflicts through depersonalization and emotional deprivation. As Monsignor Escriva advised Opus Dei members, "…eat, sleep and forget that you exist."
Meanwhile, all of this goes on even as Opus Dei claims to be, in the words of Monsignor Escriva, "the predilect of God," an organization benevolently intended for "men and women of all races who endeavor to love and serve God in and through their daily work." This is not the splendor of truth, this is the rhetoric of an organization that goes to extraordinary lengths to suppress any criticism, that cultivates in its members a dangerously intense loyalty to itself and to its founder, that behind its facade of orthodoxy is slowly insinuating itself into the highest levels of Church government, and that it represents a grave future danger to the integrity and unity of the Catholic Church.
We stand against this organization because we are faithful Catholics who refuse to call evil good or good evil. Just as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of a cloud of heavenly witnesses watching over the children of faith, so do we, your supplicants, speak on behalf of a cloud of earthly witnesses. They include priests and professors, doctors and lawyers, cooks and maids. They include people who knew Monsignor Escriva intimately and who can witness to his arrogance and malevolent temper, his unseemly quest for a title (Marquis of Peralta), his dishonesty, his indifference to the poor, his love of luxury and ostentation, his lack of compassion, and his idolatrous devotion to Opus Dei.
Regrettably, your Holiness, you have not yet heard these witnesses. Neither has any ecclesiastic body in Rome, including the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, which is charged with separating truth from error in the vital matter of deciding who shall be pronounced worthy to be called a heavenly intercessor. Quite simply, these witnesses have not been heard from because Opus Dei and its sympathizers have prevented it. The office of Promoter of the Faith (or Devil's Advocate) has been eliminated, with the result that, just when there is the greatest need for it, there is no one to say, "Let us now hear from those witnesses who think Monsignor Escriva should not be raised to the altars." And so now, as the days race toward the sixth of October and grave scandal to the Church, it remains for you, Holy Father, to be that Promoter of the Faith and to hear the faithful voices speaking out of that cloud of witnesses.
Having no fear of the truth, having no need to hide it or keep it secret in the manner of Opus Dei, we urge you to invite not only witnesses from our ranks to testify in your presence, but representatives from Opus Dei as well. Then let us see who will dare to swear falsely. It will not be any of those who have signed this letter, your Holiness, for we know that in the perfect will of God the truth we speak cannot ultimately be defeated, no matter how clever the opposition's lies, how artful the masquerade, or how long and persistently the deception has been carried forward.
As you well know, the Church is even now living through a nightmarish scandal because of the involvement of renegade bishops and priests in crimes against nature and crimes against children. But horrifying though it is, that scourge will pass. The canonization of Monsignor Escriva, on the other hand, will never pass. It will offend God. It will tarnish the Church forever. It will rob the saints of their holy distinction. It will call into question the credibility of all canonizations during your Pontificate. It will undermine the future authority of the Papacy.
The Church is being drawn to the edge of a precipice and is as near to it as the calendar is near to October 6. We therefore implore you, Holy Father, as your sheep and God's servants, to draw back, to seek out the testimony that has been kept from you, to reaffirm the mark of the Church as the pillar and ground of truth, and to trust that heaven will make a way out of this terrible difficulty even as it helps you restore the splendor of truth in the beauty of holiness.
In hope and fidelity, we await your answer.
Like the charismatic movement, Opus Dei members foster a kind of "super Catholicism" that is somehow beyond the ordinary schlub in the pew.
That's Pharisaical.
The Pope is guided by the Holy Spirit and is "infallible." How can the truth possibly be kept from him. Is the Holy Spirit keeping the truth from him?
I cannot for the life of me understand people who join a religion that claims to speak infallibly for God and then begin to question it's pronouncements.
Only in very limited and well-defined circumstances does the Pope speak "infallibly." Escriva may or may not be a saint, but Opus Dei is not as benign as many of its adherents preach.
Members of Opus Dei think of themselves as “the elite” in the Church and better than all other Catholics. They believe that they alone are truly faithful to the Church and the Pope, with the exception of maybe one or two other orders in the Church. Members are told it would be in “bad spirit” to go to confession to a non-Opus Dei priest; the Founder is often quoted saying that it would be like “letting outsiders wash our dirty clothes.”
Does anyone know the official reason given for this?
Isn't it absurd to have theological debates. Shouldn't the pope just speak "ex cathedra" and solve this debate.
A person’s identity is normally defined by how they spend their time, what they wear, who their friends are, where they work, etc. If numeraries of Opus Dei spend too much time at their job, fuss over what they want to wear, insist on getting together with family or old friends or perhaps have a time-consuming hobby, they are told that they are “selfish.” These selfish acts are considered “sins” because they take away from the mission of Opus Dei. Little by little, the identities of numeraries become blurred with the identity of Opus Dei. There are stories about how “cute” it was that the former Prelate Fr. Portillo did not know what his favorite flavor of ice cream was. That was because he could not make decisions for himself anymore.
The absurdity of Catholicism make the use of the word "obviously" very inappropriate.
The pope must "know" the right answer before the Holy Spirit can protect him from error???
And you know this how...? Because a group of former members wrote a letter (without specific charges) and got the The Seattle Catholic to publish it? And they know this how?
I did. This is right off the initial page:
ODAN challenges many of Opus Dei's Questionable Practices because of the way they affect an individual's personal freedom, choices and family life.
I'm not against ODAN writing web pages and challenging anybody or even Opus Dei's "Questionable Practices". The Catholic Church is a BIG place and the Holy Spirit gives out MANY gifts to different individuals and groups. Has it occurred to you that anybody, members included, that don't like Opus Dei don't have to join in the first place or - CAN LEAVE!? If it is so bad it will die out like many of the heterodox men, and especially women, Orders in the Church are doing today. Of course, Opus Dei is not a Religious Order where vows are taken, but that is not the point. I think the point is, however, that Opus Dei is an exceptionally orthodox movement in the Church which is growing and many dissenting Catholics don't like that one bit. In my dealings with them I have not found them to think of themselves as "elitist" or "superior". I would swear I've met "ODAN" before, except then "he" was using the same techniques to blast Regnum Christi and the Legionaries of Christ with their founder Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado. I will make use of Richard John Neuhaus' statement in the March 2002 issue of Public Square of First Things - Feathers of A Scandal, dealing with the same "elitist" title against the Legion, to reply to your charge found at "ODAN" (See your Post #7) against Opus Dei. While the two groups are not the same, the statement, in substance, I wish to apply to Opus Dei:
It is said that the Legion is elitist. And I suppose there is something to that, keeping in mind that elitism is too often employed as a term of opprobrium by those offended by the violation of the mediocre. There is no doubt that Legionaries think they are part of something very special—as do all young people who surrender themselves to a great vision that is attended by demanding discipline. It was once true of those who entered the Society of Jesus, and still is true of some who, in the radically reduced number entering that order, are determined to revive the Ignatian charism. The leaders of the Legion strongly discourage comparisons with the earlier Society of Jesus, precisely because they know that such comparisons are so frequently made and have excited Jesuit hostility from the early days in Mexico to the present. But yes, there is a tone of elitism among Legionaries. At least as I read it, it is not a sense of sinful pride but of being privileged to be part of something so great in its challenge and promise. For them, to be a Legionary priest has a distinct panache, but it is panache in the service of achieving the pinnacle, which is to be—radically and without remainder—a priest of Christ and his Church.
You are welcome to defend Opus Dei if you wish. I know two ex-members, and they left because they were shocked at some of the practices and the "human zombies" they met among the numeraries.
It reminded me of some of the weak-willed emotionalism that I saw in the Catholic charismatic movement. Oh yes, there were good people there too, but it's just dangerous to foster a devotion to a human being, future saint or not.
I take it, then, you have a great deal of anxiety over our current Pope's devotion to Mary.
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