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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Opus Dei Connection: How a Mysterious Catholic Sect Pulls the Strings of MAGA Judges
In a recent investigation by MeidasTouch hosts Ben Meiselas and Court Accountabilitys co-founder and executive director Alex Aronson, an unsettling connection was uncovered between Opus Dei, a secretive Catholic sect formed in 1920s Spain, and MAGA-aligned federal judges in the United States. The investigation traces how Opus Dei, notorious for its hidden agendas and extreme religious practices, has infiltrated America's legal system through key figures like Leonard Leo, a conservative mastermind behind the Federalist Society.
Opus Dei first gained widespread recognition through fictional works like The Da Vinci Code, but as Aronson and Meiselas point out, its real-world influence is far from fiction. The sect, initially formed under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco in Spain, has long sought to embed its far-right Christian ideology into civic life. One of its most successful endeavors has been aligning with Leonard Leo, a name synonymous with right-wing judicial appointments and dark money influence in U.S. politics.
Leos role, often overshadowed by public figures like Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, is far more insidious than previously thought. By leveraging over $1.6 billion in dark money, Leo has worked to install judges who espouse an extremist, theocratic agenda, including the dismantling of womens reproductive rights and the erosion of the separation between church and state. Opus Deis involvement, as uncovered in Gareth Gore's book Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church, shows how deeply intertwined these forces have become.
Aronson explains how Opus Dei operates with a dual structure: it includes elite members who live in secretive, self-contained residences and regular, lay members who work within society to influence key sectors such as law and politics. Leonard Leo, closely linked to Opus Dei through Washington, D.C.'s Catholic Information Center, uses his connections to steer judicial decisions that reflect the sect's vision of a far-right, Christian-dominated America.
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/the-opus-dei-connection-how-a-mysterious
4dog
(522 posts)Gareth Gore, my guest on todays PREVAIL podcast, is a financial journalist who has reported from over 25 countries and covered some of the biggest financial stories in his two decades in the business.
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His new book, five years in the making, is OPUS: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church. This is not The DaVinci Code, which was a wretched work of fiction. This is actual journalism. This is the Opus Dei expose weve been waiting for.
end intro excerpt.
Considering the effect on the Supreme Court and much beyond, this cult needs to be understood, to be countered, if it can be done.
DFW
(56,796 posts)Its no accident he gets free vacations on Leonard Leos yacht.
But article needs some proof-reading/fact checking. Opus Dei was indeed formed in Spain, but NOT, as the article stated, under the Franco regime. Indeed, it was almost a decade in place already at the onset of the July 18, 1936 fascist uprising which started the brutal Spanish Civil War, which the fascists won. Opus Dei supported the fascist overthrow of the Spanish Republic, which ceased to exist on April 1, 1939. Spain might have turned into a Catholic theocracy if Franco hadnt been such an ego freak, naming himself Caudillo, which can be equated to Führer or Duce. Academics called it the return of la España negra, or Black Spain. The time of the Inquisition is also so designated. I lived there toward the end of the Franco era, and my teachers, even then, warned us not to freely discuss outside of school what they were teaching us, as it could get us all in trouble.
Blue Full Moon
(1,301 posts)Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano who was excommunicated by Pope Francis. He was ambassador to the USA.
ClarencesBrother
(7 posts)The original Catholic Bible was the Douay-Rheims Bible, not the Kings James version, of course neither of these Bibles are factual translations as many of the original were in Greek and Aramaic and languages somewhat lost to today. Read it at your own risk.
Corrected to say Aramaic, also the Bible as we presently know it is comprised of various texts of the Old Testament, of which there were many and texts of the New Testament, also of there were many, all cherry picked by the church of that day to present todays western world theology. You can find many of the texts both old and new with a simple search on the net, you may be surprised.
Texts that didnt make the cut, ie the theology to keep people in line through fear and intimidation, sound familiar?
There were many beliefs in the early days that mankind was born free of sin and would ascend to heaven based on their character, this was quickly and horribly stamped out by the early church. It proscribed mankind was born in sin and were required to do everything possible to redeem themselves, give to the church however they could and stay ignorant so they could be manipulated through guilt and fear. Need I say more?
ClarencesBrother
(7 posts)Only founded in 1928 so a fairly modern cult based on power, wealth and fear, same old play book.