Cloaked Influence: Opus Dei’s Push for Project 2025
“The U.S. was never meant to be a secular democracy” — Bill Barr
Bill Barr is affiliated with Opus Dei, the Christian extremist group (featured in The Da Vinci Code) which helps explain his perspective.
“Opus Dei has outsized influence within Catholicism, due to the prominent roles many of its members play in professional and political circles.”
How does Opus Dei use its influence? Stack the courts with Christian extremists. Ban abortions. Defund public schools to give money to Catholic schools. Persecute the LGBTQ. Push Project 2025 to create a Christian dictatorship. Learn more with this interactive map.
Spot the Opus Dei members?
Authoritarian Christian state
“The idea that the United States must become a Christian nation has apparently led Barr to accept the idea that a man who has called for the execution of those he sees as enemies should be president, apparently because he is expected to usher in an authoritarian Christian state, in preference to a man who is using the power of the government to help ordinary Americans.” — Heather Cox Richardson
What is Opus Dei?
“Opus Dei is a small but powerful organization within the Catholic Church officially known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. Its members believe they are called to serve God not just through personal spiritual acts, but also through how they conduct themselves in their professional and family lives.
They abide by strict conservative teachings and generally maintain a level of secrecy, often choosing not to volunteer their membership to people outside the church. Opus Dei is notable for being the Catholic Church’s only “personal prelature”, meaning its global membership is determined by personal criteria instead of a geographical area, as would be the case with a local diocese.
Its special status has invited controversy, with some Catholic scholars likening it to a “church within a church” and criticizing the amount of influence it wields.” — ABC
Bill Barr and Leonard Leo
“Bill Barr served on the boards of several religious groups, including the Catholic Information Center, a self-described “intellectual hub,” affiliated with the ultraconservative order Opus Dei. Those groups include other conservative Washington insiders, such as Leonard Leo, the executive vice president of the Federalist Society. Mr. Leo has also served on the board of the Catholic Information Center and he came out strongly in favor of Mr. Trump’s nomination of Mr. Barr for attorney general.
In a sense, both Mr. Barr and Mr. Leo have found parallel ways to use the Trump administration as a vehicle for their causes. Mr. Leo has enormous influence from outside the government on the selection of judicial nominees. And from the inside, Mr. Barr played a role in federal judicial appointments and has supported a Justice Department task force set up to look for cases of religious discrimination” — NY Times
Leonard Leo, who co-chairs the Federalist Society, the influential conservative lawyers network in Washington, is known as the architect of the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority. Leo served as former President Donald Trump’s judicial adviser — helping him select three justices while simultaneously directing the dark-money campaigns to boost their confirmations. His network has spread money around to help bring cases before the Supreme Court, determine which cases the justices consider, and influence the court’s decisions. — Rolling Stone
TakeAway: Stop Opus Dei from overthrowing American democracy to install a Christian dictatorship. Vote for President Biden and Democrats.
Deepak
DemLabs
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Image credit: The Da Vinci Code
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Reposted from Democracy Labs with permission.
