Update on the Christian nationalist right and its partners in political authoritarianism

Frank Schaeffer offers a summary of the current Christian nationalist influence in the Trumpist movement, aka, the Republican Party. He emphasizes the particular influence on the far-right Opus Dei on the Trumpistas. (1)

Putting TechBro authoritarians and dyspeptic Christian nationalist cranks in charge of the country is a really bad idea.

Not surprisingly, the head honcho of the Project 2025 Project, Kevin Roberts:

,,, has close ties and receives regular spiritual guidance from an Opus Dei-led center in Washington DC, a hub of activity for the radical and secretive Catholic group.

Roberts acknowledged in a speech last September that – for years – he has visited the Catholic Information Center [CIC], a K Street institution headed by an Opus Dei priest and incorporated by the archdiocese of Washington, on a weekly basis for mass and “formation”, or religious guidance. Opus Dei also organizes monthly retreats at the CIC. [my emphasis] (2)

Nina Burleigh in New York magazine recently described the CIC group this way:

[The CIC is ] run by Opus Dei (Latin for “the Work of God”), which is not focused on ministering to the masses (and if it were, it would be failing spectacularly, as more Americans are leaving the Catholic Church than joining it, by as much as four to one).Instead, it is focused on marshaling the people who have various forms of authority over the masses (Opus Dei reportedly calls them the “intellectuals”) to its various revanchist causes. The group targets, and attracts, people like Donald Trump’s current running mate, J.D. Vance, a convert to conservative Catholicism by way of Opus Dei–connected clergy and influencers.

Wait, Opus Dei, you say? That menacing group of self-flagellators to which albino assassin-monk Silas belonged that lies at the center of the web of conspiracies in The Da Vinci Code? In the Tom Hanks movie, Paul Bettany played Silas. The group was admittedly fictionalized to up the drama in the thriller, but it does, in fact, exist and has for nearly a century, one of the more exotic of the many factions within the vast Catholic Church. It would seem to be precisely the kind of mysterious clique with tentacles into the elites that would pique MAGA’s conspiratorial fever. But the CIC, which doubles as the Opus Dei office in Washington, and the national network of wealthy and powerful right-wing Catholics affiliated with it are among the most effective forces in MAGA world and the American Christian-nationalist movement. It is allied with Protestant Evangelicals in many of its goals but is more hierarchical and often more institutionally organized. Opus Dei can marshal centuries of intellectual heft of the Church behind it. [my emphasis] (3)

The vibes around Opus Dei are at the least “weird,” to use a newly trendy word, thanks to Tim Walz. A 1995 article by James Martin from the Jesuit magazine America with the bland title of “Opus Dei in the United States” (4) provides a careful report illustrating that. (For those not current on the position of Catholic orders, if Opus Dei falls on the hard right of the political-theological spectrum, the Jesuits are on the other end.) If anything, Opus Dei has become even “weirder” over the last three decades. I mean, they are partnering closely with the Trumpistas, after all!

Notes:

(1) The (Opus) DEI Candidates. Frank Schaeffer YouTube channel 09/24/2024. <https://youtu.be/w545gH-bnYE?si=2IHO1YHs3LnigsTb> (Accessed: 2024-26-09).

(2) Leingang, Rache & Kirchgaessner, Stephanie (2024): Kevin Roberts, architect of Project 2025, has close ties to radical Catholic group Opus Dei. Guardian 07/26/2024. <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/kevin-roberts-project-2025-opus-dei> (Accessed: 2024-26-09).

(3) Burleigh, Nina (2024): How Opus Dei Conquered D.C. New York 09/26/2024. <https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/opus-dei-members-catholic-washington-dc-politicans-jd-vance.html> (Accessed: 2024-26-09).

(4) Marin, James (1995)Opus Dei in the United States. America 02/25/1995. <https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/1995/02/25/opus-dei-united-states-james-martin> (Accessed: 2024-26-09).