Warning: Dei-nger Directly Ahead
The Opus Dei Feeding Frenzy
Project 2025 Launches in Three Weeks
“While most of Opus Dei’s 90,000 members are not privy to the organization’s political work, the inner circle of roughly 30,000 “numenaries” are involved in far-right political, educational, and financial activities around the world.” -- The Real Opus Dei: Human Trafficking, Cult-Like Abuse... and the Supreme Court
The most recent podcast of Gaslit Nation with Andrea Chalupa featured Gareth Gore, the author of: Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church
It is important to note that “The Church” obviously does not care for Gore’s reporting on the secretive sect/cult Opus Dei. Nor do they care for Jay Michaelson’s in-depth reporting on the human trafficking, the massive money and influence and the now far-right power grab in Washington, D.C.
“What is Opus Dei? It's a shadowy global right-wing organization founded in Spain just before the Spanish Civil War. Supported by powerful Republican figures like Leonard Leo, Opus Dei is a Christian nationalist movement fueling efforts to dismantle democracy and pave the way for dictatorship in America.” –Gaslit Nation
If you want to know who is calling the shots amongst the disparate groups associated with Project 2025, it is the massive funding coming from the Catholic dark money cult of Opus Dei. Opus Dei has spent decades building a task force in D.C., basically taking over the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation and writing the text for the dangerous Talibangelical Project 2025.
“It is no secret that Opus Dei does not like many of the Pope’s policies to reform corruption and move the Church to the 21st century. Change is taking place, and I believe the material described factually in this book has played a significant role in bringing light to the harmful practices of this very powerful organization.” -- Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church
Pope Francis has made decrees in the past few years (including this past August) to defang Opus Dei, but it’s important to note that Francis is not just old (almost 90) but far too ‘progressive’ for Opus Dei. Opus Dei wants Francis gone, so they have ignored everything Francis has said about them, betting that they will outlive him, and the next conclave will bring another far-right ‘conservative’ Pope to the Church. Now that Opus Dei has conquered D.C., don’t be surprised if the Catholics will soon be looking for a new Pope.
The USA of Spain?
“But after the war, after Franco's victory, things really started to take off. So Opus Dei started to receive quite a bit of financial and operational help from the Franco regime. Escribar himself offered private retreats for the Gaudia at his palace.
The conditions of this kind of brutal dictatorship were almost ideal for Opus Dei. So Franco was worried about the potential for young people and for students in particular, to potentially kind of rise up and be some kind of opposition to the regime. So he was very keen on enlisting members of the church, and in particular the clergy, to watch out for these people.” –Gaslit Nation
Opus Dei launched itself by supporting the dictator of Spain, Francisco Franco. Opus Dei began with a campaign of deepening the divisions in the country with culture wars (sound familiar?) and pouring gasoline on the coming Civil War. At the time the civil war happened, Opus Dei only had around 20 members according to Gore. Afterward was when Opus Dei started to amass wealth and power under the newly formed Franco dictatorship.
Opus Dei is running the same playbook in the United States, only now they have a vast network of players and although Opus Dei is a Catholic cult, they have joined forces with any number of Evangelical groups as well as the New Apostolic Reformation and the Seven Mountains Mandate (Dominionists).
Not only does Opus Dei now have the executive and legislative branches of the government, but by providing unlimited funding to the Federalist Society they have captured the judicial branch as well, having hand-picked five of the six Catholic justices on the Supreme Court.
Running the entire show is Project 2025 and The Council for National Policy. The goal is a Christofascist takeover of the country. The CNP are Christian Nationalists, basically White Nationalists, deeply racist and deeply misogynist.
“In 2023, there were 165 active white nationalist groups across the United States – the highest number the SPLC has ever recorded. White nationalists have been mobilized by the broader far-right reactionary movement that has taken hold in American politics in recent years.” –Southern Poverty Law Center
A Cabal of Moralists
For a detailed view of the players visit here and here. Another strong resource is here. For a full list of the 110 organizations behind Project 2025, click here.
“It is not a social or cultural movement. It is a political movement, and its ultimate goal is power. It does not seek to add another voice to America’s pluralistic democracy but to replace our foundational democratic principles and institutions with a state grounded on a particular version of Christianity, answering to what some adherents call a “biblical worldview” that also happens to serve the interests of its plutocratic funders and allied political leaders.”― Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism
These are all pro authoritarian, anti-democratic and anti-small-L ‘liberal’ democracy. They are in bed with Putin, Orban and other autocratic players on the globe and it is all in the name of ending secularism and turning the country into a theocracy based on “Biblical” teachings.
This is a five-decade plus wet dream of the CNP and Opus Dei has been the cash cow for the push to put the Dear Leader in power. T***p is 78 years old, demented and is only a puppet now for the people behind Project 2025.
Joining the fracas this past year are the multi-billionaires helping to fund this fiasco. At first, one would think that the markets would have a say in this, but it now seems near inevitable that they will crash the markets. The strategy is twofold. On one hand, it allows them to turn the screws on the plebeians even harder, making the public’s power weaker. On the other hand, it allows them to sit back and wait for prices to drop so they can buy up distressed assets for cheap.
The most disturbing thing about the Christian Nationalists is how far removed they are from The Christ.
Jesus had two teachings, two. Love God, love your neighbor. That’s it. He forcefully rejected Satan when he offered him “Dominion” over the Earth. “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
"Maybe history will look back on this era of American political idolatry in this church and say, 'who stood against this?'" -- U.S. Christians pushing back on Christian nationalism
At this point, it will be up to Christians to stand up to the Christian Nationalism. There are a number of who are doing this today. I have written about James Talerico previously. He is perhaps one of the most vocal and eloquent regarding the “political idolatry.”
So, the churches will need to go back to fishing for men…teaching spirituality and, hopefully, some mysticism.
Rob Reiner produced a documentary on Christian Nationalism called God & Country which points out this period we are in is the new Crusades. There is a website Christians Against Christian Nationalism. There is the BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty). Also, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Russell Moore is another pastor who is outspoken in Christian Nationalism.
“The uneasy conscience of Christian nationalism pretends that our problem is the opposite of what Jesus told us: that by calling ourselves an orchard we can bring fruit from diseased trees (Matt. 7:15–20), that by controlling what is on the outside of us we can renew what is inside (Matt. 12:33–37).” -- The Uneasy Conscience of Christian Nationalism
The reality is that the country is for all of us, Christian or not. Christian Nationalists won’t be satisfied until they have achieved total domination over every aspect of U.S. society. Project 2025 launches in three weeks.
“I looked for God. I went to a temple and I didn't find him there. Then I went to a church and I didn't find him there. Then I went to a mosque and I didn't find him there. Then finally I looked in my heart and there he was.” --Rumi