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From: finnerty@sal-sun59.usc.edu (Brian Finnerty)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Opus Dei
Message-ID: <Nov.5.05.10.42.1990.16217@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 5 Nov 90 10:10:44 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu


  Opus Dei has been very effective in promoting the Catholic Church's teaching 
through a personal apostolate of ordinary men and women sharing their faith 
one-on-one with their family and friends. Some groups who misunderstand the 
Catholic Church and its teachings may also have a distorted understanding
of Opus Dei.
  The charge that Opus Dei is somehow politically conservative or "right wing"
is very unfair. Opus Dei has no political agenda and its only purpose is to 
spread Catholic teaching and to help people live it in their daily lives.
In 1987, John Paul II released his encyclical "On Social Concerns" 
("Sollicitudo Rei Socialis"). The Pope argued that the major East- West
blocks were characterized by two different versions of materialism, a 
relentless desire for profit on the one hand, and a relentless desire for 
power on the other. Political conservatives like Buckley, Novak, 
and Safire reacted by sharply criticizing the Pope's critique of the moral 
failings of western capitalism. Opus Dei energetically promoted the teachings
of the encyclical by distributing copies of the encyclical, 
giving classes on the subject, discussing it in talks and sermons, and 
doing everything to spread the Pope's message as widely as possible. A couple
of weeks ago, I lent a copy of the encyclical to a friend of mine, and
when I went on an Opus Dei retreat recently, I read an article we published
defending the encyclical's teachings.
  The Catholic Church recognizes that the Church must have a love of
preference for the poor, and recent Church teachings have outlined 
principles of a genuine "theology of liberation". Nevertheless, the
Church rejects ideologies which are inconsistent with principles of Christian
charity, which ignore man's eternal destiny, and which forget that man's 
struggle for liberation must be founded upon a personal struggle for 
liberation from sin. Opus Dei defends the Church's teaching on this point,
so Opus Dei has been attacked by some who would reduce the Gospel to a temporal
political utopia.
  The Catholic Church recognizes failings in Marxism and liberal capitalism.
However, Catholic social teaching does not constitute a political program 
or a set of particular solutions. Instead, the Catholic Church gives criteria 
for judgement and a vision of man and his eternal vocation. Catholics have the 
freedom and the responsibility to apply these principles as they see fit.
The Catholic Church attempts to preach the Gospel, but it would be a 
violation of the freedom of Catholics and a usurpation of power for some 
Catholic religious organization to attempt to promote a particular political 
ideology.
  Opus Dei does not attempt to impose any particular ideology or political 
program. Any such attempt would be absolutely contrary to the spirit of 
Opus Dei.
  I would not label myself as a liberal, but I don't think I'd qualify as
a "right winger". I oppose the deaf penalty, I am in favor of gun control, 
I believe that Reagan's war against Nicaragua was unjust and immoral, 
and I turned town a job offer from Bell Labs to develop computer systems
for anti-submarine warfare because I had ethical reservations about that
kind of work.
  If you come to a center of Opus Dei, no one is going to ask you about
your politics. However, you may be asked if you pray, if you do your work
well motivated by a love for Christ, if you spend time with your family, 
if you share your faith with your family and friends, and if you attempt to 
live the Christian Gospel in your ordinary everyday life.

Brian Finnerty