In "The Da Vinci Code" book and movie, Opus Dei was portrayed as a radical right-wing vigilante force dispatching assassin monks to liquidate heretics. The truth is Opus Dei has never been very courageous in countering modernist trends that undermined tradition in its own church. The most obvious example is how the group was actively antagonistic to those who fought in the trenches for decades to bring back the ancient Latin Mass that was suppressed after the liberalizing Second Vatican Council of 1962-65.
Feb. 16, 2010
We could not have said it better. With few exceptions, the "Work" has been as antagonistic towards Summorum Pontificum as an institution can be while continuing to claim to be "faithful to the Pope". Many in the Prelature simply do not seem to like Pope Benedict XVI very much, particularly when compared with his predecessor. (On the subject mentioned in the editorial, we have been told that the event involving a pro-abortion dissenter in Opus Dei property in D.C. has been cancelled.)
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Update: Well, I seem to have hit a nerve somewhere. The basic response to this post from those who disagree with what was written above is one of the following: (1) the newspaper cannot be trusted; (2) Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer is a SAINT, a S A I N T, did you know that????; (3) nobody celebrates the Paul VI Mass better than the Work.
None of these responses dispute the following.
(a) From the editorial: "The truth is Opus Dei has never been very courageous in countering modernist trends that undermined tradition in its own church." Is this untruthful? This does not mean that the members or friends of the Work never did anything in favor of Tradition.
(b) From the comment: "the 'Work' has been as antagonistic towards Summorum Pontificum as an institution can be". I reiterate that, and add: for traditional Catholics around the world, the absolutely underwhelming response of Opus Dei to Summorum Pontificum has been tragic and despairing. If there seemed to be one organization within the Church that was liturgically prepared for a complete reversal to the Traditional Mass and Liturgy, the Work seemed to be it. While blindly following every word emanating from any Roman office had prevented the scrupulous OD from (re-)adopting the Traditional Mass en masse in the 1970-2007 period, the Pope's own pronouncement, by his own will (motu proprio), seemed to remove any obstacles of conscience that members or friends of the Work might have had. With very few exceptions, there has simply been no response.
(c) As for the OD simply "not liking" Pope Benedict XVI as much as Pope John Paul II, it is as much a matter of perception as of hearing from priests and friends of the Work themselves. It is probably the worst-kept secret in the Church... If one needs evidence of that, just remember the two moments in which the Holy Father was practically thrown to the secular dogs, following Summorum and following the lift of the excommunications of the SSPX bishops. Where were these "new Jesuits" to be seen? They were quite vocal when defending themselves from the contents of a fictional book, but when the current and living Pope needed public defense, where were they?
