Pope Leo, Opus Dei, and the battle for the soul of Catholicism

Reactionary Catholics are a small minority of core Republican voters, but in many ways they set the party’s agenda because they’re so well organized and have a much stronger intellectual tradition than the Evangelicals who dominate the Republican voting base. But this trend exists internationally as well, and Opus Dei, a lay-member organization founded in Spain, has become a political powerhouse in a number of different countries.Aside from the ridiculous caricatures of the group painted by Dan Brown in his Da Vinci Code novels, there has not been much detailed reporting on Opus Dei’s activities. The group is so secretive, in fact, that even the leadership of the church itself has often not known what Opus Dei has been up to.That has began to change in recent years, however, thanks in large measure to journalist Gareth Gore, who has been reporting on the group for several years and has released an important book which is now out in paperback called Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church. It’s become an international bestseller that has become so influential that Pope Leo XIV actually invited him to discuss his findings and recommendations at a private meeting.I was pleased to be joined by Gareth to discuss Opus Dei and his book for this episode. We also talked about why Leo, the first American pope, is becoming a historically significant figure through his efforts to reconcile the conservative faith with democracy in the twenty-first century by telling conservative Catholics that they have a place in modernity—contrary to what reactionary and anti-democratic groups like Opus Dei are telling them.I hope you’ll enjoy.If you’re interested in supporting Theory of Change, we are doing a fundraising drive for the show and for Flux on GoFundMe. I’d really appreciate your support. You can also become a paid supporter on Patreon or on Substack. Thank you so much for your help. I cannot do this work without you.The video of our conversation is available, the transcript is below. Because of its length, some podcast apps and email programs may truncate it. Access the episode page to get the full text. You can subscribe to Theory of Change and other Flux podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, YouTube, Patreon, Substack, and elsewhere.Related Content—Trump hates Pope Leo because he sees himself as the real representative of Christians—In the Republican Party, reactionary Catholics set the agenda rather than Evangelicals—To understand the Christian right, learn the history of the postwar Christian left—Trumpism isn’t conservative, and saying this is still important—James Talarico and the re-invigoration of liberal Christianity—The Apocalypse of Don: Trump, Nietzsche, and Antichrist America 🔒—The Christian Right was a theological rebellion against the idea of improving society—Inside the rallies, the January 6th attack was undeniably a Christian nationalist event—Far-right pastors ask God to ‘kill’ Democrats spiritually—How the EWTN cable channel sought to radicalize CatholicsAudio Chapters00:00 — Introduction12:26 — Pope Leo XIV standing as a conservative against reactionaries15:48 — Reactionary billionaire Peter Thiel trying to merge reactionary apocalypse traditions20:14 — René Girard as the source of Thiel’s Antichrist obsessions23:10 — A brief history of Opus Dei29:14 — The Fatima miracle tradition within Hispanic reactionary Catholicism33:52 — Opus Dei and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco38:00 — The expansion of Opus Dei outside of Spain, including in the U.S.42:35 — Opus Dei priest converted many Republicans to Catholicism and was accused of sexual assault44:58 — Dan Brown’s ‘Da Vinci Code’ and Opus Dei51:19 — Reactionary Christian traditions grow because they provide economic and social support57:09 — Abuses, including sex trafficking, were protected by Opus Dei’s secrecy01:02:22 — Pope Leo’s investigation of Opus DeiAbout the ShowTheory of Change is hosted by Matthew Sheffield about larger trends and intersections of politics, religion, media, and technology. It's part of the Flux network, a new content community of podcasters and writers. Please visit us at flux.community to learn more and to tell us about what you're doing. We're constantly growing and learning from the great people we meet.Theory of Change on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheoryChangeMatthew Sheffield on Social MediaMastodon: https://mastodon.social/@mattsheffieldTwitter: https://twitter.com/mattsheffieldBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit plus.flux.community/subscribe