Can we please talk about Opus Dei? Is it true Novak is a member? >

[Stephanie]

I find that sort of amazing. And Scalia too? Why would so many powerful Washington figures be members of such a bizarre secret cult? Do we know of anyone else?

[deadparrot]

1. here's a link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prominent_members_of_Opus_Dei

[xultar]

2. They all seem like the type of guys who'd dig women entering in a

separate door and cleaning up after them like slaves.

[cap]

28. actually Opus DEI women do that

they wait on the men

[JohnnyBoots]

31. A very Middle Eastern treatment of women...ironic

[blm]

3. Robert Hanssen and Louis Freeh.

Hanssen who was the "source" for speculation that Clinton was being paid off by China,

Freeh, who put 100s of FBI men on Clinton's sex life and poo-pooed reports about global terrorism.

[Stephanie]

4. Robert Hanssen!

I forgot about him! THAT was a freaky story.

[kestrel91316]

7. I don't know why I always thought Freeh was Jewish ...............

just not paying attention, I suppose..............

:shrug:

[ohio_liberal]

5. It's here at Franciscan University

I don't pretend to understand all of it, but there are many Catholics who feel the people connected with Opus Dei at Franciscan University in Steubenville OH are cultists. One of them, Scott Hahn, is particularly vocal. He's on the list in the wiki entry posted above. He's also looked at with great suspicion by Presbyterian ministers, which he used to be before he converted.

[hopein08]

6. Yikes! Scalia's son is a priest & may be a member!

So that's two lawyer sons, who get cushy nepotismic (or is nepotic?) jobs, and one priest son. I read that he has nine kids...this is looking like the 13th feudal families where the oldest son inherits the land, one son goes to the clergy, one to the military (Scalia have that one covered?) I wonder what his other kids do.

This figures.

[carnie_sf]

8. Don't forget the pope

What I'd be more interested in learning is how many of these clowns are Knights of Malta

[DemBones DemBones]

22. What Pope? I've never heard rumours of any Pope being in Opus Dei.

Pope John Paul II's press spokesman is a member. I'm not sure if he has continued to serve as spokesman for Benedict XVI or if there is a new person holding that office now.

[REP]

24. "Opus Dei Has Stake in New Pope"

By Matthew McAllester, Newsday, April 15, 2005

....

Now it faces a new challenge far from the realm of fantasy: As 115 cardinals meet in conclave Monday, there is no guarantee the next pope will treat Opus Dei with the favor Pope John Paul II bestowed upon it.

Among Opus Dei members, "Their basic concern is that they might actually end up among the big losers," said John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of a forthcoming book on the group. But the men and women within Opus Dei insist its future is secure. Bancroft, a group spokesman, dismissed the possibility a new pope will turn against it. Opus Dei's vision of involving lay people further in the Church "is part of the DNA of the Church," he said, and part of the reason for John Paul's backing.

At stake is the influence of an organization that Allen estimates has assets worth $2.8 billion worldwide and $344.4 million in the United States.

Under John Paul, Opus Dei made important gains. In 1992, he beatified its founder, Spanish priest Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. Ten years earlier, the pope had given the group the status of a personal prelature, essentially turning it into the Church's only diocese without geographical boundaries.

[REP]

25. dupe

[REP]

9. Opus Dei Information

http://www.odan.org

The woman mentioned in http://www.odan.org/media_leopards_in_the_temple.htm who needed a h1p replacement is a good friend; her experience with OD is more horrifying than this article lets on. In fact, she is in hiding from her ex-husband.

[Raiden]

10. Mortification belt?!

This is so bizzare!





:scared:

[Stephanie]

12. PIcture Fat Tony wearing that!

I think you wrap it around your leg?

[Raiden]

14. Is that not the creepiest thing you've ever seen?

Reminds me of the flagellants from the Middle Ages, trying to beat the Black Plague out of themselves (as seen in "The Seventh Seal").

That just creeps me out

[REP]

16. That's a Cilice

It's worn on the thigh.

[Swamp Rat]

11. Yep.

[Gabi Hayes]

13. could he use an OD garter belt, da Vinci Code style?

[Raiden]

15. Alright, that's just plain... damn... words escape me!

:o :scared:

[Gabi Hayes]

17. well....it's either that (Opus Dei), or this.....

http://www.yourgoingtohell.com/

take your pick

[Swamp Rat]

20. Ewww!

:puke:

:D

[Binka]

18. It's The KKK Dressed Up In 500 Thread Count Egyptian Cotton Sheets

Opus Dei is a front for the 21st Century Klan.

[SouthernDem2004]

30. How is that? You are claiming they are racist???

[fujiyama]

19. What is it with treasonous Opus Dei members and really bad teeth?

Robert Hanssen who sold secrets to the Russians. BTW, that ass hole FBI director Louis Freeh (who was a partisan creep) also went to the same church as Hanssen and did nothing to stop him. He was also Opus



And of course Novakula:

[DemBones DemBones]

21. Lots of powerful Washington figures have

always been "members of a bizarre secret cult," all the way back to the time of George Washington. That cult is Freemasonry. Our currency has Masonic symbols on it, the city was laid out according to Masonic plans, etc.

How many members of Congress and other government officials are Masons?

I'm not saying Masons are dangerous, necessarily, just pointing out that they have some bizarre, secret rites, too, and that no one has proven Opus Dei is dangerous, either.


According to the Wikipedia article, Hanssen is no long a member and "Opus Dei sent out a letter against Hanssen's activities after his exposure."

Wikipedia says Sam Brownback is a confirmed member but doesn't list anyone else in U.S. government as a confirmed member. All else is RUMOUR.

More from Wikipedia on those rumoured members:

"Some people say that Louis Freeh, once head of the FBI, is a member. The Opus Dei Information Office has denied this, (and other rumours). (See Catholic League's Opus Dei: Fact and Fiction <4>) "... but we would like to dispel once and for all the rumors that Louis Freeh, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Mel Gibson are members." Clearly Mel Gibson is unlikely to be a member, he does not support the Pope. Louis's brother John Freeh was a member, but Opus Dei spokesperson say he has left the organization. (Shannon, page 183)"

[tritsofme]

23. Scalia is not a member

It is a myth, or so Opus Dei says:

Myth: Opus Dei is a secret society.

Fact: The Opus Dei Prelature publishes the names of all its priests and all its international and regional directors. Like dioceses and parishes, it does not publish lay members’ names. Neither do health clubs for that matter, and people surely deserve as much privacy in their spiritual affairs as they do in medical matters. Members, however, are more than happy to tell you of their membership and what Opus Dei is all about.

While we’re at it, we can confirm that the Pope’s spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, is a member, but we would like to dispel once and for all the rumors that Louis Freeh, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Mel Gibson are members.

http://www.opusdei.org/art.php?w=32&p=10101

Don't know about Novakula...

[Raiden]

26. If you had a SCOTUS Justice under your thumb

would you tell anybody?

Make that two justices, and maybe even soon to be three...

[B Calm]

27. How much you want to bet he forgets being a member?

Kinda like Roberts memory hole...

[Raiden]

29. That's their new motto

"I can't remember"