OPUS DEI AND THE FALL OF THE REYNOLDS GOVERNMENT (1994)

To: Professor Vincent Comerford
Ronan Fanning
"Dr. Colum Kenny"
Daire Keogh
Dermot Keogh
"Dr. Eoin O'Sullivan"
Professor Irene Whelan
Editor History Ireland
John Horgan
Louise Fuller Maynooth

CC: Fintan O'Toole
"Liz O'Donnell T.D.,
Pat Rabbitte

OPUS DEI AND THE FALL OF THE REYNOLDS GOVERNMENT (1994)

Opus Dei: a victim of the conspiracy theorists

Extract from an article in the Irish Independent on 22 January 2005 by David Quinn

[A member of Opus Dei, Ruth Kelly, was appointed to the British Cabinet in December 2004. This created a furore among those who believe in the "Conspiracy Theory of History". David Quinn points out that the conspiracy theorists are not uneducated idiots but the kind of liberal, progressive, socialist types who created the climate of hysteria that destroyed the government of Albert Reynolds in 1994]

.................................................................................................
Even before these rumours about Kelly began to circulate, however, the name of Opus Dei was already in the ether, thanks mostly to the phenomenally successful bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. This book has sold something in the region of 17 million copies, a truly staggering number. Its central villain is a member of Opus Dei, namely the albino 'monk' Silas, who wears a spiked chain around his thigh so as to 'mortify the flesh' and engages in a little self-flagellation on the side.

And, oh yes, for good measure Silas is an assassin who will stop at nothing for the Kingdom of God... or is that the Kingdom of Opus Dei?

The Da Vinci Code is one giant conspiracy theory but many of its readers actually think it could be correct. Educated types know better. They know that conspiracy theories are the province of overly fertile imaginations.

Or do they? After all, some of the best-educated people in Britain really do believe that Opus Dei is a deeply sinister organisation, a sort of Catholic Illuminati, and a threat to British democracy. Going right back to Henry VIII the plotting, scheming Catholic in thrall to Rome and bent upon restoring the Catholic Church to its rightful place has been part of the British imagination. It looks as if it still is.

In Ireland, too, conspiracy theories can take hold in the very highest reaches of power. Have we forgotten why the Albert Reynolds government fell in 1994? The straw that broke that particular camel's back was the delay in the Attorney Generals Office in processing the papers to extradite the convicted paedophile, Fr Brendan Smyth, from the North.

Immediately rumours began to fly that there was interference from the Catholic Church. Pat Rabbitte, then of Democratic Left, famously said that he had information which would rock the State to its foundations. A member of the Attorney Generals staff was supposed to be in Opus Dei. There was talk that members of Opus Dei had infiltrated some of the most important offices in the land.

Albert Reynolds asked Harry Whelehan's successor as Attorney General whether he was a member of Opus Dei.

An Oireachtas Committee was set up in enquire into the circumstances surrounding the delay in extraditing Fr Smyth. They never discovered anything that remotely smacked of the Catholic conspiracy of rumour. They were chasing shadows.

The Brendan Smyth case made waves in Britain. The British Attorney General at the time was asked whether or not he would employ members of Opus Dei in his Department. He had a quite different attitude from that of Albert Reynolds. He responded: "There is no specific policy in relation to the secondment of Opus Dei members to my Department. The Civil Service does not discriminate on grounds of religion."

...........................................................................................................................

At bottom, Opus Dei offers a particular kind of spiritual life to its members based on daily Mass, praying in the morning and evening, reading the writings of St Escriva, and reading the Bible. They are supposed to bring an awareness of God with them wherever they go, including into the workplace and to be aware of their responsibility to spread the Gospel.

............................................................................................................................

The conspiracy theorists still insist, of course, that behind the scenes within Opus Dei there must be an eminence grise directing all its members and therefore any organisation run by an Opus Dei member is run by Opus Dei itself, and the Opus Dei member is basically an automaton.

Those who are trying to discredit Ruth Kelly by saying she is in Opus Dei are really trying to discredit her presumably because she is an orthodox Catholic. They are hoping to do to her what a majority of European Parliamentarians did last year to Rocco Buttliglione, the Italian nominee to the European Commission. They succeeded in blocking his nomination to the Commission because of his orthodox Catholic beliefs.

The campaign against Kelly seems, at bottom, to be aimed at barring orthodox Catholics from sensitive positions, and her apparent Opus Dei membership is a convenient stick with which to beat her. So far, Blair is having none of it.

COMMENT: Why do I keep harping on about the fall of the Fianna Fail government of Albert Reynolds 12 years ago?
Because it was the first time in the history of the State that a government fell without any rational cause and due to hysteria alone;
Because it marked the introduction of religious hatred as an important factor in Irish politics. (Perhaps Pat Rabbitte or Liz O'Donnell would care to explain why anti-clericalism should be regarded as morally superior to anti-Semitism?);
Because it is linked to anti-clerical episodes in Europe such as the blocking of the nomination of Rocco Buttliglione to the EU Commission;
Above all because it helped to create the atmosphere in which former nun Nora Wall could be convicted of raping a child. Like Albert Reynolds, Nora Wall would become the victim of a climate of hysteria that was created by anti-clerical "liberals".

Rory Connor
30 December 2006