Kate Mannix’s piece in yesterdays’
Sydney Morning Herald – quoted in Crikey yesterday by Christian Kerr – was full of inaccuracies. Opus Dei is for women and for men. It
is “mainstream” because it teaches only what the Catholic Church teaches and is
approved by the Church as a Prelature, part of the hierarchical structure of the
Church.

There is a distinction to be made
between “members” and supporters. I, as a member, have responded to a
supernatural vocation by making a commitment to God in Opus Dei. Opus Dei
provides me with spiritual input and pastoral care. Nothing else. My views on
politics, the environment, international relations or any other secular topic
are mine and mine alone. Non-members of Opus Dei also benefit from its spiritual
input. How they enact their lives comes down to their own personal
responsibility.

Accusations of “secrecy” are absurd.
Opus Dei has its own website and information offices in every country in which
it conducts activities. Opus Dei members do not go around flaunting their
membership or wearing a uniform because we are ordinary Catholics who don’t want
to be treated any differently. Members are trying to have a go at seeking
holiness through their work and ordinary lives.

CRIKEY: We rang Fairfax to find out why Kate Mannix’s piece was removed
from the website yesterday but corporate spokesman Bruce Wolpe declined
to comment. It’s a strange reluctance, especially given Fairfax is a
media company that relies on open and honest communication and expects its journalists to check facts.

In the absence of any official word from the company we’re left with no
choice but to rely on the unofficial word from informed insiders, who
tell us that there have been legal threats over the myriad inaccuracies
in the Mannix article. Perhaps Wolpe’s hostility to ordinary fact
checking has seen the practice slide into irreversible decline? Let’s
hope the paper can at least be big enough to give Richard Vella’s
response a decent run.