SIGNS OF CONTRADICTION

We visited the Treasury of the Cattedrale of Palermo (above) the other day.  (Full disclosure:  I left the Catholic faith at age nine, immediately after making my First Holy Communion.)  As always when visiting a Catholic church, I was dumbstruck by the enormous accumulation of wealth on display.  Beautiful though it may be, I can’t help but see this array of obscene ostentation and conspicuous consumption as a glaring contradiction in the Catholic Church, an institution which purports to be devoted to the eleemosynary teachings of Christ:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. – Luke 6:20

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. – Luke 19:23–27

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. – Mark 10:21-22

Side Altar Chapel in Silver

And yet, rather than give away to the poor the quarters and euros that land in the collection plates all over the world, the Catholic Church seems to spend the lion’s share of its loot on ecclesiastical décor and priestly fashion.   

Precious Stone-Encrusted Bishop’s Miter

This contradiction led to, among other things, Martin Luther nailing his theses on the doors of a Wittenburg church. 

Bejeweled Chalice

But there are even worse optics.  Take Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church founded in 1928 by a Spanish priest.  Today its members number about 100,000 people in over 90 countries.  The name in Latin means the work of God and the organization is often referred to simply as the Work.  Opus Dei teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity.

Silk Vestments vs. Linen Loincloth

That doesn’t sound terribly controversial.  Yet Opus Dei has been at the center of controversy since its inception in Franco’s Spain.  It’s been accused of being allied with fascists; encouraging corporal mortification; aggressive recruiting; and being overly secretive, misogynistic, and ultra-controlling.  To be sure, there are many supporters who fiercely debate and debunk these characterizations, but none deflects them more creatively than Opus Dei itself.  The organization has countered the criticism with an Alice in Wonderland rationalization worthy of an American politician.  Per Wiki:

Some supporters of Opus Dei have viewed the controversy surrounding the organization as a "Sign of contradiction." Proponents of this view hold that blessed, divinely inspired Christian organizations will always be criticized, just as Jesus was criticized by his contemporaries. Accordingly, they see the very existence of critics as further proof of the organization's sanctity.

Coral-Beaded Altar Frontal

In other words:  “If people are against me, I must be doing something right.”  Not to mention sacred, so you interfere with me at the risk of your own damnation.

According to Wiki:

About 70% of Opus Dei members live in their private homes, leading traditional Catholic family lives with secular careers…. Aside from their personal charity and social work, Opus Dei members organize training in Catholic spirituality applied to daily life; members are involved in running universities, university residences, schools, publishing houses, hospitals, and technical and agricultural training centers.

SCOTUS Cathedral of Law

As well as… the United States Department of Justice (Attorney General Bill Barr), the White House Counsel’s Office (Pat Cippolone), and the Federalist Society (Leonard Leo).  All three men are devout Catholics and are either current or former board members of The Opus Dei Catholic Information Center.  (Membership is secret, but these men have chosen to make their affiliation public.)

We know Cippolone as the author of the “legal arguments” upon which the White House declined to participate in the current impeachment inquiry.  Those are the same “legal arguments” that were shot down last week like Cheney’s duck by federal judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. District Court.  

Leo (above) is responsible for four current Supreme Court Justices (Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh).  As head of the Federalist Society, inspired by the late great Catholic Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Leo is steering Trump toward  conservative federal judges.  In fact, Leo first met Trump in March of 2016 at the offices of Jones Day (or should we say Dei?), where Don McGahn (also a devout Catholic) was a partner.  After the meeting, Leo prepared a list of suggested nominees to the bench for Trump’s consideration.  That’s right.  Opus Dei is putting judges on the federal benches for life.  Separation of Church and State has quietly become a quaint anachronism in the United States.  See Church and State:

The U.S. judiciary has been shaped not only through Leo’s control over Trump’s judicial appointments but also by the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) directed by Leo and run by Carrie Severino, a former law clerk for supreme court justice Clarence Thomas.

The JCN is a 501(c)(4) organization, meaning its donors are secret. “It has spent millions across the country to influence the elections of judges and attorneys general as well as judicial appointment and confirmation processes.”

Rings of Queen Constance of Aragon (d. 1222)

“Leo’s efforts to ensure that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito were confirmed engaged the dark money spending power of JCN. In 2005 and 2006, Leo and the Federalist Society worked with JCN to coordinate radio and online ads as well as on grassroots efforts to support the confirmation of the right-wing justices.

To block the appointment of Barack Obama’s choice, Merrick Garland, and support the confirmation of Justice Gorsuch, Leo helped coordinate the JCN’s expenditure of $17 million. The campaign was highly effective in allowing Gorsuch, the Federalist Society’s pick, to take the place many thought rightly belonged to Merrick Garland.”

So if you thought that Christian Evangelicals were calling the shots in U.S. politics, think again, and think conservative Catholic.  Should you want to dig deeper, here is an article outlining Catholic influence in the current administration: Open Tabernacle

Silk-Embroidered Altar Frontal

Perhaps nowhere is the Sign of contradiction more evident than in the speech on religious freedom Barr recently gave at University of Notre Dame Law School.  His message seemed to be:  “If you object to the destruction of the separation between Church and State, then I must be doing God’s work in joining them together.  Specifically, God’s Catholic work.”  From his remarkable remarks Barr Speech:

As Catholics, we are committed to the Judeo-Christian values that have made this country great. And we know that the first thing we have to do to promote renewal is to ensure that we are putting our principles into practice in our own personal private lives. We understand that only by transforming ourselves can we transform the world beyond ourselves. This is tough work.

Silver and Gold Monstrance with Emerald Cross

If ever there was a need for a resurgence of Catholic education – and more generally religiously-affiliated schools – it is today. I think we should do all we can to promote and support authentic Catholic education at all levels. Finally, as lawyers, we should be particularly active in the struggle that is being waged against religion on the legal plane. We must be vigilant to resist efforts by the forces of secularization to drive religious viewpoints from the public square and to impinge upon the free exercise of our faith. I can assure you that, as long as I am Attorney General, the Department of Justice will be at the forefront of this effort, ready to fight for the most cherished of our liberties: the freedom to live according to our faith.

Silver and Gold Reliquary with Tooth

To be sure, Barr is talking first and foremost about Catholicism and gives only cursory lip service to “more generally religiously-affiliated” Judeo-Christian traditions.  He is definitely not talking about Islam, nor about Buddhism, and maybe not even about Judaism.  He is quite clearly not talking about atheism.  Nor is he offering legal protections or tax-exempt status to madrassas or Orthodox Jewish Schule.  Would he fight as Attorney General for the freedom to live under Shariah law?  Of course not.  His clear preference is Catholicism first and Christianity second.  Beyond that--nothing.  Barr, since he is speaking as the Attorney General of the United States and not as a private citizen entitled to his personal beliefs, needs to put down his Catholic Missal and Opus Dei newsletter and haul out the First Amendment for review.  It states in pertinent part:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;...

Satin-Embroidered Altar Frontal

According to Cornell Law,

This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another. It also prohibits the government from unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion.

Diamond, Ruby, Gold, and Silver Monstrance

What do Barr’s words mean if they are not a preference of one religion over another and the preference of religion over non-religion?  His clear endorsement of Catholicism and his support for the Federalist Society’s packing of the federal judiciary with conservative Catholics are dangerous incursions into the Establishment Clause and religious freedom.  His willingness—no, his perceived duty--as the chief judicial officer of the Executive Branch to put God before country is a foreboding Sign of contradiction.  And the more Barr is criticized for his championship of Catholicism in the guise of a general religious freedom, the more he will hold that championship sacred.

Queen Constance of Aragon’s Crown( ca. 1210)

To paraphrase Justice Potter Stewart, “I know obscenity when I see it,” and this attempt to de-secularize American society and its legal system is an obscenity against the Constitution.   It ranks right up there with the embarrassment of riches at the Cattedrale and the glaring contradictions of the Catholic Church. 

Don'tcha Love the Built-In Earrings?

Keep it real!

Marilyn