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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox 

10/30/2024

PLEASE NOTE: 

With the days ticking down to 11/5, learn the deeper stakes in this year's election. Get your copy of Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election today! Choose your format in the book block below. 

If you want fascism and Christofascism, a twofer is available! Vote for Trump and you get both. Christian nationalism and Opus Dei are thoroughly in bed with the far-right wing of the Republican party today. 

Nicolle Wallace comments on the former White House tenant’s hate rally at Madison Square Garden. MSNBC.

Check out the bigwigs behind the Napa Institute which was founded in 2011 by Opus Dei lawyer Tim Busch, an admirer of Archbishop Vigano whose “agenda” he praised. Among its stars are Steve Bannon, released under the cover of darkness from prison at 3 AM this morning; Cardinal Burke, champion of the anti-Francis wing in the Roman Catholic Church; Leonardo Leo, maker of the current SCOTUS; Larry Kudlow, “the free-market cheerleader recruited to Opus Dei” by Father McCloskey, whose vocation was to make “converts, often of the rich and Republican,” as Gareth Gore reports in his recent book, Opus.*   

It turns out McCloskey sexually assaulted a woman who came to him for spiritual advice, and this resulted in Opus Dei offering the woman one million dollars to keep quiet. When she learned he was still operating as a priest in Palo Alto, however, she blew the whistle a second time.

Amna Nawaz interviews NYU history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat on speakers at the MSG hate rally quoting directly from Nazi and authoritarian playbooks. PBS NewsHour.

As a theologian, it is my job to point out the faux Christian dimension to this entire campaign as well. Fascism is faux Christianity because it is all about Hate. And Lies. And Violence. Susan Sontag defines fascism as “institutionalized violence."

Trump’s Sunday lineup peddled this unholy trinity. 

Hatred of Latinos and Puerto Ricans in particular. Hatred of immigrants, calling them “vermin” and rapists and murderers, et al. Even though studies prove that immigrants do less crime than everyday citizens. And hatred of Ukrainians because those who support Putin (which includes Elon Musk and Trump and JD Vance) hate those whose country Putin invaded.

Opus Dei was 90 years ahead of Trump and his christofascists. Opus Dei peopled dictator Franco’s cabinet and government. Escriva, the sick priest who began Opus Dei and paid to get himself canonized a saint (sic), was an admirer of Hitler and a hater of the Second Vatican Council. 

“Change of Franco government increased the power of Opus Dei July 15, 1965.” Archival photo of General Franco’s cabinet on La Hemeroteca del Buitre. From The Vulture Newspaper Library Photographer unknown.

It was Vatican II, after all, which gave birth to Liberation Theology with its disturbing news that a “preferential option for the poor” is the gospel that Jesus and prophets before him like Isaiah actually preached.

Today Opus Dei is very well represented in Washington DC in the K Street Book store, where the religion created by its members and sympathizers is promulgated amidst the powerful ones of business and politics. The fascist wing of the Roman Catholic Church, who hate Pope Francis and of course ignore entirely his encyclical for caring for the earth, Laudato Si, and are very well embodied on the current American bishops Conference, is well represented by Leonardo Leo who made SCOTUS what it is today: A MAGA wing in full motion.  

To be continued.

*Gareth Gore, Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church, pp. 272-277.  This book is the most thoroughly researched study of Opus Dei ever.

See Matthew Fox, “Chapter 6: Opus Dei” in Fox, The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved, pp. 106-124.

And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election.

Statement of Solidarity with Israel/Palestine.

And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.

Banner Image: Celebration of Luther Day in Berlin, 1933. Bishop Hossenfelder, ecclesiastical minister of the Nazi German Christians, spoke. German Federal Archives, Wikimedia Commons.

Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialog, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field.

Queries for Contemplation

How do you understand fascism? Why do you think it is returning in our time not only in the United States but in many countries? What can we do about offering a more uplifting alternative in governance?

Recommended Reading

The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved

The Pope’s War offers a provocative look at three decades of corruption in the Catholic Church, focusing on Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The final section in the book focuses on birthing a truly catholic Christianity.
“This book should be read by everybody, not only for its ferocious courage, but also for its vision for what needs to be saved from the destructive forces that threaten authentic Christianity.” ~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope.
“In the gripping The Pope’s War, Matthew Fox takes an unwavering look at the layers of corruption in the Catholic Church, holding moral truth against power.”   — Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II

Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election

Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.

For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE. 

To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE. 

To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.

Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.

Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society

Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them. 
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science.  A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics

The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages

The second book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series, The Return of Father Sky helps boys and girls to celebrate a new relationship with the masculine by way of Father Sky, whose return excites joy and wonder and possibility that enlarge the soul to welcome others and all creation. Written in a rhyming Dr. Seuss-like style, this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, written by world- renowned theologian Matthew Fox weaves together modern science and classic spirituality in a whimsical, entertaining format to illustrate important truths to readers aged 4 and up. With artwork curated from illustrators around the world, this book expresses the joy and wonder of all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet.

UPCOMING EVENTS

See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE

MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox, Mariko Middleton, and Skylar Wilson of the Order of the Sacred Earth in a free virtual meeting for connection and networking with other mystic warriors. Last Tuesday of every month, 4:00-5:00pm PT. 
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Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478

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