Star Member DFW (33,189 posts)
6. As one who once lived in Franco's Spain, and learned its history from Catalan dissidents
And was not smart enough to "consider the source"! It doesn't take immense intelligence to realize that people who hate a country are not likely to give the most accurate and balanced account of the hated nation's history. So, wrt Opus Dei, here are things of which DFW is ignorant:
Opus DeiInitially, Opus Dei was open only to men, but in 1930, Escrivá started to admit women (less than two years after founding), based on what he believed to be a communication from God. In 1936, the organization suffered a temporary setback with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, as many Catholic priests and religious figures, including Escrivá, were forced into hiding (the Catholic Church actively supported the Nationalist-Fascist rebels). The many atrocities committed during the civil war included the murder and rape of religious figures by anti-Franco Anarchists. After the civil war was won by General Francisco Franco, Escrivá was able to return to Madrid. Escrivá himself recounted that it was in Spain where Opus Dei found "the greatest difficulties" because of traditionalists who he felt misunderstood Opus Dei's ideas. Despite this, Opus Dei flourished during the years of the Franquismo, spreading first throughout Spain, and after 1945, expanding internationally.
Biographical Timeline of St. Josemaria Escriva1936 (July) - 1939 (April) The Spanish Civil War.
1936 At the outbreak of the civil war in July, abandons the student residence, stops dressing as a priest, and goes into hiding at various houses. In October, takes refuge in a psychiatric clinic, the Casa de Reposo y Salud, directed by his friend Dr. Suils.
1937 March: the clinic becomes too dangerous and he takes refuge at the Honduran Legation with a few other members of Opus Dei. October: leaves Madrid for Barcelona. November: crosses the Pyrenees into Andorra on foot with members of Opus Dei and others. December: reenters Spain in the Nationalist zone and arrives in San Sebastian.
The Civil WarAugust 30, 1936. For a bit more than a month Spain has been split into two factions, increasingly squaring off in a fratricidal war. The life of Father Josemaría, like that of so many other priests, is at risk. He moves from one hiding place to another. Militiamen hang a man who looks like him, right in front of his mother’s house, thinking that it was he. Now he is in the home of some friends, together with Juan — one of the first members of the Work — and a young man he met only two days previously. About two in the afternoon, a group of soldiers, sweeping the neighborhood in an intense manhunt for enemies, rings the bell. Catholics, especially priests and religious, are prime targets. ...
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With the outbreak of the war, the few members of Opus Dei were forced to scatter. The Father — as he had come to be called familiarly by his spiritual sons — moved from one shelter to another, always in danger. With heroic fortitude he declined a few secure hiding places that were unsuited to his priestly condition. At times the safest place was the street, where he walked from morning until night blending into the crowd.
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For a number of months he found temporary haven in a psychiatric clinic, feigning madness with the complicity of its director, Dr. Suils. At last he was able to obtain entrance for himself and several companions at the consulate of Honduras. Its diplomatic status guaranteed a modicum of safety. Sites such as this one were packed with refugees, food was scarce, the atmosphere depressed and tense. ...
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But how long would this war go on? When would the persecution end? How long could he be stuck in this situation, without being able to begin the expansion of the Work? He thought it over and consulted with the young men who followed him. Yes, it was necessary to cross over to the other part of Spain where a normal Christian life was possible. The only practical way, although it held no guarantee of success, was to cross the Pyrenees and get there by way of France. It was September 1937.
What utterly pathetic is that, not ever having been a Catholic, I found this quite easily via W'pedia and one of the key footnotes to W'pedia's article.
I did this being familiar with DU-folks' penchants for arrogant ignorance and blatant lying, and found pretty much what I expected. DFW's ignorance is so compounded by arrogance that he would not even bother to learn a little of Opus Dei's history. But then I suppose he regards the "Republicans" ("Loyalists") as heroes rather than the Stalin-supported thug-wannabes (and sometime thugs) they actually were.
WRT Opus Dei, the Republicans/Loyalists (W'pedia disingenuously calls them "Anarchists" to dissociate the violent thugs from who they were), like good Stalinists were hunting down and murdering Catholic priests, nuns, and other leaders. Fr. Escriva lived on the run from the thugs hunting him for over a year and a half, and finally escaped Spain and reentered into the zone controlled by the Nationalists (Franco). Judging by the W'pedia article, it sounds like the 1940s onward Franco era wasn't an easy time for Opus Dei, but at least Franco's government didn't try to hunt down and kill Opus Dei leaders.