The right kind of anti-clericalism

Giuseppe Rusconi

Tags: Passionately Loving the World, Citizenship, Culture, Naturalness, Responsibility, Holiness, Vatican II, Ordinary life

Monseñor Ocáriz and dprelado del Opus Dei, Mons. Echevarría

Interview with Msgr Fernando Ocariz, Vicar General of Opus Dei, on Christians and politics as seen by Founder of Opus Dei. Msgr Ocariz outline the scope of Saint Josemaria’s words on the relationship between Opus Dei, the Church, and the world of politics, clarifying what Saint Josemaria meant by the “right kind of anticlericalism”.

Monsignor Ocariz, in a conference paper you spoked of Saint Josemaria’s thinking on a topic central to Christian lay-people: their relationship with civil society. For example, in the well-known homily “Passionately Loving the World”, Saint Josemaria said that people need to have a “lay outlook” in political and other questions. What exactly does that mean?

In my view it means understanding the deepest consequences of the Christian vocation for lay-people. As Vatican Two teaches, lay-people’s specific mission is to “seek the Kingdom of God by taking part in temporal concerns and directing them towards God”. So Christian lay-people who are involved in political questions try to tackle them with a citizen’s sense of responsibility and a Christian’s sense of mission. In Saint Josemaria’s teaching, a lay outlook is equally opposed to laicism and clericalism, because a lay outlook means being aware that in the affairs of this world – professional, social, political – we have to act with professional competence and a Christian spirit, i.e. in accordance with God and service to our neighbor.

Saint Josemaria said that one of the consequences of a thoroughly “lay outlook” in the sphere of politics was “to be sufficiently honest to shoulder our own personal responsibility”. What does this mean in practice?

Well, it obviously means not trying to shift the results of our own decisions onto other people, or onto the Church either. As well as that, I’d say it also means not being scared – or overcoming it if we are – to bear witness, clearly and personally, in defense of truth and justice. Even when that way of acting may upset certain people or maybe put one’s job or political career at risk. Catholics have always to aim for harmony, calmness and open-spiritedness in any debate involving people’s opinions, but that can’t mean restricting Christianity to the purely private sphere. If we did that, it would impact negatively on the good of civil society as well.

Another of the consequences Saint Josemaria pointed out was “Being sufficiently Catholic so as not to make use of our Mother the Church by mixing her up in human factions”. What does that mean, Monsignor Ocariz? Does it mean we should distance ourselves from specifically Catholic political parties?

“Not making use of the Church” doesn’t mean denying specifically Catholic parties the right to exist. It means reminding the Catholics who work in politics – and the non-Catholics too – that they shouldn’t get the Church involved in the defense of party interests. We have to respect the Church’s freedom to fulfill her mission and also defend the legitimate autonomy of earthly affairs. So lay-people will sanctify themselves without making use of the Church. They should expect to receive from the Church nothing more nor less than the Word of God and the Sacraments. It also means defending Christians’ personal freedom in all spheres that the Lord left open to opinion. Here is another aspect on which Saint Josemaria’s teaching was very clear-cut. He never stopped repeating that nobody can aim to reduce the faith to human ideology. Nor can anyone claim the right to exclude people who don’t agree with them on questions which by their very nature admit of diverse solutions, all in accordance with Christ’s teaching.

Spiritualism, materialism and clericalism are some of the possible obstacles to a truly “lay outlook”. Speaking of clericalism, in your conference paper you referred to the “right kind of anticlericalism” as proposed by Saint Josemaria. How should “the right kind of anticlericalism” be shown in practise?

The right kind of anticlericalism, as opposed to the wrong kind, is born of love for the Church. In particular, it’s born of love for the priesthood, plus a deep understanding of the role of lay-people in the Church. The right kind of anticlericalism has many practical consequences, all of them opposed to all forms of clericalism. I think that one of its essential elements is rejecting everything which would involve the use of a sacred mission to achieve a secular goal, whether by lay-people or by priests.

Could you be a bit more specific, Monsignor?

Well, for example, lay-people can’t try and make use of the Church hierarchy, or simply the fact of being Catholics, to get perks for themselves. Likewise priests can’t try and reduce the function of the lay-people to merely helping out with Church activities. Now it’s true that within definite limits, help given by lay-people to the priest in his work is possible and sometimes very opportune. But as Saint Josemaria taught, and as Vatican Two defined, the specific role of lay-people is not to share in the functions of the Church’s ministers. It is to act freely and responsibly in temporal structures, enlivening them with Christ’s leaven and his message. And yet there shouldn’t be any split, still less any conflict, between the clergy’s mission and that of lay-people.

When the pastors of the Church issue guidelines to Christians in the political sphere, on major social or moral questions, is that something saint Josemaria considered as clerical?

Of course not. Teaching is an integral part of the Bishops’ role, and one that they can never forgo. They have to preach the Gospel with all its moral and social implications. Naturally their teaching normally centers on doctrinal principles and their major practical consequences. To give you a specific example, it would be absurd to describe the Holy Father’s words on January 28 as “clericalism”, when he said that civil laws should protect the indissolubility of marriage. But in exceptional circumstances the Bishops may also have the duty to ask Catholics to maintain a united front in political action. Normally that sort of unity isn’t necessary, but it could become so if the freedom of the Church were being threatened by a totalitarian ideology. If the hierarchy in a particular country then decided to intervene in such a way it would not be anticlericalism. It would be something demanded of them by their pastoral mission.

Monsignor Ocariz, should Opus Dei be considered a real Catholic party, even though not an institutionalized one?

Absolutely not. Each of the faithful of the Prelature has his or her own personal convictions in the fields of politics, science, culture and art. They form those convictions in the same freedom as other ordinary Christian citizens, since their only limitations are those deriving from Catholic faith and morals. Saint Josemaria stated that if anyone in Opus Dei had even tried to suggest all taking one particular line in politics, he himself would have been the first to leave the Work. Even on theological matters which are open to discussion, Saint Josemaria expressly forbade anything like a specifically Opus Dei line of teaching. As for political activity, there is a marked variety of options among the faithful of Opus Dei, not just in theory but in actual fact.

Could you give a specific example?

Well, in the US there are faithful of the Prelature who side with the Democrats, and others who support the Republicans. Likewise in Great Britain, there are Conservative supporters and Labour supporters. In Spain in the 1950s and 1960s, there were faithful of the Prelature who, like many other Catholics, supported the Franco regime, and there were others who were obliged to go into exile on account of their political activity in the Opposition. What they all had, and have, in common, like everyone who tries to be a good Christian, is the desire to serve society loyally by tackling its problems with professional competence and, above all, in the light of the Gospel.

Il Consulente RE Magazine, Milan, March 1, 2002