Dear Editor
DEAR EDITOR 'OPUS DEI' I was sorry to see Ray Alan ("Priestly SoulSearching in Spain," NL, November 13) present such a wrong idea and so many misstatements about the Secular Institute,...
...During the few years of its existence, the University has attained very high standards which are attracting students from all over the world, including the United States where it has been mentioned in the press several times...
...But I leaped to no such conclusion...
...The privileges that Opus Dei enjoys under the Franco dictatorship are such that his letter and name can not be published without exposing him to ruthless reprisals...
...DEAR EDITOR 'OPUS DEI' I was sorry to see Ray Alan ("Priestly SoulSearching in Spain," NL, November 13) present such a wrong idea and so many misstatements about the Secular Institute, Opus Dei...
...Perhaps O'Brien would now read my article with a little care and, if he is an honorable man, apologise for his quite gratuitous misstatement...
...During the "juicio Bufo" Opus Dei was insulted in a premeditated and outrageous way...
...As a typical example of the sort of story that very many educated Spaniards tell, in private, about Opus Dei, I mentioned the attack on the Barcelona students and quoted policemen as saying that the attackers were "from el Opus...
...Fair enough...
...that it has created a private university at Pamplona...
...What on earth does "so many" mean in his vocabulary...
...Incidentally, I first heard of the Barcelona incident from Jesuit and liberal-Catholic sources...
...Because the University of Navarre, with its open and democratic policies, is breaking the monopoly of the State university system, the SEU (which is an organization sponsored by the present Government and compulsory for all students) has been opposing the University...
...he is entitled to hoist himself with his own petard if he wishes...
...They were students attending the show and not a "hired strongarm gang" as Alan seems to have believed, although he admits that his source was gossip...
...Its importance lies in its penetration at all professional levels and its many enemies call its members 'White Masons.' Though it denies any political ambitions, the organization makes a far more active and conscious use of patronage than do Catholic Action groups...
...The New Leader welcomes comment and criticism on any of its features, but letters should not exceed 300 words...
...Opus Dei, a Secular Institute of the Catholic Church, includes among its institutions of an apostolic nature the University of Navarre, a Catholic university recently erected by the Church...
...O'Brien has failed to establish that any of these statements is incorrect...
...that the machinations attributed to it are a standard subject of gossip...
...Washington, D.C...
...Lest O'Brien's overall allegation that I have presented "a wrong idea" of Opus Dei fool anyone, may I quote one of his own neighbors at the Catholic University, Michael Kenny, on the subject...
...The Research and Information Commission of the International Student Conference conducted an investigation of the student incident in Barcelona referred to in Alan's article...
...Kenny, a professor of anthropology and sociology, writes in his book Spanish Tapestry (published in London since my article was written) that Opus Dei has "four classes of membership, stratified according to social status...
...In October of this year, the Student, organ of the Coordinating Secretary of the National Student Associations (COSEC), published as an international student magazine on behalf of the ISC, printed an accurate statement both about Opus Dei and the Barcelona incident...
...As Alan noted, it is the only free university in Spain, having broken the state monopoly of higher education...
...To me it would have seemed more proper for Alan to have told us something about Opus Dei and recognized the courage of those few students who opposed the insults of the SEU-sponsored show...
...My only firm statements about Opus Dei were that it is a wealthy, secret lay order whose members occupy influential positions in General Franco's cabinet and elsewhere...
...I am truly disappointed that The New Leader chose to echo the slander of those undemocratic sources...
...Action would have been taken by any person who respects the right of reputation of his fellow man and who is aware of the responsibilities that accompany his freedom...
...If the foggy circumlocution in O'Brien's fifth paragraph means anything, it indicates, surely, that he shares the policemen's belief but wishes to plead that the attackers were reacting to provocation...
...Moreover, its movements are surrounded by an air of disciplined secrecy...
...A handful of such persons were present and did react against the attacks...
...Edward J. O'Brien Catholic University Ray Alan replies: I am quite puzzled by Edward O'Brien's allegation that I have presented "so many misstatements" about Opus Dei, for he has failed to specify even one...
...The mail that brought me O'Brien's letter also contained a note from one of my original informants taking me to task for my "excessive caution" — in particular, my use of such qualified phrases as "surprisingly unpopular,'" "machinations attributed to Opus Dei," and "it is even accused of," etc...
...that it is surprisingly unpopular...
...and that it is even accused of hiring strong-arm gangs...
...I believe that this background will be helpful in understanding the incident in Barcelona...
Vol. 45 • January 1962 • No. 2
