A Fox in the Henhouse - The Opus Dei Bishop in Sydney Catholic Schools

Don't put foxes in henhouses. This was the Child Abuse Royal Commission's key lesson. The Sydney Archdiocese ignores it, having an Opus Dei cleric – Bishop Richard Umbers – guide Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS).

In a recent LinkedIn post, SCS's "Anthony C" (Anthony Cleary) thanks Umbers, for guiding SCS:

The Bishop and the Saint

An Opus priest, as a bishop of a diocese, is odd. Dioceses are areas bishops oversee. Bishop Sheil, for example, excommunicated Australia's sole saint, St Mary MacKillop, for denouncing an abuser priest. Opus Dei, instead, is a "personal prelature", of the Pope, outside diocesan control. It's said: "This unique status as a personal prelature has allowed Opus Dei to function effectively as a non-diocesan juridical entity".

Opus Dei's Umbers, as bishop, oversees parish priests. Like all Opus Dei priests, however, he doesn't answer to the Sydney Archdiocese.

An Array of Abuses

A Four Corners report showed how Opus Dei abusively indoctrinates children. Its victims warn us. This is spiritual abuse: abuse of the soul, of our innermost depths. Other abuses follow. Pope Francis, recently nearby, said: "abuse is demonic because it destroys the dignity of the person. All forms of abuse try to destroy who we are".

On the Royal Commission being announced, in 2013, Opus Dei priest, and school chaplain, Fr John Flader, defended the hiding of abuser priests, writing:

"[T]he priest was simply moved to a different parish where he could begin his new life of chastity in different surroundings. This was gravely mistaken but those who responded in that way were usually acting in good faith and cannot be judged by standards that have changed".

He errs. Hiding abusers wasn't done "in good faith". It was a crime: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 316 (as it was); cf s 316A. Standards of decency also did not change.

Before Flader's article, an Opus Dei lay member fled to Australia, after being accused of child abuse, in Opus Dei's "Gaztelueta" school, in Spain, where he taught.?In 2015, the Church cleared him, but after he was convicted, it re-opened his case, which continues.

A New Sectarianism

The Royal Commission had a case study, on the defrocked, Opus Dei backed priest, John Nestor. Fr Patrick Kenna, a normal diocesan priest, gave a statement. It shows mainstream Catholics' aversion to Opus Dei: para 14; cf 10.?

This aversion arises because the Opus Dei network uses religion as a front, for financial gain. It aims high. Ex-Premier Dominic Perrottet is from an Opus Dei family, and schools. At Nestor's prosecution, ex-Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, called Nestor "a beacon of humanity". It is elitist.

"Catholic", even etymologically, instead connotes universality, inclusion. As Pope Francis also recently said: "there is a distinction between religion and sect. Religion is universal ... A sect is restrictive; it's a small group that always has a different agenda". It is why Opus Dei is incongruous, in normal Catholic schools.