Kevin Roberts, Heritage President, Accused of Close Ties to Radical Catholic Group

Daily Report July 27,2024

Heritage President ATTACKED Over Alleged Ties

Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, was accused on Friday by a left-wing media site of being associated with a Catholic organization that is “radical and secretive.”

Roberts reportedly received “spiritual guidance” from the Catholic Information Center (CIC), according to a Guardian piece that claimed he was associated with the Catholic organization Opus Dei. Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University, told the outlet that Opus Dei is a part of a movement of “traditionalist Catholicism” in the United States. The report refers to Opus Dei as a “radical and secretive” group since it withholds the identities of its members.

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According to their website, Opus Dei seeks to support Catholics in their daily lives by offering spiritual direction and assistance, with a special emphasis on “the sanctification of their work.” Pope John Paul II formally acknowledged them as a personal prelature in the Catholic Church in 1982.

In September 2023, Roberts spoke at the CIC and advocated for “radical incrementalism” to further conservative policy objectives, which the Guardian claims were “extreme.” According to their website, the CIC offers spiritual and educational services, confession, speaker events, and other Catholic sacraments, to Catholics in Washington, D.C.

A Heritage spokeswoman told the Daily Caller News Foundation, “Yet again, we see the radical Left attacking the First Amendment’s protections of religious liberty, which are fundamental to our constitutional republic. This kind of religious prejudice erodes the basic foundations upon which our society was formed, in addition to undermining our freedoms.”

According to their website, Opus Dei is “conservative” only since their activity “keeps in its fullness Jesus Christ’s message” and upholds Catholic teachings. Catholics can primarily get “support and guidance” from Opus Dei in their daily lives.

The Guardian was informed by Gareth Gore, the author of a book on Opus Dei that the organization is comparable to Heritage Foundation policy project Project 2025 since both take a “reactionary stand against the progressive drift of society.” Additionally, he declared that Opus Dei “penetrates Washington’s political and legal elite.”

A request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation was not immediately answered by Opus Dei or the CIC.