Opus Dei political candidate tries to guilt trip his critics into silence
By Terry Sanderson
The SNP candidate in the Glasgow North East by-election, David Kerr, was revealed this week to be a member of the extremist Catholic organisation Opus Dei.
Some disquiet was expressed by Labour and Conservative spokespeople – and also by the NSS.
Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker and the Scottish Tories’ deputy leader Murdo Fraser both raised questions about his membership of the controversial Catholic group, with Mr Baker calling it “secretive and hardline”.
But David Kerr, a former BBC TV reporter, said his faith was a “personal matter'” and religion had no part to play in the election.
In most cases we would agree, but membership of Opus Dei is something else. Opus Dei is an organisation with political ambitions. It recruits very selectively, choosing only those who have, or potentially have, influence in politics, the media or finance. Or, as the religious blogger “Archbishop Cranmer” put it:
"The delusion is that Mr Kerr insists that his faith, being ‘a personal matter’, will have no bearing on the way he votes in Westminster, which is a very public matter. Asked, for example, about his views on abortion, he said: "I'm not here to talk about theology. The Catholic Church's view is well known."
"So abortion is simply a matter of theology?
"If religion were simply piety and devotion, it may belong in the private realm. But when that religion instructs one in the way one should vote, the public are fully entitled to enquire into the provenance of the prelate giving the direction. Members of Opus Dei are exhorted to incarnate their church's teaching through their professional work. So are all Christians. But this organisation is a strong advocate of Roman Catholic moral values on issues such as abortion and contraception. Mr Fraser was not questioning whether, as a member of Opus Dei, Mr Kerr had a right to be a candidate, but simply that his views on certain issues should be made known to the electorate."
Ruth Kelly, the Labour MP who became a cabinet minister, was revealed by the press to be a member of Opus Dei – she did not volunteer the information herself. She, like Mr Kerr, insisted that her membership was a “matter of personal faith”, but it was clear that it was influencing her political actions. She repeatedly absented herself from votes on issues that were official Labour Party policy but anathema to the Vatican – like gay rights, abortion rights and stem cell research. Eventually she was given official leave to abstain in votes on Labour policy, despite being a Minister and in defiance of convention. Are we supposed to believe that her membership of Opus Dei had nothing to do with all this? Ms Kelly is no longer a member of the Government and soon will not be an MP, either. Few will lose sleep over that.
In most cases a candidate’s religious views should not be an issue, but if they are of an extremist persuasion, they definitely are of interest. Constituents need to know what they are getting for their vote. Are they getting what it says on the tin or something with a misleading label on it?
Mr Kerr has been trying to guilt-trip his critics into silence by claiming that it is somehow illegitimate to raise the issue of religion. He has some support from the candidates from the other parties, such as the Labour candidate Willie Bain, who said: “I want to bring people together, not divide them up. My faith is important to me, but it does not matter what religion or religious organisation a candidate is in. I pledge never to make religion an issue in this campaign and hope nobody else does either.'”
Well, very sorry Mr Bain, but you are entirely wrong on this. Membership of Opus Dei is an issue – and the electorate must be made fully aware of it. The NSS will do its best to ensure they are.
