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Section 51(5) of the Police (NI) Act 2000 requires that each
officer within the Police Service of Northern Ireland informs
the chief Constable if they hold membership of an organisation
listed on the Register of Notifiable Memberships.
The organisations which are currently 'notifiable' include
the Loyal Orange Institution.
The Orange Institution objects to having been placed on the
Register of Notifiable Memberships and believes the process
to have been politically driven.
But if the list exists, then there are organisations operating
in civic society which should be included and have not hitherto
been listed. Opus Dei is one of those organisations.
Opus Dei was founded by Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer in
1928. Debate centres over Escriva's political views but it
has been alleged that he was a Fascist who subsequently declared
that Adolf Hitler had been 'badly treated' by world opinion
because 'he could never have killed six million Jews. It could
only have been four million at the most'.
".....Escriva consistently denied that Opus Dei was
his creation. He insisted that he was only the gardener. This
is important to understand. If accepted, it bestows upon Opus
Dei a sort of divine licensee that, in the view of its members,
permits it to function in a sphere beyond the laws of man
..." according to author Robert Hutchison in "Their
Kingdom Come. Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei", 1997,
Corgi, Reading, p80).
Among the Maxims of members of Opus Dei are several which
appear to suggest that members will put each other first,
"Frater qui adiuvatur a fratre quasi civitas firma -
A brother who is helped by his brother is like a strong city",
for example.
One rule states "Non manifeste, sed quasi in occulto"
- not publicly, but as if he would keep himself hidden",
emphasising the direction that Opus Dei members should remain
anonymous.
Each member is assigned to a spiritual director and takes
their guidance from him. Critics argue that there is no recourse
to one's own spiritual discernment.
The issue of lack of transparency is highlighted in Maxim
190 which states ".... even the fact of being a member
of the Institute should not be disclosed externally; the number
of members should remain secret; and more expressly, our members
must not discuss these matters with anyone outside the Institute."
Opus Dei has been accused of highly questionable activities
in countries such as Argentina, Spain, Italy, the Balkans,
Ireland, Poland and elsewhere.
Hutchison contends that Opus Dei operates with a modus operandi
that in certain matters place it "close to the outer
fringe of social custom and legality". One author, Yvon
Le Valliant argues that Opus has been involved, in espionage.
One priest, Fr. Felzmann, accuses Opus of ruling through fear.
"Opus Dei is a secret sect that has successfully removed
itself from the hierarchic control of the Church. Secrecy
is the enemy of an open, democratic society," Hutchison
claims.
In the context of the PSNI it is of vital importance that
an organisation perceived to have considerable influence in
society and to have some serious question marks as to whether
or not it is a cult, should be open and transparent as to
police membership.
Similarly those organisations including the Orange Institution
which are on the notifiable membership list can rightly wonder
why an organisation which does not identify its members and
which has been criticised even by sympathisers should not
also be on the list.
Many of the organisations already on the list are Orders
which regularly hold parades and other public events and whose
members are readily identified. Unlike Opus Dei, for example,
we have no problem over public acknowledgement of members.
The criteria for notifiable membership as expressed by the
PSNI, that "membership of any one of these organisation
could reasonably be regarded, by some members or sections
of the public, as affecting an officer's ability to discharge
their duties effectively and impartially" clearly must
bring Opus Dei under the spotlight since not only do members
of our community have serious concerns but also members of
the Roman Catholic community and Roman Catholic church itself.
The late Cardinal Basil Hume, for example, was extremely reticent
about Opus Dei.
In a letter in 1987 to Cardinal Stephen Kim Souhwan of Seoul,
South Korea, Cardinal Hume said "I do not like the secretiveness
that seems to surround their activities, and I have suspicions
about pressure that can at times by put on youths .... "
The PSNI have informed us that Opus Dei was considered for
Notifiable Membership status on two occasions but that research
carried out during the initial phase concluded that Opus Dei
did not have significant membership in Northern Ireland nor
was it perceived to function as a secret society. As such
it was not placed on the list.
This response is unsatisfactory.
There is a wide perception in the media and the general public
that Opus Dei is a secret society. Its influence cannot be
fully gauged because it advises against openness and, only
under pressure will permit members to identify themselves
if persistently asked. It seems incredible that Opus Dei has
not been placed on the list of Notifiable Memberships.
The key test over whether a body is notifiable appears, from
the PSNI statement, to be whether membership of an officer
could be viewed as impinging on their work. It is clear that
the perception of Opus Dei is such that it would be viewed
with suspicion by the general public.
Given the perceptions and concerns about Opus Dei from both
within the Roman Catholic church and the wider community,
failure to have this organisation on the Notifiable Membership
List must surely greatly weaken the credibility of the list
itself.
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