In late July, The Guardian published a story intended to smear Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, over his association with Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church.

The article took pains to cast Opus Dei in an ominous light. It described the group as “a political project shrouded in a veil of spirituality;” it took out of context a quote from the group’s founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá, about members forming a “rising militia,” as if he were talking about a physical militia and not a spiritual one; and it labeled Opus Dei as “radical” — which, of course, it is, just not for the reasons The Guardian thinks.

Doubtless, the author intended to evoke images of hooded monks scurrying through torch-lit underground tunnels, as in The Da Vinci Code. This ancient anti-Catholic trope — that Catholics are a secretive cult bent on world domination — was wielded to discredit Roberts.

But it only made me think of my friend Joel, a supernumerary of Opus Dei who introduced me to the group four years ago.

Joel is, as they say, a character.

He has more friends than most people — he makes friends easily. He’s a proud Mexican American who keeps a stash of fine tequila in the trunk of his car in case a fiesta breaks out. He’s a successful businessman and a father to two young children. For these and other blessings, Joel reflexively credits Jesus, Mary and “the Work of God,” the words used by St. Josemaría to describe Opus Dei.

He’s neither a “trad” nor a progressive, nor a part of any other Catholic ideological subset. He’s crazy about USC football, and he invited me to his wedding the first day we met. A few years later, he spearheaded my own bachelor party.

I left my read of The Guardian article thinking about Joel for two reasons.

The first is that his life — and the lives of everyone else I’ve ever met involved in “the Work” — lays such caricatures of Opus Dei to waste.

The second is that an educational initiative Joel helped found — the Camino Schools in Tustin, California — was mentioned in the article. Roberts had given a speech at the classical Christian school in 2023, and the author used this to link Roberts to Opus Dei. The problem, however, is that the Camino Schools’ only “link” to Opus Dei is that it is inspired by the teachings of St. Josemaría. There is no official affiliation with the group, only with my friend Joel and the other young fathers with whom he “conspired” to start the school four years ago.

But this is only the beginning of what The Guardian article gets wrong about “the Work” and what Roberts’ connection to it might mean.

Roberts, of course, has come under scrutiny over the past year for his stewardship of Heritage's “Project 2025,” which is a 900-page collection of policy recommendations from conservative scholars for a hypothetical Republican takeover of the White House early next year. The Democratic Party has emphasized the project’s connection to Donald Trump in its campaign messaging, even though he has repeatedly disavowed it, even going so far as to call it “abysmal.”

The Guardian article, which features comments by Catholic historian and Commonweal commentator Massimo Faggioli, strains itself to make all the loosely related dots connect.

“They are secretive,” says Faggioli of Opus Dei. “So while they are not [outwardly] part of this [Project 2025] per se, it is not surprising at all that some of their members are part of it. They see this moment in politics — and the possibility of allowing ‘woke ideology’ to win — as fundamentally changing the nature of America, Western civilization, and Christianity.”

This is, of course, likely true, at least of Opus Dei’s more politically conservative members. The problem, however, is that every self-described conservative in the Western Hemisphere would share this view. It is not a sentiment exclusive to Opus Dei or Project 2025; indeed, it is a mainstream conservative position to oppose “woke ideology” and anything that might change the nature of Western civilization or Christianity.

This isn’t a secret, nor is anyone involved “secretive” about it. The Faggioli comment will give readers the impression that something sinister is afoot, but its substance is empty.

The piece also quotes financial journalist Gareth Gore, who is the author of a forthcoming book on Opus Dei.

“Like Project 2025, Opus Dei at its core is a reactionary stand against the progressive drift of society,” Gore opined. “For decades now, the organization has thrown its resources at penetrating Washington’s political and legal elite — and finally seems to have succeeded through its close association with men like Kevin Roberts.”

As with the Faggioli comments, this “accusation” is strange, in that it is unremarkable. Is it not standard operating procedure for institutions of all kinds to curry favor in Washington? Why is it only nefarious when Catholics do it?

It is similarly normal for any conservative group — from the local Chamber of Commerce to any number of pro-life organizations — to oppose “the progressive drift of society.” That’s not a damaging accusation so much as a definition of conservatism in its most basic form.

Gore proceeded to “accuse” St. Josemaría of wanting his followers to “enter battle against the enemies of Christ” — as if this doesn’t represent mainstream Christianity. Catholic parishes of every persuasion recite the “St. Michael Prayer” at the end of Mass, which uses the same type of language. Like Faggioli, Gore’s critique amounts to a “nothingburger.”

Had The Guardian endeavored to inform its audience about the true nature of Opus Dei, it might have explained its call, as described by the Vatican’s Congregation of Bishops in 1982, for members to “stress the sanctifying value of ordinary work; that is to say, on the obligation to sanctify work, to sanctify oneself in one’s work.”

It might have explained St. Josemaría Escrivá’s desire that members become “contemplatives in the midst of the world” by drawing closer to God through the dignity and purpose of their work.

It might have explained the centrality of the group’s devotion to Mary, for, as St. Josemaría wrote once: “The beginning of the way, at the end of which you will find yourself completely carried away by love for Jesus, is a trusting love for Mary.”

Or it might have simply asked my friend Joel about Opus Dei, instead of slandering his school. My guess is they would have enjoyed his company, at the very least.

Register staff writer Peter Laffin is in the process of joining Opus Dei.