Abstract

Opus Dei and The 'Perfect Society'

It is more than a decade into the reign of Pope John Paul II, it is obvious to even the most reluctant papal critics that he is determined to undo the reforms that have made Catholicism a more relevant religion in the First World and an instrument for popular empowerment in the Third. The effects of John Paul's "restoration" have already been felt in Latin America and the U.S., where he has achieved what the White House could not by slowing down or destroying the careers of activist Catholic leaders who challenged U.S. military and business interests. However, at the time of his election in 1978, few could have foreseen the extent to which a Polish authoritarian would reshape the world's largest church or galvanize the international Catholic right wing.