http://www.haaretz.com/Jєωιѕн-world/Jєωιѕн-world-news/spain-to-ease-naturalization-of-sephardic-Jєωs-1.480175

Spain to Ease Naturalization of Sephardic Jєωs

Change in policy to benefit descendants of Jєωs expelled 500 years ago; Jєωιѕн group urges legislating practice.

By JTA Nov. 24, 2012

Spain has announced that it will ease the naturalization of Sephardic Jєωs whose ancestors were expelled 500 years ago.

Sephardic Jєωs already benefit from a preferential naturalization procedure that requires them to live in Spain for only two years before claiming citizenship. But the change, which was announced on Thursday, means that Jєωs will have to present only a certificate confirming their ancestry to claim a Spanish passport.

The Federation of the Jєωιѕн Communities of Spain, an umbrella body, congratulated the government for “recognition of a right which does not depend on any government decree.”

In its statement, the organization added that the announcement needs to “culminate in a legal text that will specify the conditions to be met to assume nationality.”

The government did not say how many Jєωs it expected to apply for citizenship, but it noted that a large number of Sephardic Jєωs lived in Turkey and across Latin America.

While estimates differ, the number of Jєωs living in Spain - 25,000 to 45,000 people out of a total population of 47 million - is only a fraction of the number who lived in the country before 1492, when Jєωs were forced to convert to Christianity or go into exile.

Opus Dei has that country by the throat according to political experts.

"[Opus Dei] members were to exercise their professions preferably 'in State buildings with State money.'" Escriva wrote.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Franco entrusted the helm of the faltering Spanish economy to a handful of Opus Dei members, Alberto Ullastres, Mariano Navarro, Gregorio López Bravo, and López Rodó. In the wake of these major players, a vigorous lobby of members and friends of the institution sprang up which created innumerable business ventures.

The 1950s and 1960s also saw the expansion of Opus Dei outside Spain, especially in the Latin American dictatorships of Chile and Argentina.

The context in which the above group of Opus Dei members operated in politics was a correction of the Spanish economy mandated by international financial organisms and directed at ending the previous model of self-sufficiency or autarchy.

Escrivá wrote in some foundational docuмents that the "Work" would never have its own educational institutions; rather, its members were to exercise their professions preferably "in State buildings with State money". Nevertheless, Escrivá and his representatives in Spain never ceased to adapt to circuмstances and make a virtue of necessity. The energies set free by the abandonment of the politico-mercantile project were harnessed in a race to create primary and secondary schools and a few universities  [...] In 2000, no Spanish city or Latin American capital lacks one Opus Dei school for boys and another for girls .. Some cities have three or more.

The massive dedication to teaching produces a modification of foundational goals. No longer does one imagine the permeation of all sectors of civil society by Opus Dei members in the manner of an intravenous injection according to the founder's metaphor. Rather, efforts are focused on the education of children and adolescents. The control of so many educational institutions opens new avenues of influence. For one thing, these centers are conceived as tools for indoctrination.

According to Opus Dei's own history, Montini was the one who got them into Rome. Spin masters within Opus Dei have, on cue, claimed their boss, Escriva, was vehemately opposed to The Second Vatican Council ...

Do minimal reading. This is a palpable absurdity.

Cut & Paste from Opus Dei's own site -

"The first words of affection and encouragement Father Escriva heard in Rome in 1946 were from Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini ... "

"They soon began to look for a place which would serve as the permanent headquarters of Opus Dei. Monsignors Montini and Tardini suggested to Father Escriva that he should settle near the Holy See, should set up house, 'a big house', they said, in Rome.'"