Opus Dei and Government

In Britain, it’s a live issue, since a follower of Opus Dei, Ruth Kelly, is now the Equality Minister in the Blair cabinet, bringing calls for removal from some gay groups. I think those groups are mistaken. Kelly has every right to her religious faith; and she has also publicly insisted that as a public servant, her first loyalty is to uphold the laws as they stand. That’s exactly the right position; and exactly the right distinction between faith and politics. The gay groups should lay off. Danny Finkelstein gets it exactly right in this column in the Times.