Roberts was also involved in an Opus Dei-affiliated high school leadership program in Austin, Texas.

A website that tracks Opus Dei men’s activities called
"Where You Are" included a profile of the high school program in Austin
where Roberts appears to volunteer and
“contributes significantly “ to the school’s career and leadership program.

Roberts was featured as a guest at another Opus Dei-linked school,
the #Camino #Schools, in 2023.

In introductory remarks before Roberts spoke, the school’s chairman, Bob #Rose, praised schools that
teach boys and girls they are “different”,
they learn differently and are inspired by different things,
and where boys are taught by “manly men” who serve as role models.

Roberts’ critics said concerns about his ties to Opus Dei were not connected to his identity or beliefs as a Roman Catholic.

“Kevin Roberts, like all Americans, has a guaranteed freedom to worship or not under our constitution,”
said Lisa Graves,
co-founder of "Court Accountability",
a non-partisan group that seeks to combat judicial corruption.

”That is not at issue. What is of concern is how some powerful elites,
like Roberts,
who have failed to persuade the American people to embrace their agenda,
seem eager to use the power of the executive branch to impose their personal religious views
as binding law on other Americans
– by barring abortion,
using the government to endorse the rhythm method of contraception,
even banning mention of ‘condoms’ in women’s preventative health,
as well as assailing the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.”

Heritage did not respond to a request for comment.

The CIC did not respond to a request for comment.

During Roberts’ September 2023 speech,
which received little notice at the time
but is posted on the center’s YouTube page,
Roberts detailed how conservative Catholics and their allies could advance US policy
to end access to abortion, same-sex marriage and contraception.

Knowing the unpopularity of banning birth control
– a harder political battle to wage than advancing anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage policies
– he encouraged an #incremental approach to pursuing this long-term goal.

“Even in a politically conservative setting,
that can be a very difficult thing to advance,”
Roberts told attendees at the CIC event.

“A majority of Roman Catholics don’t believe in that teaching,
if public opinion surveys are the case.
And so it makes it very difficult to advocate for that.”

The faithful should practice the
“gift of discernment”
to know when to bring it up:

“Sometimes the right thing at the right time to the right person
isn’t the full teaching of humanity, right?
It isn’t the full teaching of contraception.

And recognizing that that’s not the time is no way turning into Judas.
In fact, it’s being #apostolic.

And the very definition of the word, which is in modern common parlance, meeting someone where they are.”

In espousing his theory of
“radical incrementalism”,
or what he called the
“enchilada theory”,
he said it was critical for conservatives to work first
to achieve a small part of a larger policy goal
based on what’s politically possible at the moment.

Sometimes, he said, having even half an enchilada could be a victory.

On abortion, he noted that Roman Catholics believe
“no abortion can be morally justified”,
but that even in conservative circles in the US,
this is not a majority opinion,
and it’s an
“even more difficult position to hold”
after the Dobbs decision.

Using the “same vocabulary of our faith” in the policy arena
has a negative effect on electoral outcomes, he said.