What
is Opus Dei?
Opus
Dei is an organization founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaria Escriva
de Balaguer. The stated aim of Opus Dei is to "spread throughout
society a profound awareness of the universal call to holiness and
apostolate through one's professional work carried out with freedom
and personal responsibility." (Encyclopedia of Associations)
Opus Dei is made up of lay members and priests; Opus Dei laity continue
to work in the secular world, but remain under the strict spiritual
direction of Opus Dei. All Opus Dei members follow "the plan
of life," made up of spiritual practices such as daily Mass,
rosary, spiritual reading, and mental prayer, as well as Opus Dei
prayers and customs.
There are different classes of membership in Opus Dei:
Numerary members pledge to remain celibate and generally
live in Opus Dei houses. They commit their entire salaries to
Opus Dei, submit incoming and outgoing mail to their directors,
and practice various forms of corporal mortification, including
use of the cilice, a spiked chain worn around the thigh, and use
of the discipline, a knotted rope for whipping. To read
the testimonies of several former numerary members:
Opus Dei
Recruits Minors and Deceives Church Officials
Opus Dei Superiors Lied
to Church Officials
Deception
and Drugs in Opus Dei
Supernumerary
members may be married, and live with their families. They follow
the same "plan of life" as the numeraries, but generally
do not know about many of the details of numerary life. They contribute
large portions of their income to Opus Dei, often at the expense
of their local parishes. To read the testimony of the
daughter of a supernumerary:
http://www.odan.org/tw_apple.htm
Numerary
priests join Opus Dei as lay members, but are then hand-picked
by Opus Dei superiors to become priests of Opus Dei. Numerary
priests hold the top government positions in Opus Dei. Many hold
important positions in the Vatican. Each Opus Dei house is assigned
a numerary priest, whose responsibilities include saying Mass,
hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction to the Opus
Dei members.
Associate
Opus Dei members also pledge celibacy, but they generally
do not live in Opus Dei houses. They include people who have not
acquired university degrees, or who must remain with their families
for personal reasons.
Numerary
assistants are women who pledge celibacy, and are responsible
for the care and cleaning of all Opus Dei residences. To
read the testimony of a former numerary assistant:
http://www.odan.org/tw_basic_human_rights_were_violated.htm
Cooperators
of Opus Dei provide financial support, but are not considered
members of Opus Dei. Unlike Opus Dei members, cooperators do not
have to be Catholic.
(Note: More testimonies from former members of Opus Dei can be
found at the following link:
http://www.odan.org/testimonies_and_writings.htm )
Despite
its seemingly noble intentions, Opus Dei has stirred up controversy
in countries all over the world. Families of Opus Dei members are
almost never involved in the vocation process, (in fact Opus Dei
itself often discourages its new members from even telling their
families about their decision - the following testimony
demonstrates how Opus Dei has ignored directives from Church
superiors to cease recruiting minors and to require they discuss the
matter with parents before making any commitments to Opus Dei:
Opus Dei
Recruits Minors and Deceives Church Officials) Also questionable are Opus Dei's
recruiting tactics, which are comparable to the tactics used by
cultic groups.
In the early 1980's Opus Dei was granted designation as a "personal prelature" within the Church. A
personal prelature is an entity within the Catholic Church that
is headed by a "prelate" (currently Javier Echevarria)
and defined by persons rather than by geographical area (such as
dioceses). Therefore, local bishops have little control over Opus
Dei's membership, activities or practices.
In 2002, Opus Dei's
founder, Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, was canonized in Rome,
Italy on October 6 after having been beatified amidst substantial
controversy in 1992. There were many irregularities involved
in Escriva's swift canonization (he died in 1975), including
the refusal to
accept the testimonies of almost a dozen people who opposed the
canonization and knew Escriva personally, including Maria del Carmen
Tapia, Father Vladimir Feltzman and John Roche;
the elimination of the Devil's
Advocate from the canonization process, a change effected with the
participation of Opus Dei's first prelate, Alvaro del Portillo; and
the authentification of miracles by Opus Dei doctors, along with
other conflict of interest issues.
Opus Dei has stated that there are approximately 80,000 Opus Dei
members worldwide. Opus Dei is located in many countries, including
England, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia,
the Philippines, countries in Central and South America, and many
others, including the United States. Opus Dei generally locates
in or near major cities, often near prestigious universities, where
they hope to attract recruits.
Since its inception in 1991, ODAN has been in contact with people
from all over the world who have experienced the questionable practices
of Opus Dei. Many are former members; others who have contacted
ODAN include parents, siblings and friends of current or former
Opus Dei members; priests and religious, including bishops and campus
ministers; news reporters from both the Catholic and secular press,
parents of children who attend Opus Dei schools (Letter1;
Letter2) and many more.
In recent years, groups of former members from other countries have
gathered together to point out the deceptive and manipulative
techniques employed by Opus Dei members and to share their stories.
Among these are Opus Libros,
based in Spain, and Opuslivre,
based in Brazil. From the contacts ODAN has made, it has become apparent
that wherever Opus Dei is, there is controversy.
The great tragedy is that most Opus Dei members do not realize that
the ideals they aspire to do not correlate with their actual
practices, which include a culture which demands aggressive
recruiting, especially at the numerary level; the withholding of
information from new recruits and new members; the imposition of
intense coercion and guilt on those who wish to make free decisions;
and blind obedience to superiors as the Founder of Opus Dei commands
in Maxim 941, The Way: "Obedience, the sure way. Blind
obedience to your superior, the way of sanctity. Obedience in
your apostolate the only way, for in a work of God, the spirit must
be to obey or to leave."
Posted to website May 13, 2002
Revised November 16, 2003
Revised June 9, 2006
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