Why has Dan Brown chosen a lay Catholic organization to slander?

By Mike Humphrey in AskACatholic.com

What is Opus Dei?

The goal of this lay Catholic organization is to encourage the ordinary parishioner / the lay Catholic to grow in holiness in the world for Our Lord Jesus. The Church has given official approval to the existence of Opus Dei by erecting it as a personal prelature. {Personal prelatures are ecclesiastical jurisdictions provided for by the Second Vatican Council and the Code of Canon Law that are created to meet specific pastoral needs with greater flexibility. Opus Dei combines in a single worldwide institution priests and laity, women and men, sharing the same vocation of spreading the ideal of holiness in the world and the sanctification of work.}

A critique of Opus Dei, pro and con

In my area, I have friends and family members who have both very positive and very negative experiences with Opus Dei. Critics have charged it with controlling the lives of some of its members, and with manipulative recruiting practices. Here is just one example.

Some have experienced a cult-like environment where:

* rash judgments are made
* mind control is involved.
* people are pulled away from their families and
* people are used for their money.

They will refer to the Opus Dei Awareness Network for a list of similar experiences they have had as well as the book "Beyond the Threshold" by Maria Del Carmen Tapia, a former Opus Dei numerary.

On the other side I've had some friends that have nothing but admiration for the goals and way of life Opus Dei has to offer those who choose to get involved.

One of our colleagues, Terry, has stated:

I have nothing but admiration for Opus Dei (or more properly entitled the Holy Cross Prelature) However, their methods of living are too much for me to embrace in my life, but I admire those that do so.

When I reflect on the family and friends who have had bad experiences with those that have had a MUCH more positive experiences, the only difference I see is a greater commitment to practicing the faith by those with a positive experience.

No one, not even Opus Dei members, are denying that the organization, like any other lay or religious organization, has its set of problems. The Church has established statutes for the governance of Opus Dei, putting an end to the somewhat secretive treatment of its internal rules. The question is: Are they dealing with it. I believe they are.

One book recommended by the head of Opus Dei in America as well as a good friend of mine:

Opus Dei : An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church by John L. Allen.

No matter what the ups and downs of Opus Dei are, there's obviously something positive here that the Church wants to foster.

But where does someone who has had a bad experience with Opus Dei go to grow in holiness?

I would recommend one of two options:

* as a lay Catholic, live a sacramental life by striving to get to daily Mass and trying to say the rosary daily if possible
* if you feel that you are called to a vowed religious order, check out the various orders named after the Saints:

o Benedictine, (my favorite),
o Dominican,
o Jesuit,
o Franciscans, etc.

Some of these religious orders also have third orders for the lay Catholics like the Benedictines and Franciscans. This allows the lay Catholic to be associated with a Catholic religious order while still living in the world. It usually involves some minimum requirements like making a regular visit to the order, saying some prayers, etc,. The KEY: Make sure they are loyal to the Church's Magisterium, the official Teachings of the Church and the Holy Father. Many are but many ARE NOT.

While on the issue of people who have had a bad experience with Opus Dei, I'd like to express one major concern.

Throughout Church history there have been times where religious people in authority have scandalized the Faith by either their actions or inactions. The problems in Opus Dei, like any other religious organization are not anything new. There is a tendency though for people who have had a bad experience, with what is otherwise a virtuous organization, to have their experience re-affirmed in a movie like the Da Vinci Code.

If we make generalities on people or organizations based on bad experiences, we don't allow God to work in the hearts and minds for that change that is needed. We ultimately end up stereotyping an organization or person solely based on previous sins. I should know this because I've done that to certain frineds :)

My question is:

Why has Dan Brown chosen a lay Catholic organization to slander?

Why not the Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans or some other Catholic religious order? Surely "some" of them have their set of "problems and sins", which over time they are able to rectify.

I think part of the reason is because of the world-wide effect a compelling lay Catholic organization in the workplace dedicated to holiness and the Holy Father would have on the world if the goals of Opus Dei were to succeed. Just my opinion.

By Mike Humphrey in AskACatholic.com

It is about becoming a saint

By daughterofmary at the Catholic Answers Forum

"The Work" - Opus Dei - is about sanctification in daily life. It is about becoming a saint no matter if you are a priest, sister, nun, mother, wife, fireman, waitress, plumber, etc. Everyone is called to holiness and to respond to grace daily in just one's everyday life. [The writings of St. Josemaria Escriva] will help you to know more about the spirituality of Opus Dei.

I have a friend who is discerning becoming an Opus Dei priest. He is so inspiring and so devout. He is very involved with opus dei. I have only ever met good people that are very solid in their faith when it comes to Opus Dei. I have never encountered anything wrong with them.

By daughterofmary at the Catholic Answers Forum

It turned out to be a great experience

By Richard Dujardin at Projo.com

Charles Kineke recalls the first time he went on a retreat with Opus Dei.

The Annapolis graduate and former F-14 fighter pilot had attended some evening meetings sponsored by the group -- whose name means "Work of God" -- when a friend asked him if he'd like to go on a four-day mostly "silent" retreat at Opus Dei's Arnold Hall in a Boston suburb.

It turned out to be a great experience, he says. People prayed and listened to a Catholic priest talk about how to practice virtue and bring one's faith into daily life. But after two days, the friend who invited Kineke on the retreat, told him, "I'm exhausted from all these prayers. Let's go out and get a beer."

So they did just that, as the retreat continued..

Not bad, not bad at all, thought Kineke, who had first learned about Opus Dei from a "friend of a friend" in his wife's home schooling network.

The retreat mirrored the meetings, known as "evenings of recollection," that he had attended over several months at St. Sebastian Church in Providence . There too, under the auspices of Opus Dei, men would come together to pray, meditate and listen to an Opus Dei priest or layman talk about an aspect of the faith before heading downtown to sing and drink beer at an Irish pub.

"I said to myself, 'this Opus Dei stuff is great. You pray some, you drink beer, sing songs and hang out with the guys. And my wife thinks it's good because I'm going out to pray, which is what she wants me to do. It doesn't get better than this.' "

Kineke acknowledges that his experience is quite different from the image of Opus Dei presented by critics whose accusations have been given new life these last few years by Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The novel, whose film version is set to open this Friday, portrays the group as a dark and sinister organization whose members flagellate themselves and will stop at nothing, not even murder, to carry out their agenda.

Most critics don't go that far, but some liberal Catholics argue that Opus Dei -- founded in 1928 by Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, a Spanish priest who was canonized four years ago by Pope John Paul II -- is an elitist organization that denigrates women. They suggest that the group's emphasis on achieving holiness through prayer and discipline could lead to religious extremism.

As with other Opus Dei members, Kineke thinks the charges about the group, which they refer to as "the Work" are off base.

'You hear stories about people being pressured to join the Work. When I tried to join, it was the direct opposite."

Kineke, a senior vice president at Citizens Bank, said he was so impressed with what he had seen on the retreat and days of recollection that he approached Robert Sylvain, who directs Opus Dei's Mathewson House on Providence's East Side, to say he wanted to join.

"He told me, not so fast, that I couldn't just join, because Opus Dei is a calling. I had to come in for a chat every week or so for four months before I was even invited. Even then, I had to go through a catechism of the faith and 18 months of (spiritual) formation. It was great for me because even though I was born and raised Catholic there was a lot of stuff I didn't know."

WITH 85,000 members worldwide, and about 3,000 in the United States, Opus Dei describes itself as an international lay Catholic group whose main focus is the sanctification of people's ordinary lives, including their work. Members say Father Escriva's great insight was that being a saint is not the province of a few, but the universal destiny of every Christian. The priest taught that holiness can be lived out in one's everyday life.

Toward that end, its members -- both married and unmarried -- commit themselves to a "plan of life," a daily regimen that includes a morning offering, a half hour of prayer, recitation of the Rosary, an examination of conscience and attendance at Mass, as well as frequent confession -- as a step toward holiness and bringing God into their homes and workplaces.

St. Josemaria on justice, poverty, and civic responsibility

Teachings of St. Josemaria on education and civic responsibility. Taken from St. Josemaria.info


“A man or a society that does not react to suffering and injustice and makes no effort to alleviate them is still distant from the love of Christ's heart.” (Christ is passing by, 167).

“That is what our entire life is, my daughters and sons —a service with exclusively spiritual aims, because Opus Dei is not, and will never be —nor could it be—a tool for temporal ends. But at the same time, it is also a service to mankind, because all you are doing is trying in an upright way to achieve Christian perfection, acting most freely and responsibly in all the areas of the civil life.” (Opus Dei in the Church, p. 107).

Opus Dei must be present “wherever there is poverty, wherever there is unemployment, wherever there is sadness, wherever there is pain, so that the pain is borne with cheerfulness, so that the poverty disappears, so that the unemployment is overcome.” (In A glance toward the future from the heart of of Vallecas, Madrid, 1998, p. 135. Words from October 1, 1967.)

“We try to bring about a world with less poverty, less ignorance, more justice. I will tell you that the first means is prayer, self-sacrifice, which you can do in your work, doing it well.” (In A glance toward the future from the heart of Vallecas, Madrid, 1998, p. 138. Words from October 1, 1967)

“It is easy to understand the impatience, anxiety and uneasiness of people whose naturally Christian soul stimulates them to fight the personal and social injustice which the human heart can create... I understand and share this impatience. It stirs me to look at Christ, who is continually inviting us to put his new commandment of love into practice.” (Christ is passing by, 111).

Saints in business suits, janitor uniforms, blue jeans, t-shirt and sneakers

By Margaret, who commented on Olivia Darby's article on Opus Dei

THANK YOU Olivia for such a great column.

I am a supernumerary on the other side of the Pond from you, and then across the country from there to California. :-) I think we're even more thinly spread here than you are in the UK.

And you are so right about the superwoman bit-- I have eight kids. Believe me, there have been many days when superpowers would have come in handy. (Bi-location, in particular, if you're listening, Lord!!!)

I honestly had to laugh out loud when I read the Da Vinci Code, because it was just so obvious that the author had never actually spent time around people in the Work. I like normal people. I have no interest in spending my free time hanging around with brainwashed zombies who alternately beat themselves senseless and kill people. :-) If the Work had been filled with anything other than normal, kind, funny people, I would have passed right along and never given it a second thought.

As it is, I view my vocation as how God intends me to be a saint, and hopefully my family and friends too. The statues in church can be a bit misleading, because those saints are nearly all in religious habits. I hope Opus Dei's contribution to society will be many, many saints in business suits, janitor uniforms, or in my case, blue jeans, t-shirt and sneakers.

I found great friendship

By mmr at the Catholic Answers Forum. She is a fitness instructor from Ireland

My experience of Opus Dei has been really good. But as somebody mentioned, it's a vocation, so God and no one else will tell you if it's for you.

I have found great friendship and support and advice amongst the people of Opus Dei, and most importantly, sound non-judgemental advice both spiritually and humanly.

But equally I have friends who have felt it too intense for them. I think it has a huge amount to do with your stage in life and your temperament. If you are feeling stressed, or have a tendency to be a perfectionist, or not speak up for yourself when you feel uncomfortable about something, then it's probably not a good mix. Opus Dei members are hugely apostolic, and I don't think they try and hide or apologize for it: it's why they exist.

I really don't get how they are constantly accused of being secretive. I have never met a more assertive bunch ( in a healthy way). So if you think you are being pressured you have to be clear and articulate about that and set boundaries. I push back all the time. But honestly I also get such a positive reaction when I do, I think its almost encouraged.

I think that Opus Dei is a great organization, trying to help people get closer to God and to be better people. It's just not for everyone.