Opus Dei

[emmyfair]

This is a bit of a difficult subject for me to post about - I was involved in Opus Dei, a sect within the Catholic church, for a number of years. I'm still sorting out what happened to me there. I did want to post this web site for everyone to look at, as more and more people are starting to speak out about Opus Dei, and what goes on there.

http://www.odan.org/index.htm

I know Dan Brown wrote about the Opus Dei movement in his books. His depiction isn't really that accurate. Neither is the description given by the Catholic church itself, however. There's some pretty scary stuff, but everything I've looked through on this web site is true to my experience.

[NurseNell]

I am Catholic and once met some Opus Dei people in Chicago. I found them very strange. From everything I've read over the years I want to be as far from them as possible.

Nell

[mirele]

Emmyfair, were you a supernumerary? Did you use a cilice?

[GenerationCedarchip]

I remember researching Opus Dei around the time DaVinci Code came out and thinking their practices and aims sounded pretty scary. Knowing that we have several US Supreme Court justices with rumored ties to Opus Dei (Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Roberts) is pretty darn frightening, too.

[Austin]

I remember researching Opus Dei around the time DaVinci Code came out and thinking their practices and aims sounded pretty scary. Knowing that we have several US Supreme Court justices with rumored ties to Opus Dei (Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Roberts) is pretty darn frightening, too.

I've heard that, too, about those justices. I would love to know more about their ties to Opus Dei.

[CanticleoftheTurning]

I am Catholic and once met some Opus Dei people in Chicago. I found them very strange. From everything I've read over the years I want to be as far from them as possible.

Nell

Haven't met any Opus Dei people, and I'm glad for that. I find the group and its practices to be rather strange and extreme. I'll be reading more about it--just skimmed the website for now. My rule of thumb is I'm going to steer clear of any group that seeks to restrict what their members read. When they start controlling what you read, that's a sign of trouble.

I'll stick to my Franciscan-run parish and keep on admiring the Jesuits' mission. Those guys seem more reasonable (well, modern day Franciscans are--back in St. Francis's day they seemed rather extreme.)

[addyviolet]

As someone who grew up Catholic (although really liberal Catholic- think Our Lady of Felt Banners and Acoustic Guitars), I'm fascinated with Opus Dei. If you feel comfortable, I'd love to hear more about your experience. How did you get involved? How long were you involved? Were you a supernumerary or a numerary?

OTOH, if you're not in a place where you feel able to talk about it, I totally understand.

[emmyfair]

Emmyfair, were you a supernumerary? Did you use a cilice?

I was in the process of becoming a numerary. I was living in a center and had to leave a very dear friend behind in the process of getting out. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do - she's out now as well, but suffers from PTSD as a result of her much longer and more intense experience with Opus Dei.

I still have scars on my leg from the cilice. Disipline (dying to self) is manditory in the group I was involved with.

[emmyfair]

As someone who grew up Catholic (although really liberal Catholic- think Our Lady of Felt Banners and Acoustic Guitars), I'm fascinated with Opus Dei. If you feel comfortable, I'd love to hear more about your experience. How did you get involved? How long were you involved? Were you a supernumerary or a numerary? quote]

About four years total, and I was recruited by people I though were my friends. I found out after that they were attending my university with the primary intention of finding new members - and all their expenses were being paid for by Opus Dei. I'm glad I got out before it was too late - I was being restricted regarding who I could talk to and when, and what I could say. Had I cemented my commitment to them, my next placement would have been out of the country - and beyond the reach of anyone who cold have helped me get out...

[CanticleoftheTurning]

About four years total, and I was recruited by people I though were my friends. I found out after that they were attending my university with the primary intention of finding new members - and all their expenses were being paid for by Opus Dei. I'm glad I got out before it was too late - I was being restricted regarding who I could talk to and when, and what I could say. Had I cemented my commitment to them, my next placement would have been out of the country - and beyond the reach of anyone who cold have helped me get out...

I'm glad you were able to get out. Definitely a testament to your strength.

I've never understood the huge emphasis on mortification that so many saints have had--it just sounds like they all need therapy for self-mutilation! You might try some Mederma on the scars--it's helped reduce the appearance of the scars from DH's bike wreck earlier this year.

[emmyfair]

quote]

I'm glad you were able to get out. Definitely a testament to your strength.

I've never understood the huge emphasis on mortification that so many saints have had--it just sounds like they all need therapy for self-mutilation! You might try some Mederma on the scars--it's helped reduce the appearance of the scars from DH's bike wreck earlier this year.

[Cran]

I had spiritual direction from a (female) member of the Opus Dei because I was curious about them, and Dan Brown's crazy book made me only more curious because it was so crazy it COULDN'T be true, and was invited to the regular meetings for supernumeraries.

Quit going because it was somehow very base, not challenging at all, and she never told me anything in spiritual direction that I hadn't figured out before. Especially the talks given by various OP priests were very, very dull, on a level I imagine pre-Vatican II-instruction for laypeople must have been. Catechism talks, basically.

I was a bit surprised, because the Opus Dei is rumoured to go after the "elite" and should therefore offer adequate direction and information. Of course, I have a master in catholic theology, but they KNEW that (but from a Jesuit university, they do not like each other, so perhaps they thought my education was no good ;) ). I was kept from joining out of sheer boredom. Guess I should call myself lucky.

Not because of corporal mortification, it is definitely crazy, but crazier and more hurtful thing can be done to people spiritually, and that seems to be what Opus Dei does to the members that live in their residences permanently. I have read a book by a former member (Carmen Tapia or something? Don't own the booky anymore), and it was really scary. Of course, there are always two sides to the story and her book is only one, but still I do not believe she made it all up. It sounds like a cult, including all the mind-controlling and making people dependent on the OD by indoctrinating them and telling that all the world is so eeeeeevil. And my guess is they can keep up a respectable facade because only the inner circle living in the residencies are exposed to this, not the supernumeraries or affiliates.

[emmyfair]

And my guess is they can keep up a respectable facade because only the inner circle living in the residencies are exposed to this, not the supernumeraries or affiliates.

Pretty much.

Plus, once you're in, they take your wages and give only an allowance for basic needs to each member, so it's hard to get out on a financial level, as well.

[addyviolet]

About four years total, and I was recruited by people I though were my friends. I found out after that they were attending my university with the primary intention of finding new members - and all their expenses were being paid for by Opus Dei. I'm glad I got out before it was too late - I was being restricted regarding who I could talk to and when, and what I could say. Had I cemented my commitment to them, my next placement would have been out of the country - and beyond the reach of anyone who cold have helped me get out...

I'm so glad you were able to get out before they took you out of the country.

Opus Dei's recruiting tactics are really scary. I can't believe they actually send people to college for the sole intention of recruiting. Yikes. After an experience like that, I'd have a hard time trusting anyone making overtures of friendship to me.

[lizzy]

I was in the process of becoming a numerary. I was living in a center and had to leave a very dear friend behind in the process of getting out. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do - she's out now as well, but suffers from PTSD as a result of her much longer and more intense experience with Opus Dei.

I still have scars on my leg from the cilice. Disipline (dying to self) is manditory in the group I was involved with.

I am sorry to hear that you went through all of this. While I respect the idea of St. Jose Escriva's mission to get people to sanctify their daily lives, what OD requires of it's members is overly harsh and not in line with Catholic tradition. The practices they require of their numeraries have never been required of lay Catholics nor have the ever been required of professed religious (which OD numeraries and supernumeraries are not).

Furthermore, they don't seem very up front about what they expect of their members before they join. When someone joins a convent or monastery, typically they visit several times and live with the community before making a decision to join. They are also free to leave at any time. OD has demonstrated that can be very coercive to those wishing to leave.

Hopefully this experience will not sour you on the Catholic faith (though I would not be surprised if it did) which is beautiful and rich in tradition.

Best of luck in your recovery...

[GenerationCedarchip]

I've heard that, too, about those justices. I would love to know more about their ties to Opus Dei.

If you play on Google, all kinds of rumors abound, so I'll try to stick to what is fairly well established. I used sources from the news to the Harvard Crimson to Slate and Salon:

Scalia - He hasn't spoken publicly on it that I can find but his wife is reputed to be a member even though the Vatican denies that he himself is. He is rather outspoken on being anti-Vatican II and at least sometimes attends Latin mass at a very conservative Catholic church with strong Opus Dei ties. I found a lot of articles identifying him not as a member, but as a "cooperator" (i.e. someone sympathetic but who hasn't actually joined). Interesting sidenote: His son is an Opius Dei priest and participated the conversion of Justice Thomas to Catholicism.

Thomas - Not really any evidence one way or the other, but as one news blog pointed out, since he was converted by an Opus Dei priest, it's the rumor that won't die.

Roberts - His children attend an Opus Dei school in Maryland. Or at least they did as of news reports spanning 2006-2010. He also has links to a well-known OD priest(McCloskey - who is basically the face of OD in the USA) who is also linked to Scalia and Thomas.

Alito - There are persistent rumors of his involvement in OD. However, most of the news articles and more sane bloggers out there keep saying there isn't any real proof of it. One investigative reporter around the time of his confirmation even did his homework and discovered that Alito went to very mainstream Catholic churches rather than anything affiliated with OD.

Hope this helps!

[NurseNell]

Hope this helps!

Thanks, very interesting. As I said I've just encountered OD once, in Chicago. The priest saying Mass was in OD. The person I was with had friends in OD and we met them after Mass to go to a Polish restaurant for dinner. I knew nothing about OD at that time, which was 15 years ago. So I read up on them then and, just as I find fundies hard to understand, I found them hard to understand. I couldn't imagine wanting to live like that.

Emmyfair, I'm glad you got out.

Nell

[Dinorah]

Opus Dei seem to have a rather bad reputation amongst other Catholics, at least liberalish ones. One of my relatives, who's a devout Catholic (but liberal politically) was appalled by Escriva''s canonization.

This said, I always assumed the Da Vinci code stuff was a gross exaggeration.

[lizzy]

Opus Dei seem to have a rather bad reputation amongst other Catholics, at least liberalish ones. One of my relatives, who's a devout Catholic (but liberal politically) was appalled by Escriva''s canonization.

OD also has a bad reputation amongst traditional Catholics, too.

The issue around the canonization is likely because OD made a huge donation to the Vatican that basically bailed out the Vatican bank. Shortly thereafter, Escriva was placed on fast track for canonization. The accusation is that OD "bought" the canonization.

[gustava]

Robert Hanssen, FBI turncoat extraodinaire, had strong ties to Opus Dei.

[nuri]

I hadn't realized that Thomas had, at one point, left the Catholic church. I'm too young to remember that and my father went to school with him in Savannah at the Seminary there. Conversion might not be the right word.

[TheSassyOne]

Add me to the list of Catholics who view Opus Dei as a dangerous cult. I really didn't know much about them until ten years ago. When I first began to research the group, I was appalled at their various activities. Of course in our area, the group has its' supporters, and they - much like Fundies - look at me and other Catholics (especially more liberal minded ones) as bound for hell.

Oh well, at least I'll have great company! :lol:

BTW, concerning Escriva''s canonization: Here's an interesting article I found on that subject matter. http://takingfive.com/canonization.htm

[NurseNell]

Add me to the list of Catholics who view Opus Dei as a dangerous cult.

Me too. And I know several very conservative Catholics who go to the Latin Mass and take communion on the tongue who view Opus Dei as a cult.

Nell

[Cran]

Concerning "conservatie", I do thinkg the OD wasn't considered conservative at all when Escriva founded it, but became more so as time passed.

While it is certainly conservative today, I wouldn't consider it "traditional", so being a traditional catholic that goes to the mass in the tridentine rite and receives on the tongue will have no special reason to like the OD. Their priests might celebrate the mass in latin or in the tridentine rite, but they put no particular focus on it, as priestly communities who are specifically commited to it (Petrus X, Institute Christ the King Sovereign Priest).

In my experience, traditional cath's are also conservative, but not every conservative is a traditionalist.

[lizzy]

Me too. And I know several very conservative Catholics who go to the Latin Mass and take communion on the tongue who view Opus Dei as a cult.

Nell

Me three. And I am a traditional Catholic.