Opus: The Latest Attempt to Expose Opus Dei
I was born in the country where Opus Dei was founded. I grew up in an Opus Dei family. I studied at an Opus Dei school. And, over my 43 years, I have met hundreds of members and former members of Opus Dei from all walks of life. I have worked with many of them, shared good times and bad, been drunk and had fun, cried, and prayed. I have been consoled, angry and lighthearted, and experienced the value of true friendship. All of that to say, I feel I have the credentials to speak about something that I have known since I was a child. Especially now as financial journalist Gareth Gore launches his book Opus — generating a wave of sensationalism against Opus Dei à la the mortifying literary experience Dan Brown inflicted upon us.
I am not surprised that there are attacks on Opus Dei. We Christians follow someone who was persecuted, humiliated, slandered, and murdered. The worrying thing would be if they stopped attacking us. From a theological point of view, if you will allow me the license, I would say that the devil is not very original. Throughout the centuries, the devil has always attacked the parts of the church that are bearing the best fruits.
The teachings of Opus Dei have for decades brought thousands of people closer to God in the simplest ways and met them in their home environment or place of work, without the need to retire to a monastery, or become a missionary. Opus Dei is an easy resource when God wants to call someone to his flock.
Opus could be just one more among the thousand books that are critical of this prelature, but it has something that makes it different — the unwitting cooperation of the slandered themselves. To understand, we must contextualize.
For the record, until 2024, Gareth Gore had not publicly written a single line about Opus Dei, not even on his social media accounts. Nor is he known to publicly report on religious matters. His brief non-economic forays were complacent and romantic follow-ups on the future of Spain after the Catalan secessionists failed in their attempted coup in 2017 — the one that was sponsored by Russia, as we later learned. Gore, who had been solely focused on economic issues for fifteen years, is now on everyone’s lips for his first, and unexpected, book dedicated to the Catholic institution founded by the Spanish St. Josemaría Escrivá on October 2, 1928.
Opus is not a book about Opus Dei, but against Opus Dei. In a way, it is also against all Christians. Like all those who preceded him in slandering the institution, he also claims to tell “the untold story.” The announcement of the book near the anniversary of Opus Dei’s the founding on October 2, and its simultaneous release in several languages, confirms what anyone would suspect — Opus is not an altruistic attempt to unveil the truth. Rather, it is a calculated effort to capitalize, for the personal gain of the author and publishers, on the persecution of Christians. If it were not, it would not be full of lies and manipulations.
According to official sources in the prelature:
In mid-2022, financial author Gareth Gore requested copies of correspondence between Opus Dei’s founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá, and Spanish banker Luis Valls Taberner (1926-2006), an Opus Dei member. Gore claimed to be writing a biography of Valls Taberner. Over the next 18 months, he was also granted access to numerous interviews with members across various countries. However, early in 2024, when the promotional material for Opus surfaced, it became apparent that the book was not a biography of Valls Taberner as originally stated, but an attack on Opus Dei.
During his 18 months of research with Opus Dei, Gore did not utter a single word about “the serious and false accusations” that are at the heart of his book. Nor did he allow the institution to review the manuscript or keep his “promise to give Opus Dei the opportunity to respond to any controversial claims.”
Of all the people slandered by Gore, there is one that is particularly unjust — the prestigious banker Luis Valls Taberner, who died 18 years ago. He was president of the Banco Popular between 1972 and 2004. Valls was a good and honest man, as attested by all who knew him, and as corroborated by the thousands of people he helped through a wide array of foundations and charitable initiatives.
The formula for Opus is a bit tired — it teases the idea of revealing the dark and hidden, but doesn’t really deliver. For years Opus Dei’s policy has been naked transparency. Today, in less than five minutes and through its official channels, you can discover every supposed secret about Opus Dei. Although it is a bit tiresome to have to point this out, contrary to what Gore says, in Opus Dei there are anti-Francoists and anti-Trumpists. There are also a lot of normal people who are not millionaires, who do not rule over major corporations, and who do not even govern in their own homes.
Any religious institution examined in detail by someone who contemplates it without the eyes of faith will inevitably be misunderstood — from the corporal mortifications of the Trappist friars to the way in which the members, known as numeraries, of Opus Dei devote part of their free time to apostolic initiatives. But if you can’t understand it, the prudent and honorable thing to do is to stay away from trying to explain it to others. Unfortunately, Gore has not displayed said prudence. I hope that Opus will provide him with many financial benefits, because that will be the only real satisfaction he will be able to gain from it.
In my personal experience, Opus Dei is a Catholic institution made up of sinners, like the whole church. Its members are individuals and act freely — from the ideological to the prosaic — the actions of one should never be extrapolated to all. The only bond that unites all its members is a personal commitment to God to pursue holiness in ordinary life. Anyone who still believes, like Gore, that Opus Dei is a tool of power for its religious leaders, or a way to profit financially, only demonstrates a complete ignorance of the reality of life in the prelature. I do not know of a single priest in Opus Dei who fulfills his vocation for the sake of money or power. It would be a foolish way to achieve such earthly riches. God alone knows why they do it.
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