Mistakes common to TVB & TDC-A3 (1)

Mistakes in The Vatican Boys about The Real History of the
Opus Dei that were copied into The Da Vinci Code
Opus Dei History The Da Vinci Code The Vatican Boys
Opus Dei is not a sinister
worldwide Catholic financial
Empire or a sect
In 1982 Pope John Paul
II made The Opus Dei a
personal prelature of the
Vatican and it was not
suspicious
Opus Dei is a sinister
worldwide Catholic financial
Empire and a sect
The Vatican prelature known
as Opus Dei is a deeply devout
Catholic sect (Fact Page).
Opus Dei’s traditionalist
philosophy initially had taken
root in Spain before Franco’s
regime, but with the 1934
publication of Josemaría
Escrivá’s spiritual book The
Way—999 points of meditation
for doing God’s Work in
one’s own life —Escrivá’s
message exploded across
the world. Now, with over
four million copies of The
Way in circulation in forty-two
languages, Opus Dei was
a global force. Its residence
halls, teaching centers, and
even universities could be
found in almost every major
metropolis on earth. Opus
Dei was the fastest growing
and most financially secure
Catholic organization in
the world. Unfortunately,
Aringarosa had learned, in an
age of religious cynicism, cults,
and televangelists, Opus Dei’s
escalating wealth and power
was a magnet for suspicion.
(Chapter 5).
In 1982 the Opus Dei
was suspiciously made a
personal prelature of the
Pope, Pope John Paul II
Opus Dei is a sinister
worldwide Catholic financial
Empire and a sect
Monsignor Escriva had
founded an ultraconservative
religious movement, the Opus
Dei, at a small church in Spain
in 1928. Since then, the sect
had spread its teachings
around the world. Demanding
absolute loyalty to the authority
of the Opus Dei and the pope,
Escriva had quietly laid the
groundwork not only for his
own religious organization,
but for an intricate worldwide
financial empire exercising
considerable influence on
the church. Working inside
the Vatican, he had bent and
molded its primary offices to
accumulate enormous power
for himself and the Opus Dei.”
(Chapter 1).
In 1982 the Opus Dei
was suspiciously made a
personal prelature of the
Vatican by Pope John Paul II

Jose Escriva was not
speeded to sainthood by
Pope John Paul II
The Vatican was not in
financial trouble in 1982 and
bailed out of bankruptcy by
the Opus Dei with billions
of dollars in exchange for
favorable treatments
“Catholic officials say that
Church authorities have
even greater control of Opus
Dei now that its head is a
prelate appointed by the
Pope and its status as a
prelature precisely means
dependence. Escriva’s
relatively quick canonization
does not have anything
to do with power but with
improvements in procedures
and John Paul II’s decision
to make Escriva’s sanctity
and message known”
The leader of the Opus Dei
is not officially called the
“head of the Opus Dei.” He
is called “the Prelate of the
Opus Dei”
Jose Escriva was fasttracked
to sainthood by
Pope John Paul II, a mere…
The Vatican was in financial
trouble in 1982 and bailed
out of bankruptcy by the
Opus Dei with a billion
dollars in exchange for
favorable treatments
Their ascension to grace
was jump-started in 1982
when Pope John Paul II
unexpectedly elevated them
to a “personal prelature of the
Pope,” officially sanctioning all
of their practices.
In a second maneuver that
raised eyebrows, the Pope
placed the founder of Opus
Dei on the “fast track” for
sainthood, accelerating an
often century-long waiting
period for canonization to a
mere twenty years.
Suspiciously, Opus Dei’s
elevation occurred the same
year the wealthy sect allegedly
had transferred almost
one billion dollars into
the Vatican’s Institute for
Religious Works—commonly
known as the Vatican
Bank—bailing it out of an
embarrassing bankruptcy.
(Chapter 7).
Jose Escriva was speedily
elevated to sainthood by
Pope John Paul II, a mere …
The Vatican was in financial
trouble in 1982 and bailed
out of bankruptcy by the
Opus Dei with billions of
dollars in exchange for
favorable treatments
John Paul II, resplendent in
white and gold vestments,
was sweating profusely as
he stood before the hastily
reconstructed altar in St.
Peter’s Square. Nevertheless,
he ignored the sweltering heat
and dutifully conferred the rites
of beatification on Josemaria
Escriva de Balaguer.
It was perhaps because of this
influence that the beatification
was taking place a mere
seventeen years after his
death. More than a few church
members had protested
Escriva’s candidacy, pointing
out that he had not been
adequately investigated by
the Devil’s Advocates, church
elders appointed to prove or
disprove a life of heroic virtue
of any candidate chosen for
sainthood.
Studying Escriva’s writings and
practices and investigating the
claims of miracles performed
by him should have taken
decades, even centuries.
(Chapter 1).
In 1982, with the approval
and help of Pope John Paul
II, Opus Dei was made a
personal prelature under
the new legal framework
introduced during the Second
Vatican Council in the 1960s.
With Rome’s consent,

From 1994 until 2016, “the
Prelate of the Opus Dei was
a Spanish Bishop, from
Spain
In The Da Vinci Code the
“head of the Opus Dei” is an
American Bishop
“I apologize if I have awoken
you, Sister,” the abbé said, his
own voice sounding groggy
and on edge. “I have a favor
to ask of you. I just received
a call from an influential
American bishop.
Perhaps you know him?
Manuel Aringarosa?”
“The head of Opus Dei?”
Of course I know of him. Who
in the Church doesn’t? (The
nun answered).
Aringarosa’s conservative
prelature had grown
powerful in recent years.
Aringarosa shot to his feet. Ask
His Holiness if Opus Dei was
an embarrassment in 1982
when we helped the Vatican
Bank!
The Vatican will always be
grateful for that, the secretariat
said, his tone appeasing,
and yet there are those who
still believe your financial
munificence in 1982 is
the only reason you were
granted prelature status in
the first place. (Chapter 100).
members of the sect owe
strict obedience to Opus Dei
superiors, both at the Vatican
and elsewhere. (Chapter 9).
In The Vatican Boys the
“head of the Opus Dei” is an
American Archbishop
“Do you know who Archbishop
Peter Zagranski is, Julien?”
Catherine asked. She glanced
sideways at Stephen, looking
for another wisecrack to be
made. None came.
“Yes, the first secretary to
Pope John Paul II.” (The nun
answered).
“That’s correct, and he
was a very close friend of
Monsignor Escriva. Escriva,
in fact, was his benefactor
and Zagranski has succeeded
him as the head of the Opus
Dei organization. He’s been
in charge of it for the last 15
years. He’s also been the
director of the IOR for the last
13 years.”
It was in serious financial
trouble. Pope John Paul
even acknowledged it publicly.
Without the financial support
of the Opus Dei, the Catholic
Church would have been
broke.
This illegal business was
approved by Archbishop
Zagranski himself. The monies
all of the bankers loaned to
the IOR, in other words the
Vatican, were quite substantial.
If you add up the totals, the
sums are billions of dollars.”
(Chapter 18).
Opus Dei members are not
violent, they are moral and
virtuous people
The Opus Dei relic seeker
Silas is violent
The Opus Dei Jeremy relic
seeker is violent

The cilice is not an Opus Dei
torture device used to cut
the flesh and cause bleeding
and pain
“Opus Dei is a Catholic
institution and adheres to
Catholic doctrine, which
clearly condemns immoral
behavior, including murder,
lying, stealing, and generally
injuring people. The Catholic
Church teaches that one
should never do evil, even
for a good purpose.”
The cilice is an Opus Dei
torture device. It is used to
cut the flesh and causes
bleeding and pain
One mile away, the hulking
albino named Silas limped
through the front gate of
the luxurious brownstone
residence on Rue La Bruyère.
The spiked cilice belt that he
wore around his thigh cut
into his flesh, and yet his
soul sang with satisfaction of
service to the Lord.
Even so, Silas knew,
absolution required sacrifice.
Pulling his shades, he stripped
naked and knelt in the center
of his room.
Looking down, he examined
the spiked cilice belt clamped
around his thigh. All true
followers of The Way wore
this device—a leather strap,
studded with sharp metal
barbs that cut into the flesh
as a perpetual reminder of
Christ’s suffering. The pain
caused by the device also
helped counteract the desires
of the flesh.
Silas relayed the earlier events
of the evening... how all four of
his victims, moments before
death, had desperately tried
to buy back their godless lives
by telling their secret. I must
purge my soul of today’s sins.
The sins committed today
had been holy in purpose.
Even so, Silas knew,
absolution required sacrifice.
Pulling his shades, he stripped
naked and knelt in the center
of his room. Looking down, he
examined the spiked cilice belt
clamped around his thigh. All
true followers of The Way wore
this device—a leather strap,
The cilice is an Opus Dei
torture device. It is used to
cut the flesh and causes
bleeding and pain
Jeremy was a mercenary.
He had been trained for the
work by his father, a former
military man skilled in special
operations. Now his services
were available to anyone with
enough money to employ him.
The officials of the Opus Dei
knew him to be well versed
in covert operations and had
chosen him to head up their
new secret military order.
(Chapter 1).
The priest’s fingers turned a
metal screw that tightened a
blade studded garter belt, the
celice, around her thigh. Her
body shook violently as it was
tensioned. (Chapter 14).
Jeremy shoved Stephen
forcefully into the hall. Then,
with a movement of his right
arm, he flicked Catherine out
of his way, and made straight
for the man from Galilee. He
gripped him by the throat with
one hand and put a gun to
his face with the other. He
cocked the hammer and at the
same time ordered Catherine
to close and latch the door
behind him.
Remember me, you holy
prick? The vulgar words were
whispered softly into the
priest’s ears, along with the
disgusting smell of sputum.
You’re pushing your luck,
Rovarik. Tell me what I want
to know or you’re going to

studded with sharp metal
barbs that cut into the flesh
as a perpetual reminder of
Christ’s suffering. (Chapter 2).
Silas clutched his pistol and
gazed through the glass doors.
If they did not reveal where
they had placed the keystone,
Silas would have to enter and
persuade them with force.
(Chapter 62).
see just how real violence
can be. The desperate look on
Jeremy’s face told the priest
that it was time to get to the
point. (Chapter 26).
Your violence is not reality,
Jeremy. It is a mask. An
illusion. The devil’s hand
at play disguising the truth.
(Chapter 26).

Opus Dei - April 18, 2006: ‘Da Vinci Code’ Is ‘Very Distorted’.
In Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” Opus Dei is painted as
a secretive, power-hungry and extreme sect of the Catholic
Church.
A Vatican Conspiracy - In both The Vatican Boys and in The
Da Vinci Code there is an American Archbishop or Bishop
who is the head of the Opus Dei and he has a violent Opus Dei
assassin working with him. Together, acting alone, their goal
is to find a missing relic that is linked to Jesus Christ. Their
motivation is to make the renegade Bishop and his Vatican
Bank (IOR) connected Opus Dei organization powerful in the
Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II is involved...
The fictional use of a distorted, secretive, power- hungry
Opus Dei, with these two explicit Opus Dei characters and
the Vatican Bank having illegal Opus Dei connections in the
story was originated in The Vatican Boys in 1997 and copied
into The Da Vinci Code in 2003
FACT:
The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout
Catholic sect that has been the topic of recent controversy
due to reports of brainwashing, coercion, and a dangerous
practice known as “corporal mortification.” Opus Dei has just
completed construction of a $47 million World Headquarters
at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.
All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and
secret rituals in this novel are accurate.
Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code

Opus Dei News Releases - Documentations
A-The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei
PRELATURE OF OPUS DEI IN THE UNITED STATES
Many readers are intrigued by the claims about Christian history and theology presented in The Da Vinci Code. We
would like to remind them that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, and it is not a reliable source of information on
these matters.
The book has raised public interest in the origins of the Bible and of central Christian doctrines such as the divinity of
Jesus Christ. These topics are important and valuable to study, and we hope that interested readers will be motivated
to study some of the abundant scholarship on them that is available in the non-fiction section of the library.
Readers who do further research and exercise critical judgment will discover that assertions made in The Da Vinci
Code about Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, and Church history lack support among reputable scholars. By way of
example, the book popularizes the idea that the fourth century Roman emperor Constantine invented the doctrine of
the divinity of Christ for political reasons. The historical evidence, however, clearly shows that the New Testament and
the very earliest Christian writings manifest Christian belief in the divinity of Christ. Other examples of discredited
claims presented in The Da Vinci Code can be found in this article from Crisis magazine (link) or this FAQ from
Catholic Answers (link). For readers who are willing to take the time to get to the bottom of the issues raised in The
Da Vinci Code, we recommend reading Amy Welborn’s book, De-Coding Da Vinci, or The Da Vinci Hoax by Carl Olson
and Sandra Miesel (see links at right).
We also want to point out that The Da Vinci Codes depiction of Opus Dei is inaccurate, both in the overall impression
and in many details, and it would be irresponsible to form any opinion of Opus Dei based on reading The Da Vinci
Code. For those interested in further information about the various false impressions the book gives of Opus Dei,
please continue reading.
1. Opus Dei and monks
Throughout The Da Vinci Code, Opus Dei members are presented as monks (or, rather, caricatures of monks). Like all
Catholics, Opus Dei members have great appreciation for monks, but in fact there are no monks in Opus Dei. Opus Dei is a
Catholic institution for lay people and diocesan priests, not a monastic order.
Opus Dei’s approach to living the faith does not involve withdrawing from the world like those called to the monastic life.
Rather, Opus Dei helps people grow closer to God in and through their ordinary secular activities.
Numerary members of Opus Dei — a minority — choose a vocation of celibacy in order to be available to organize the activities
of Opus Dei. They do not, however, take vows, wear robes, sleep on straw mats, spend all their time in prayer and
corporal mortification, or in any other way live like The Da Vinci Codes depiction of its monk character. In contrast to
those called to the monastic life, numeraries have regular secular professional work.
In fact, The Da Vinci Code gets Opus Dei’s nature 180 degrees backwards. Monastic orders are for people who have a
vocation to seek holiness by withdrawing from the secular world; Opus Dei is for people who have a vocation to live
their Christian faith in the middle of secular society.
Additional explanation from leading Catholic figures of Opus Dei’s focus on secular life.
2. Opus Dei and crime
In The Da Vinci Code, Opus Dei members are falsely depicted murdering, lying, drugging people, and otherwise
acting unethically, thinking that it is justified for the sake of God, the Church, or Opus Dei (p. 13, 29, 58-9, etc.).
Opus Dei is a Catholic institution and adheres to Catholic doctrine, which clearly condemns immoral behavior,
including murder, lying, stealing, and generally injuring people. The Catholic Church teaches that one should never
do evil, even for a good purpose.
Opus Dei’s mission is to help people integrate their faith and the activities of their daily life, and so its spiritual education and
counselling help members to be more ethical rather than less so. Opus Dei members, like everyone else, sometimes do things

wrong, but this is an aberration from what Opus Dei is promoting rather than a manifestation of it.
Besides attributing criminal activity to Opus Dei, The Da Vinci Code also falsely depicts Opus Dei as being focused
on gaining wealth and power. Additional comment from leading Catholic sources on Opus Dei’s alleged wealth and
power. 3. Opus Dei and corporal mortification
The Da Vinci Code makes it appear that Opus Dei members practice bloody mortifications (e.g., pp. 12, 14, 29, 31, 73,
89, 127-28, 195, 276-79, 293). In fact, though history indicates that some Catholic saints have done so, Opus Dei members
do not do this.
The Catholic Church advises people to practice mortification. The mystery of Jesus Christ’s Passion shows that voluntary
sacrifice has a transcendent value and can bring spiritual benefits to others. Voluntary sacrifice also brings personal spiritual
benefits, enabling one to resist the inclination to sin. For these reasons, the Church prescribes fasting on certain days and
recommends that the faithful practice other sorts of mortification as well. Mortification is by no means the centrepiece of the
Christian life, but nobody can grow closer to God without it: There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2015).
In the area of mortification, Opus Dei emphasizes small sacrifices rather than extraordinary ones, in keeping with its spirit of
integrating faith with secular life. For example, Opus Dei members try to make small sacrifices such as persevering at their
work when tired, occasionally passing up some small pleasure, or giving help to those in need.
Some Opus Dei members also make limited use of the cilice and discipline, types of mortification that have always
had a place in the Catholic tradition because of their symbolic reference to Christ’s Passion. The Church teaches that
people should take reasonable care of their physical health, and anyone with experience in this matter knows that
these practices do not injure ones health in any way. The Da Vinci Codes description of the cilice and discipline
is greatly exaggerated: it is simply not possible to injure oneself with them as it depicts.
Additional explanation from leading Catholic sources regarding Opus Dei and corporal mortification.
4. Opus Dei and cult allegations
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
(1902-1975)
___________________
In various places, The Da Vinci Code describes Opus Dei as a sect or a cult (e.g., pp. 1, 29, 30, 40, and 279). The fact is
that Opus Dei is a fully integrated part of the Catholic Church and has no doctrines or practices except those of the Church.
There is no definition or theory — whether academic or popular — that provides a basis for applying the pejorative terms sect
or cult to Opus Dei.
Opus Dei is a Catholic institution that seeks to help people integrate their faith and the activities of their daily life. As a personal
prelature (an organizational structure of the Catholic Church), it complements the work of local Catholic parishes by
providing people with additional spiritual education and guidance.
Opus Dei was founded in Spain in 1928 by a Catholic priest, St. Josemaría Escrivá, and began to grow with the support of the
local bishops there. It received final approval from the Vatican in 1950 and began growing in many countries around the world.
Today Opus Dei has roughly 83,000 lay members (3,000 in the United States) and 2,000 priests. Several million people around
the world participate in its programs and activities, which are conducted in more than 60 countries.
The Da Vinci Code also makes melodramatic assertions that Opus Dei engages in brainwashing, coercion, and aggressive
recruiting (pp. 1, 29, 325, 415), unfairly trying to tar Opus Dei with the same brush used against groups more deserving of
such epithets.

Opus Dei proposes to people to give their lives to God, following a special path of service within the Catholic Church. Ones
life can only be given freely, through a decision coming from the heart, not from external pressure: pressure is both wrong and
ineffective. Opus Dei always respects the freedom of conscience of its members, prospective members, and everyone else it
deals with.
As a manifestation of its beliefs about the importance of freedom, Opus Dei has specific safeguards to ensure that decisions
to join are free and fully informed. For example, nobody can make a permanent membership commitment in Opus Dei
without first having completed more than 6 years of systematic and comprehensive instruction as to what membership entails.
Additionally, no one can make a temporary commitment before age 18, nor a commitment to permanent membership before
age 23. Additional explanation from leading Catholic figures on Opus Dei and cult allegations.
5. Opus Dei and women
The Da Vinci Code says about Opus Dei’s U.S. headquarters: Men enter the building through the main doors on Lexington
Avenue. Women enter through a side street (p. 28). This is inaccurate. People, whether male or female, use the doors leading
to whichever section of the building they are visiting. The building is divided into separate sections, for the straightforward
reason that one section includes a residence for celibate women and another for celibate men. But these sections are not sexrestricted,
and it is the womens not the mens section that fronts on Lexington Avenue, the opposite of what is said in the book.
(Note: The book sometimes also inaccurately calls the building Opus Dei’s world headquarters).
The Da Vinci Code also suggests that women Opus Dei members are forced to clean the men’s residence halls for no
pay and are otherwise accorded lower status than men (pp. 41, 415-16).
This is not true. Opus Dei, like the Church in general, teaches that women and men are of equal dignity and value, and all of
its practices are in accord with that belief. Women members of Opus Dei can be found in all sorts of professions, those which
society views as prestigious and those which society today tends to undervalue, such as homemaking or domestic work. Opus
Dei teaches that any kind of honest work done with love of God is of equal value.
Some women numerary members of Opus Dei have freely chosen to make a profession of taking care of Opus Dei’s centers,
both womens and mens. They also run conference centers where activities of cultural and spiritual formation are held. These
women are professionally trained and are paid for their services, which include interior decorating, catering and other highly
skilled work. The millions of people who attend retreats or other spiritual formation activities at Opus Dei centers can attest to
their professionalism. The Da Vinci Codes insinuation that their work lacks dignity and value is demeaning to these women.
Additional explanation from leading Catholic figures on Opus Dei and women.
6. Opus Dei and the Vatican Bank
The Da Vinci Code says that Opus Dei was made a personal prelature as a reward for bailing out the Vatican bank (pp.
40-41, 415-416).
Neither Opus Dei nor any of its members helped bail out the Vatican bank. The Church’s authorities made Opus Dei
a personal prelature in 1982 because they recognized that this new canonical category was a good fit for Opus Dei’s
mission and structure.
In any event, the personal prelature status is nothing special: it is simply one of several canonical categories the
Church has for designating an institution that carries out special pastoral activities. In contrast to the implication
given by the book, personal prelature status in no way implies some special favor of the Pope or that Opus Dei
members are not under the authority of their local bishops.
7. The canonization of Opus Dei’s founder
The Da Vinci Code suggests that the Church bent its canonization rules to put Opus Dei’s founder on the fast track
to being named a saint (pp. 40-41).
The canonization of St. Josemaría Escrivá in 2002 came 27 years after his death (not 20, as the book says). It was one
of the first to be processed after the 1983 Code of Canon Law streamlined the procedures for canonization, and so it
moved more quickly than was typical before. Mother Teresa is on pace to be canonized even more quickly, having been
beatified just 6 years after her death (Escrivá was beatified in 17 years). Even under the old procedures, the canonization of
St. Therése of Lisieux made it through the process in 27 years, roughly the same as Escrivás.
Opus Dei Prelature in the U.S. “The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei.” Prelature of Opus Dei in the
United States.
This article reprinted with permission from Brian Finnerty, U.S. Communications Director, Prelature of Opus Dei.
The Author
Copyright © 2005 Opus Dei

Opus Dei: Fact and Fiction
An article published in the March 2004 edition of “Catalyst,” the Journal of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
The Dan Brown book, The Da Vinci Code, is a best-selling work of fiction that discusses a real-life Catholic organization, Opus
Dei.
To help separate fact from fiction, we asked officials at Opus Dei to write a short article on this subject. Herewith is
their reply.
Founded in 1928 by St. Josemaría Escrivá, Opus Dei (Latin for “work of God”) has a mission of spreading Christ’s teaching on
the universal call to holiness. A personal prelature, it works in dioceses around the world, with the approval of local bishops.
Opus Dei has been the subject of several myths, made popular recently by The Da Vinci Code.
Myth: Opus Dei has a political agenda.
Fact: The only thing Opus Dei has to say about politics is what the Church says, and many of the Church’s social teachings
leave room for different opinions on concrete political questions. In these opinionable matters, Opus Dei members make their
own decisions just like other faithful Catholics. But you won’t understand Opus Dei until you realize that politics – whether civil
or ecclesial – just isn’t its institutional focus. Opus Dei’s focus is on providing spiritual guidance to help people deepen their
faith and integrate it with their daily life.
Myth: Opus Dei is a secret society.
Fact: The Opus Dei Prelature publishes the names of all its priests and all its international and regional directors. Like dioceses
and parishes, it does not publish lay members’ names. Neither do health clubs for that matter, and people surely deserve as
much privacy in their spiritual affairs as they do in medical matters. Members, however, are more than happy to tell you of their
membership and what Opus Dei is all about.
While we’re at it, we can confirm that the Pope’s spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, is a member, but we would like to dispel
once and for all the rumors that Louis Freeh, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Mel Gibson are members.
Myth: Opus Dei brainwashes, coerces, or pressures members and potential members.
Fact: Opus Dei has complete respect for people’s freedom. It’s ludicrous to think that the Pope and bishops worldwide would
support an institution that didn’t. In this era of relativism, there are plenty of people who will call teaching the faith, giving
spiritual guidance, and being a Christian witness “brainwashing,” “coercion,” and “recruiting” or “proselytism.” Nowadays
consenting adults are free of criticism for doing almost anything – anything apparently except trying to help people grow in their
faith and practice it in their daily life.
Myth: Opus Dei makes its members practice dangerous corporal mortifications.
Fact: Each Lent, the Church reminds people that sacrifice is part of the spiritual life. To help its members follow this teaching,
Opus Dei encourages them to make small sacrifices, such as persevering in their work or listening to those in need. The
Catholic tradition also includes other penances, such as fasting and the use of a cilice or discipline, as means for deepening
one’s union with Christ. Many saints, including Opus Dei’s founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá, have practiced such penances
in a heroic way. Some celibate members of Opus Dei and of other Church institutions freely follow some of these customs,
though in a mitigated way. They do so subject to the advice of their spiritual director and in a way that is never harmful to
their health, completely unlike The Da Vinci Code’s distorted representation. These kinds of sacrifices are certainly not
a focus in Opus Dei, which emphasizes integrating faith with the activities of everyday life.
Myth: Opus Dei’s status as a “personal prelature” cuts it loose from oversight by the bishops.
Fact: Like a diocese, a personal prelature is overseen by the Holy See. Additionally, Opus Dei receives permission
from local bishops before starting apostolic work in their dioceses and keeps diocesan bishops informed about its activities.
The guidance it offers its members pertains only to matters connected with its mission, which is educating people about the
universal call to holiness and helping them fulfill this call in their daily life. The members of the prelature remain members
of their diocese and are subject to their local bishop just like other Catholics.
Myth: With all the criticism, Opus Dei must be doing something wrong.
Fact: Every successful organization has its critics, from Coca-Cola to the Catholic Church itself. As for Opus Dei’s critics,
anyone who does not believe in Christ, the Church’s teachings, or loyalty to the Pope could easily have “issues” with Opus
Dei, since it accepts all these things. It’s also common that an organization’s critics have personal reasons for misinterpreting
things – even with good intentions. What’s more relevant than the criticism is the fact that millions of people around the world
know and love Opus Dei, including the Pope and a great number of bishops. This is because Opus Dei gives so much help to
ordinary people who want to connect their faith with daily life.
Catholic League
Opus Dei Website - how long have personal prelatures existed in the Church? - Although similar personal hierarchical
structures already existed (such as military vicariates), the juridical figure of the personal prelature is the result of
an apostolic desire of the Second Vatican Council that later took form in the present Code of Canon Law. The first to
be erected was the prelature of Opus Dei, in the Apostolic Constitution Ut sit of John Paul II, on November 28, 1982.

What you need to know as Opus Dei chooses a new leader
• Inés San Martín
Jan 20, 2017
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT
Pope Francis greets Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, head of the personal prelature of Opus Dei, during an audience to
exchange Christmas greetings with members of the Roman Curia in Clementine Hall at the Vatican Dec. 22, 2014. (Credit:
CNS photo/Paul Haring.)
ROME- After the December death of Bishop Javier Echevarría, the Catholic organization Opus Dei today begins the process
of choosing a new leader, who for the first time will be a someone who wasn’t a right-hand man of their founder, Spanish St.
Josemaría Escrivá.
There are 94 possible candidates, all priests, coming from 45 countries. Under the rules, all are over the age of 40, all are
members of the group for at least 10 years and priests for at least the last five.
For the record, none are self-flagellating assassin monks as depicted in Dan Brown’s potboiler novel The Da Vinci
Code. As a matter of fact, there are no monks in Opus Dei at all … and, needless to say, no assassins.
Here’s what you need to know about “The Work,” as Opus Dei is referred to by members, and their process to elect a new
prelate, as the leader is called.
A brief history of Opus Dei
Founded in Madrid, Spain, in October 1928 by Escrivá, Opus Dei was established as a personal prelature by Pope
John Paul II in 1983, eight years after the death of their founder, in 1975.
Put in very simple terms (and bound, in its simplicity, to make some canon lawyers pull out their hair), a personal prelature is
an entity that incorporates both clergy and laity around a specific spirituality rather than the geographic boundaries
of a diocese.
So far, Opus Dei is the only personal prelature recognized by the Catholic Church.
It’s because of this canonical status that the leader of the Work is known as a “prelate” and why its 92,600 members
today, most of whom are lay, and 57 percent of whom are women, tend to get irritated whenever it’s called a “movement” (or,
for that matter, anything other than the technical term “prelature”).
Escrivá was succeeded by his closest aide, Álvaro del Portillo,who in turn was succeeded by Echevarría, his former
secretary. Portillo died in 1994, while Echevarría passed away in Rome on Dec. 12, 2016, the feast of Our Lady of
Guadalupe.
All three were Spaniards. Both Del Portillo and Echevarría had worked closely with Escrivá and were widely seen internally
as authoritative interpreters of his mind, so it was almost as if the founder continued to hold the reins from beyond the grave.
One of the biggest challenges of the new prelate will be the fact that most of the candidates were teenagers at the time of
Escrivá’s death.
There are currently 2,083 Opus Dei priests, plus 1,900 who are members of the Society of the Holy Cross, an association for
priests. Most in the latter group were ordained in diocesan seminaries, but later in life embraced Opus Dei’s spirituality.
The prelature’s website defines “the sanctification of work, prayer and service to others, unity of life and, especially, knowing
ourselves to be children of God and of the Church” as the keys of St. Josemaria’s message.
During the almost 90 years of its existence, Opus Dei has been a powerful actor in the Catholic Church, and also controversial.
Lauded for its commitment to the empowerment of laity, it was also looked upon with suspicion by critics who accused the
group of a cult-like internal culture.
It’s also often considered to have a conservative political and theological agenda, which plays well among some circles and
not so much in others.
As prelate, Echevarría had to get through several controversies, including the aftermath of Escrivá’s beatification
under St. Pope John Paul II, which many believed happened too quickly after his death. Then similar accusations arose
a decade later, when Escrivá was declared a saint.
Accusations of Opus Dei being a financial empire, too aligned with a “machista” treatment of women and secrecy were
common currency, leading to some bishops looking askance at the idea of an Opus Dei operation in their diocese.
Today, however, most Catholic officials see Opus Dei as they might see Caritas or the Salesians: as another piece of furniture
in the Catholic living room.

The process to choose a prelate
The procedure begins today, with a meeting of the 38 women members of the Opus Dei’s Central Advisory. They will be asked
to vote for the man whom they believe is best suited to become the next prelate.
Their ballots will be opened by the all-male electoral congress on Monday, Jan. 23. The congress is made up of 156 men, 62
of whom are lay and as such electors, but not eligible to be prelate.
The congress will consider the names given by the women as the candidates.
Once the new prelate has been chosen, Francis has to approve the appointment, though canonically he could refuse to do so.
If tradition holds true to form, within months after the election the pope will make him a bishop.
At a press briefing on Tuesday Father Eduardo Baura, a canon law expert said that when John Paul II gave the Opus Dei its
statutes, it was him who decided it’d be an electoral college that would choose the person and then it’d be up to the pope to
confirm it.
Baura also said that even though the women’s vote is not binding, it does have an important consultation value that cannot be
ignored: “It represents the voice of 57 percent of the members!” he said.
Possible candidates
There are several names that are currently being posed as potential prelates. Two of them are considered “obvious” possibilities:
Spaniard Father Fernando Ocáriz, Auxiliary Vicar since 1994, virtually serving as Echevarría’s right-hand man, and Argentine
Father Mariano Fazio, Vicar General since 2014.
Despite what their titles might lead one to infer, Ocáriz’s position is higher.
Ocáriz was born in Paris in 1944 and ordained a priest in 1971. He’s been a consultor to the Vatican’s Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith since 1986, and, after Echevarria’s passing, became the provisional head of Opus Dei.
Fazio, born in Buenos Aires in 1960, is a man Pope Francis knows well. Before being named Vicar General, he served as
rector of Opus Dei’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, from 2002 to 2008. From there, he served as Regional
Vicar in Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, until he was summoned back to Rome in 2014.
Despite many seeing these two as the obvious candidates, several of the electors consulted by Crux said they didn’t want the
process to be an “automatic promotion” but a decision that results from prayer.
Other names being floated are Austrian Father Ernst Burkhart; American Father Frederick Dolan, who currently serves
as regional vicar in Canada; American Father Thomas G. Bohlin, regional leader in the United States; and Father Silvano
Ochouodho, regional vicar in Kenya.
It’s worth noting that all the names being considered spent an important chunk of their lives in Rome.
According to the statutes of the prelature, the man chosen, who will in-house be referred to as “the Father,”
has to “stand out for the way he lives the virtues of charity and prudence, for his life of piety, love for the Church and her
magisterium, and fidelity to the spirit of Opus Dei.”
Josefina Maradiaga, from the Opus Dei press office in Argentina, told Crux that nationality and personal style of the new
prelate “don’t matter.”
“What we want is to accompany Pope Francis in this new evangelization, and we will be as close to the new prelate as we
were to the previous one,” she said. “We love him already, and we’re happy for him in advance.”
Inés Llorens, a canon law professor at Santa Croce, said that even though she’s too young to have known either Escriva or
Del Portillo, the process so far has been what she had been told it would be: “The unity of the Work that prays for the ‘elder
brother,’ and for whomever comes after.”
She agrees with Maradiaga that there’s no concern over who that person will be, nor is anyone thinking that because he hasn’t
lived with Escriva he won’t be fit for the job.
“There’s a general sense of peace … and trust in God,” she said.