Opus Dei in Its Own Words
The Facts about the Group Criticized in The Da Vinci Code
A look at Opus Dei in their own words and not those of their critics, and a look at their responses to the allegations voiced in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.
Opus Dei first shot to international fame after the release of the movie The Da Vinci Code, which came from the book of the same name. The film itself generated a lot of concern in the Catholic Church and Opus Dei was among those concerned.
Opus Dei was founded in 1928. It was approved by the bishop of Madrid in 1941 and by the Holy See in 1947. Since 1982, Opus Dei has been a personal prelature of the Catholic Church. Personal prelatures exist to carry out specific pastoral missions in the Church, and are part of the jurisdictional, hierarchical structure of the Church. Personal prelatures have a prelate, secular priests, and men and women lay faithful, united as a single organism to carry out the prelature's mission. In Opus Dei’s case, this mission is to spread the ideal of holiness in the middle of the world.
Who Is Opus Dei?
In their own words Opus Dei is "a Catholic institution founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá. Its mission is to help people turn their work and daily activities into occasions for growing closer to God, for serving others, and for improving society. Opus Dei complements the work of local churches by offering classes, talks, retreats and pastoral care that help people develop their personal spiritual life and apostolate."
Opus Dei's members are laypeople and their own clergy. Opus Dei encourages its members to show their Christian faith though their normal life. As most of its members are married, this means showing their faith through caring for their family. Non-married members show their faith by remaining celibate. These members are either Associates who live with their families or wherever is convenient for professional reasons, and Numeraries who usually live in centers of Opus Dei.
Opus Dei has around 87,000 members of whom about 1,900 are priests.
To become a member you must be 18 or over and must make a request in writing which then needs to be accepted by the authorities of the Prelature. Admission is granted after a minimum of six months. You then have to wait for a year and can then be temporarily incorporated into the Prelature through formal contract. This contract then gets renewed annually.
Opus Dei's Response to The Da Vinci Code
Opus Dei is portrayed in The Da Vinci Code mainly through an assassin monk with a penchant for penance via flaying himself with a barbed whip and other similar tortures.
- Opus Dei are not a monastic group and so have no monks
- Opus Dei is a Catholic institution and adheres to Catholic doctrine so no assasinations or immoral behavior
- Opus Dei do admit to some members using mortification such as the use of a cilice (a leather strap studded with metal barbs which the monk in The Da Vinci Code wears around his leg). They do however maintain that they encourage small sacrifices such as "persevering at their work when tired, occasionally passing up some small pleasure, or giving help to those in need."
- In the book Opus Dei is presented as a sect or cult. Opus Dei rejects this and maintains that it is a fully integrated part of the Catholic Church and has no doctrines or practices except those of the Church
- The book insinuates that Opus Dei sees women as inferior to men. Opus Dei says that this isn't true and that men and women are seen as equal
- The Da Vinci Code says that Opus Dei was made a personal prelature as a reward for bailing out the Vatican bank in a time of hardship. Opus Dei states that this is not true
Opus Dei does, however, have its critics.
