Inside Opus Dei's world headquarters

El Padre

Inside Opus Dei's world headquarters

By Dr. Robert Moynihan, reporting from Rome

In 2006, when The Da Vinci Code was released as a film, some high Church officials strongly objected to it because it was based on the idea that Jesus married and fathered children and because it depicted Opus Dei, a recognized Prelature within the Catholic Church, as a murderous cult.

Angels & Demons, which came out this spring and also features the Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (played by actor Tom Hanks, photo) and is about Langdon's attempt to help the Holy See thwart a plot by the Illuminati, an ancient secret brotherhood, to kill four cardinals and bomb the Vatican as a new Pope is being elected.

This spring, the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said in a review that Angels & Demons was historically inaccurate and filled with stereotypes, but the paper concluded it was "harmless" entertainment and not a danger to the Church. (The newspaper also praised director Ron Howard's "dynamic direction" and the "magnificent" reconstruction of locations like St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. Much of the film was shot on sets that painstakingly recreated Church landmarks....). To read, click here.

Mel Gibson, Marriage, Divorce and Christ

Torn Asunder: Divorced from His message, National Review (Online), April 24, 2009

Mel and Robyn Gibson's recently announced divorce proceedings set the gossip and entertainment pages abuzz. Many wondered how Mel Gibson, the producer of The Passion of the Christ and a professed Catholic (although the church he reportedly attends near Los Angeles is not recognized by the Catholic Church), would reconcile his divorce with his beliefs, which hold that divorce is wrong.Divorce among Catholics is not new, and divorce among movie stars is de rigueur.

What makes the Gibsons' story striking is that they had been able to buck the divorce epidemic for the past 28 years and raise seven children together. Their large family, the length of their marriage, and their apparent determination to live by the teachings of the Catholic Church in the Hollywood stratosphere make them an anomaly. Indeed, even as people try to paint Mel as a hypocrite, many describe the Gibson marriage as extraordinary for its endurance; some even describe it as a success. But if Mel and Robyn truly have been trying to live by the teachings of the Catholic faith, a divorce cannot and never will mean success.

Catholic teachings on marriage are rooted in several things Jesus said, including:

"From the beginning of creation, 'God made man male and female.' For this reason a man may leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and two shall become one. So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." Mark 10:6-9

'"Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery." Luke 16:18

These unequivocal pronouncements stunned Jesus' disciples. "The disciples said to Him, 'If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.' " Matthew 19:10.

The early Church's emphasis on Christian marriage echoed what Jesus taught and played a key role in the spread of Christianity, according to renowned religion sociologist (and agnostic) Rodney Stark. In his best-selling book, The Rise of Christianity, Stark argues that Christianity's rapid expansion in the first few centuries A.D. had a lot to do with the countercultural mores of the early Christians regarding marriage, sexual ethics, and the value of human life. Drawing on a variety of historical resources, Stark describes the Mediterranean world at the time of Christ as a society in which promiscuity, prostitution, bisexuality, homosexuality, birth control, infanticide, and abortion were widely practiced and sanctioned. Moreover, a preference for sons at that time led to female infanticide. Marital infidelity was common - when men would acquiesce to marry at all.

According to Stark, the early Church especially attracted female converts precisely because its teachings emphasized the importance of marriage, family, marital fidelity, and chastity, and forbade divorce, artificial birth control (already practiced then), abortion, and infanticide - all practices that objectified the women of those times, making them second-class citizens. Stark argues that early Christian women enjoyed tremendous status, respect, and an improved quality of life compared with their contemporaries. Not surprisingly, Christian families soon began to outpace their counterparts in terms of progeny, and thus proceeded to expand their presence (and values) demographically.

On a practical level, if the Gibsons do divorce, Robyn, as a single mother of the Gibson children, will have few financial concerns other than the difficulties of managing a few hundred million dollars. But their situation is not the norm. Many women and children - and sometimes men - are much more vulnerable to harsh economic consequences and a lower quality of life after divorce. Also, research has shown that children of divorce frequently encounter emotional and educational setbacks.

The Catholic Church teaches that spouses can - and sometimes should - separate in cases of physical and emotional abuse, but, in the eyes of God, the marriage itself remains indissoluble. Its meaning is rooted in God's fidelity to his covenant, especially Christ's permanent union with His Church. Only God can judge the hearts of those facing difficult marital situations, but if we take Him at His word, quitting is not really an option.

- Marie T. Oates is a communications consultant and the lead editor of the book Women of Opus Dei: In Their Own Words (Crossroad Publishing, April 2009)

Holy Week and Easter 2009

Pope Benedict XVI has taken advantage of these Holy days to speak to us about our shared Christian identity as Catholics. In a world that increasingly tilts toward secularism away from God, we need these words of the Holy Father to help keep Jesus Christ at the center of our lives, informing our choices big and small each day.

Everyone should try to read and absorb the inspiring and insightful words of the Holy Father. Here are links to some of his Holy Week homilies:

Palm Sunday 2009

Holy Thursday - Crism Mass

Holy Thursday - The Lord's Last Supper

Good Friday's Way of the Cross at the Colosseum

Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday

The Problems We Face Stem From a Lack of Personal Responsibility

As popular sentiment continues to crest in opposition to the AIG bonuses, big financial firms and related players in general, some (like Alan Greenspan) have described our current market meltdown as a cyclical phenomenon. In other words, this large, across-the-board economic crash should be expected to occur every 100 years or so...thus making this crash the equivalent to a person needing to get new fillings every 20 to 30 years -- they just fall apart after a period of time.

Perhaps it's true that such trends can be tracked over time, but why not just call a spade a spade: a number of financial professionals (including government regulators) lacked personal responsibility with respect to practicing appropriate ethics when managing other peoples' money. This lack of personal responsibility translates into negligence at the least and criminality in many, if not most cases. More importantly, it translates into huge financial and job losses for tens of millions of people all over the country, indeed the world.

Given the different accounts emerging (A must see is this segment on PBS's News Hour - Author Traces Demise of Bear Stearns in 'House of Cards'), about our economic melt down and the ensuing mayhem and finger-pointing, it's easy to see that peoples' greed blinded them over time. But at core, these people lacked courage and virtue when it came time to do the right thing. They let themselves get carried along and led many innocent people over the cliff with them. That's why until there is a concerted effort to reinstate ethics and virtue into our financial and business sector, we will not cure what ails our economy, and we certainly will not reinstate peoples' confidence in such a flawed system.

To read some points St. Josemaria wrote about responsibility, click here.

Having vs. Being

People are reeling from the current economic crisis gripping our nation, indeed the world. They (we) are looking for answers to give us a sense of peace amidst the turmoil. Some of the questions we want to ask include: How do we make things right again? What was the era of prosperity we just experienced? If it was so prosperous, why do we find ourselves so beset by fear, insecurity and confusion now, so shortly after its collapse, its "fall"? How can I find or create opportunity when everyone and everything seems to be closing down, hunkering down? What are the key elements to maintaining a prosperous society? Can our leaders get us back on track?

A number of factors have contributed to our current situation. Some people who should have known better acted irresponsibly out of greed (For more on this, watch CNBC's David Faber's fascinating and informative documentary House of Cards.). And yet, while top financial players (in business and government) may be responsible for the widespread sale of shoddy investment instruments, we cannot ignore that large segments of our population routinely increased their consumption by increasing their debt -- not a healthy habit.

Since our economic system is in collapse, and each one of us plays a role of some sort within our nation's economic and cultural system, we should think about what makes for a healthy economy and how our outlook and behavior can contribute to improving the current situation. I recently came across these words of John Paul II which might provide some new insights around what consumption should mean to a Christian:

"A given culture reveals its overall understanding of life through the choices it makes in production and consumption. It is here that the phenomenon of consumerism arises. In singling out new needs and new means to meet them, one must be guided by a comprehensive picture of the person which respects all the dimensions of his being and which subordinates his material and instinctive dimensions to his interior and spiritual ones. If, on the contrary, a direct appeal is made to human instincts--while ignoring in various ways the reality of the person as intelligent and free--then consumer attitudes and lifestyles can be created which are objectively improper and often damaging to the person's physical and spiritual health. Of itself, an economic system does not possess criteria for correctly distinguishing new and higher forms of satisfying human needs from artificial new needs which hinder the formation of a mature personality. Thus a great deal of educational and cultural work is urgently needed, including the education of consumers in the responsible use of their power of choice, the formation of a strong sense of responsibility among producers and among people in the mass media in particular, as well as the necessary intervention by public authorities...It is not wrong to want to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directed towards "having" rather than "being," and which wants to have more, not in order to be more but in order to spend life in enjoyment as an end in itself.[75] It is therefore necessary to create lifestyles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments. In this regard, it is not a matter of the duty of charity alone, that is, the duty to give from one's "abundance," and sometimes even out of one's needs, in order to provide what is essential for the life of a poor person. I am referring to the fact that even the decision to invest in one place rather than another, in one productive sector rather than another, is always a moral and cultural choice. Given the utter necessity of certain economic conditions and of political stability, the decision to invest, that is, to offer people an opportunity to make good use of their own labor, is also determined by an attitude of human sympathy and trust in Providence, which reveal the human quality of the person making such decisions." CENTESIMUS ANNUS (On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum), #36 Pope John Paul II (May 1991)

First Review of Soon-to-be Released Book - Women of Opus Dei: In Their Own Words

From Publishers Weekly - February 2, 2009

Women of Opus Dei: In Their Own Words Edited by M.T. Oates, Linda Ruf and Jenny Driver. Crossroad, $24.95 paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-8245-2425-8

The Catholic group Opus Dei (Latin for “work of God”) emerges in this compact collection of essays and interviews as an entity that gives its female members a deep sense of purpose amid ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. Whether they are stay-at-home mothers or professionals in academia and business, these women tell of lives changed by their faith and what they commonly refer to as “the Work.” Opus Dei members, according to founder St. Josemaría Escrivá, aspire to be “contemplative souls in the midst of the world who try to convert their work into prayer.” They do this through offering their work to Christ and following a spiritual regimen of daily prayer and regular theological development programs. Excerpts from Escrivá's writings and an explanation of the group's structure help fill out the selected narratives. Readers looking for the kind of intrigue found in The Da Vinci Code's treatment of this group won't find it here, but they will get an honest appraisal from women who know Opus Dei from the inside out. (Apr.)

Abusing my religion - An op-ed appeared in New York's Daily News on May 21, 2006

You probably wouldn't have known me in the first place if you saw me walking down a New York City street. But now, because of "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown and the movie's director Ron Howard, I have been rendered even more obscure.

You see, I am a female member of Opus Dei. Not only does the book describe me as "brainwashed," it further makes me invisible within my organization and subservient to men.

Nothing could be further from the truth. It's hard to know what motivated Brown to pick on us, but it's time to set the record straight about some of his many gaffes.

To start, the book and movie depict a Catholic organization run by a cadre of powerful monks and bishops. The truth about Opus Dei: Only a small minority of our members are clergy, and there are no monks. Lay men and women are vital and active members of our institution.

In the "Da Vinci Code," women's emancipation seems to mean nothing but serving as the child-bearer, either to a nondivine Jesus Christ or to some other man. We are the weaker sex and seem not to care. Reality: Opus Dei was the first institution within the Catholic Church in which both lay men and lay women have the same vocation, the same rights and duties and receive the same in-depth theological and philosophical training.

Though women (and men) in Opus Dei strive to be thoroughly dedicated to God, we wear no habits nor take any vows. We try as much as possible to blend in, to be a quiet Christian presence wherever we work and live.

Women participate in the collegial governing of Opus Dei at every level - international, national and local.

Of course, the most serious lies and blasphemy in this book and movie aren't about ordinary men or women. They're about Jesus Christ Himself.

History and the Catholic Church confirm for me that Jesus Christ has both a human and divine nature, and that He suffered, died and was resurrected from the dead on behalf of all of us, who were and are in need of redemption. In respected historical and theological circles, no one doubts the Crucifixion.

But according to Brown, Jesus' death on the cross never happened. It was a lie.

This cartoon story vilifies my religion and effectively casts me, a female adherent to it, as a stooge. It will sell millions of dollars in tickets and popcorn.

But the truth is stronger than slander. Catholicism is a faith of love. And women in Opus Dei work as lawyers, judges, teachers, doctors, professors, chefs, homemakers, artists, engineers, clerks, hairdressers, college presidents, writers, etc. For us, it's about doing one's work - whatever it may be - well and with love.

Mary Elise Eckman is the President of the Rosemoor Foundation and also heads up Opus Dei's U.S. programs for women.