Opus Dei and the Newest Albino Monk

Dan Brown and his attack book The Da Vinci Code turned out to be a real blessing for Opus Dei. It had the immediate effect of greater interest in Opus Dei. Membership increased. 

It also convinced Opus Dei to do things that had never been considered, like having conferences about what Opus Dei is all about. I remember one of these in the Washington, D.C., area. Come and see what all the fuss is about. 

My first attraction to Opus Dei resulted from all the right people hating it. I suspect that what happened after The Da Vinci Code will happen again with the release of a fellow named Gareth Gore’s new attack called Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church. 

Be afraid, be very afraid! And if you catch a whiff of the KKK, Gore’s work stinks in that way to high Heaven. 

Gore is obsessed with the newest albino monk, in this case, Leonard Leo. Recall that Dan Brown created a creature named Silas, a fanatical member of Opus Dei who went around committing violent acts. Gore’s albino monk is my longtime friend Leonard, one of the kindest men you will ever meet and the longtime head of the Federalist Society who has been able to shepherd the mother’s milk of politics and policy—moolah—to groups doing good work for the common good. 

Gore wants you to think that Leonard is part of Opus Dei and that maybe Opus Dei orders Leonard what to do. First, it should be known that Leonard Leo is not a member of Opus Dei, no matter the heavy breathing of this fellow Gore. Does Gore have evidence that Leonard receives his marching orders from Opus Dei? Only guilt by association. Leonard has been on the board of the Catholic Information Center, a bookstore and meeting place associated with Opus Dei in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House. The CIC gave Leonard an award a few years ago. Case closed!

Gore and those like him are big on naming members of Opus Dei or those who are adjacent, as they might put it. But Clarence Thomas is not a member of Opus Dei. Neither is Thomas’ wife, Ginni. Justice Scalia was never a member of Opus Dei. Bill Barr is not a member of Opus Dei. I could go on and on about all the movers and shakers named by Gore who are not members of Opus Dei. Have some of them attended Evenings of Recollection, where prayer happens. Gasp, prayer? Don’t these men know about the separation of church and state? I could go on and on about all the movers and shakers named by Gore who are not members of Opus Dei. Have some of them attended Evenings of Recollection, where prayer happens. Gasp, prayer?Tweet This

One of the most inflammatory attacks by Gore is that Opus Dei participates in “human trafficking.” There is a coordinated attack on this claim. Argentine prosecutors just announced an investigation into these claims.

These claims center around one of the most beautiful vocations in Opus Dei, Numerary Assistants. 

It would be impossible for a Catholic hater like Gore and others like him to understand this vocation, and so the vocation can only be a form of servitude. 

Numerary Assistants are women who have a calling to care for the Centers of the Work and the residents who live there. These women have a vocation, exactly like all men and women of Opus Dei, to find Christ in their everyday work. In this case, their everyday work is fomenting a family atmosphere in the Centers of the Work. Gore will think this is slavery because they cook and clean for others, they live in community, and they are apostolic celibates. 

My daughters work with the Numerary Assistants, and our family loves these women dearly. They are among the happiest people we have ever met and are so inspirational. It is amazing. They are almost entirely hidden. Like all members of Opus Dei, they wear no habits and no signifying badges; they are regular people moving through their day, meeting Christ in their work, and bringing others closer to Him. I am sure they are hurt by charges leveled about their vocation by those like Gareth Gore. 

I have not yet received my review copy of Gore’s hateful tome, and I will write more then. Gore called me a few years ago when he was reporting the book. It was clear immediately that this was a hatchet job by a hooded anti-Catholic. But I have read enough in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, and on Gore’s X feed to know what this book is about. 

Charts circulating on the internet purport to show all the nefarious Opus Dei tentacles and connections. They are supposed to be scary. Opus Dei is coming to impose their dark vision on all of us. RUN! But these charts should be seen as nothing so much as the kind of crude cartoons circulated by the KKK in the early part of the 20th century.

By the way, no one in Opus Dei has ever told me who to vote for, what policy positions to take, or what to write. After four books and 1,000 columns, not one of my brothers from Opus Dei has ever said that my work is out of bounds for Opus Dei. 

What is Opus Dei really? It is a way to live the Gospel, to be in the presence of God every moment of the day, to be a contemplative in the middle of the world, to find Christ in your daily work, and to bring others closer to Him. Let’s hope Gareth Gore’s book, like Dan Brown’s, brings more people knocking on the door. All are welcome.