Overview

""A fascinating and disturbing book. . . a literary grenade seeking to blow apart Opus Dei's benign and exalted image. . . a picture of an obsessively secretive, manipulative and sexist organization with a virtual cultlike veneration of its founder.""-Boston Globe Tapia's book is a comprehensive account of the inner workings of the women's branch of Opus Dei. It should fascinate sociologists and feminist and contribute to needed self-criticism in the Roman Catholic Church. . . A best seller in Spain, and a success in Germany, Portugal and Italy, Tapia's book has important lessons not only for John Paul II and other Catholics, but for all who wish to see religion freed from the tyranny of self-proclaimed saints.""-Christian Century"" The little I knew about Opus Dei before reading this book was enough to make me feel uneasy about the increasing strength and visibility of the organization in the Catholic Church. Tapia's book deepened my wariness into something akin to dread. Her book, however, is not a cheap or sensational expose. It is the chronicle of an intelligent and sensitive woman who served the organization in responsible positions during her 18 year sojourn as a full member."" -National Catholic Reporter

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9780826410962

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Reviews

A disturbing indictment of the methods and ethos of Opus Del, from a devout Catholic who spent 18 years in the organization and worked at its highest levels. Opus Del, a worldwide Roman Catholic society for professional lay men and women, founded in Franco's Spain by Fr. Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer (who died in 1994), now boasts over 70,000 members and has the high regard of Pope John Paul II. Controversy has surrounded The Work (Opus Del means the work of God ) from its earliest days. Its penchant for secrecy and repeated allegations of cultlike manipulation have led many priests and bishops to be wary of the organization. Tapia's account will do much to increase these misgivings. She tells how in 1948, when working at the prestigious Council for Scientific Research in Madrid, she was persuaded to separate from her family, break off her engagement to her fiance, and enter Opus Dei's inner circle of celibate numeraries. For five years, she worked closely with Escriva in Rome and then spent almost ten years as head of the Women's Section in Venezuela. She fell from favor for questioning some of Escriva's directives and adopting a more open attitude. In a suspenseful final section she describes being called back to Rome, where she was held incommunicado and forced to endure attempts to break her of her bad spirit. After her final expulsion, Opus Del tried to obliterate any evidence of her presence in the organization. Tapia describes members' uncritical adulation of the autocratic Escriva, the fierce psychological pressure to recruit new members, and the complex system of informers within the organization. She also notes the toll these elements take on members, including nervous breakdowns and suicides. Her account is all the more compelling in view of Opus Dei's current attempts to force Escriva's canonization. Avoiding facile sensationalism, Tapia's relentlessly detailed chronicle shows how idealism can lead to the repression of basic human rights. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Maria del Carmen Tapia was born in Spain in 1925 and joined Opus Dei in 1948. She works in the systemwide office of the Education Abroad Program of the University of California in Santa Barbara.

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