Throughout its history, Opus Dei has been criticized from many quarters, prompting journalists to describe Opus Dei as "the most controversial force in the Catholic Church" and founder Josemaría Escrivá as a "polarizing" figure. Criticism of Opus Dei has centered on allegations of secretiveness, and support of or participation in authoritarian or right-wing governments, including
Francisco Franco's dictatorship, which governed Spain until 1975. Some journalists have researched Opus Dei separately, with many other criticisms against Opus Dei allegedly based on fabrications by opponents. In the 21st century, Opus Dei has received international attention due to the novel
The Da Vinci Code and its
2006 film adaptation, both of which prominent Christians and others criticized as misleading,
inaccurate and
anti-Catholic. Critics such as the Jesuit
Wlodimir Ledóchowski refer to Opus Dei as a Catholic, Christian, or White form of
Freemasonry. Critics of Opus Dei include María del Carmen Tapia, an ex-member who was a high-ranking officer of Opus Dei for many years;
liberal Catholic theologians such as
James Martin, a
Jesuit writer and editor; and supporters of
liberation theology, such as journalist
Penny Lernoux and Michael Walsh, a writer on religious matters and former Jesuit. Critics state that Opus Dei is "intensely secretive." However, members broadly make their affiliations public and host activities for all ages. Opus Dei has been accused of deceptive and aggressive recruitment practices, and instructing numeraries to form friendships and attend social gatherings explicitly for recruiting purposes. The organisation has parallels with, but also very strong differences to,
Scientology. and
Alberto Fujimori of Peru during the 1990s. Both Pinochet's and Fujimori's ministries and prominent supporters allegedly included members of Opus Dei. Likewise, among Opus Dei members, there were also strong detractors of Franco, such as
Antonio Fontán. There have also been allegations that Escrivá expressed sympathy for
Adolf Hitler. One former Opus Dei priest, Vladimir Felzmann, who has become a vocal Opus Dei critic, says that Escrivá once remarked that Hitler had been "badly treated" by the world and he further declared that "Hitler couldn't have been such a bad person. He couldn't have killed six million [Jews]. It couldn't have been more than four million." Opus Dei has also been accused of
elitism through targeting of "the intellectual elite, the well-to-do, and the socially prominent". As members of Opus Dei are Catholics, Opus Dei has been subjected to the same criticisms targeted to Catholicism in general. For example, Opus Dei's position has been "to oppose sexual freedoms and promote conservative morals," according to an investigative report produced by
Catholics for Choice, a group that dissents from many church teachings, notably abortion. The report further cites a study from sociologist Marco Burgos alleging Opus Dei interference in sex education programs in Honduras that contradict the Catholic faith. Between 1950 and 1980, as many as 300,000 illegal adoptions occurred in Spain in a scandal known as the
lost children of Francoism. Many Catholic clergy and religious sisters at church-sponsored hospitals or other charitable organizations in Spain are alleged to have been involved, including members of Opus Dei. The Opus Dei organisation has been described as a "Holy Mafia" or "Santa Mafia" in the 1970s due to alleged "inscrutable business practices". After conducting a critical study of Opus Dei, Catholic journalist John L. Allen Jr. concluded that Opus Dei should (1) be more transparent, (2) collaborate with members of
religious institutes, and (3) encourage its members to air out in public their criticisms of the institution. The piece draws on testimony from 16 women who served as numerary assistants over several decades in several countries. They report having been "coerced into domestic servitude ... through a rigid system of psychological control". Allen, Messori, and Plunkett also state that accusations that Opus Dei is secretive are unfounded. These accusations stem from a
clerical paradigm which expects Opus Dei members to behave as monks and clerics, traditionally known and externally identifiable as seekers of holiness. In contrast, these journalists continue, Opus Dei's lay members, like any normal Catholic professional, are ultimately responsible for their personal actions and do not externally represent the organization that provides them religious education. Writer and broadcast analyst
John L. Allen Jr. states that Opus Dei provides abundant information about itself. These journalists have noted that the historic roots of criticisms against Opus Dei can be found in influential clerical circles. As to its alleged participation in right-wing politics, especially the Francoist regime, British historians
Paul Preston and
Brian Crozier state that the Opus Dei members who were Franco's ministers were appointed for their talent and not for their Opus Dei membership. Also, there were notable members of Opus Dei who were vocal critics of the Franco regime such as
Rafael Calvo Serer and
Antonio Fontán, who was the first
president of the
Senate in Spain, following the adoption of a democratic
constitution. The German historian and Opus Dei member
Peter Berglar calls any connection made between Opus Dei and Franco's regime a "gross slander". He and others have stated that Escrivá condemned Hitler as a "rogue", a "racist" and a "tyrant". Opus Dei spokespersons also deny claims that Opus Dei members worked with General Pinochet. Allen wrote that, compared with other Catholic organizations, Opus Dei's stress on freedom and personal responsibility is extraordinarily strong. While Opus Dei spokespersons have admitted mistakes in dealing with some members and do not, as a rule, contest their grievances, supporters have rejected generalizations merely based on negative experiences of some members. John Allen concluded that Opus Dei is not "elitist" in the sense in which people often invoke the term, meaning an exclusively white-collar phenomenon. He observed that among its members are barbers, bricklayers, mechanics, and fruit sellers. Most supernumeraries are living ordinary middle-class lives, he said. As regards the claim that religious people in Spain, including Opus Dei members, were involved in the
abduction of children during the Franco era, an investigation found that DNA analysis of 81 cases ruled out that they were stolen babies. The supreme court of Spain did not consider the first case of stolen babies to be proven, and the chief prosecutor of the Basque Country said that "not even reasonable evidence" of any abduction of babies had been found, after special investigations of the police.
Other views Sociologists
Peter Berger and
Samuel Huntington suggest that Opus Dei is involved in "a deliberate attempt to construct an alternative modernity", one that engages modern culture while at the same time is resolutely loyal to Catholic traditions. Van Biema of
Time magazine emphasises Opus Dei's Spanish roots as a source of misunderstandings in the
Anglosphere, and suggests that as the United States becomes more Hispanic, controversies about Opus Dei (and similar Catholic organizations) will decrease. This majority vote document elaborates upon the relationship of the Church to the world at large.
Catholic Social Teaching and Christian Secularity elaborate further. In 2005, John Allen published his text about Opus Dei. In 2012, Eric Sammons published a short work, "Holiness for Everyone", about the practical spirituality of St Josemaría Escrivá. ==Leadership==