Years ago whenever I heard mention of Opus Dei, it was often in terms of how it's this massive undergound cult that is set on getting new members. Those of you who have read John Allen's book on Opus Dei, and in particular the section that deals with this myth, know the plain numbers don't back up the claim. In fact, with just around 85,000 members OD seems to be growing kind of slowly.
So does that mean Opus Dei is a failure?
The truth is, those sort of questions don't really take into account the full scope of Opus Dei, which is a realization that we are all called to live holy lives in the midst of living our ordinary lives. When you put it on those terms, then it's hard to measure success in terms of membership.
I'll give one example. But first just let me mention I don't write the following for any personal glory -- since I am a flawed sinner, nor for anybody to think I'm trying to garner spiritual brownie points. Since John Allen outed me, and people know that I write this blog, I am just writing this account so people can perhaps better understand Opus Dei.
This past Christmas we spent the holidays in Peru with our family. While we were there the family contacted a taxi driver to be my "bodyguard" and drive me around all the time. Besides doing some typical site-seeing trips, and going to mass, this also included almost every day (it seemed) going to some different restaurant to eat ceviche and down a few dark beers (Peruvian dark beer by the way is excellent).
As can be imagined in the almost three weeks that we were running around, the taxi driver and myself struck up quite the friendship, and we were able to discuss his future plans, his family and common friends that we have. At no time did I have to beat him over the head that I was a Christian, nor that I was Catholic. It was obvious from my normal behaviour - going to mass, or a baptism. With time, he asked me a few questions regarding the differences between Catholics and Evangelicals, and we discussed that...and then let the subject drop when it seemed natural to do.
At another time, he told me that he considered himself Catholic and he went to mass, but that he had never been baptized, nor had first communion - and that he wondered what that meant if he should die. Again, my responses to him were fairly light, but still direct: I told him what the church said -- and which he already knew.
One day he drove me to the St Maria de Nazaret parish which is run by some Opus Dei Spanish priests that I knew. We visited for quite some time and my new friend walked around, but for the most part kept to himself. Another time he volunteered to drive the whole family to Sunday mass.
One day he asked a bit more about being baptized, and I told him that while any Christian could baptize him, if he were serious then he should talk to a priest about it. I also mentioned that at the St Maria de Nazaret parish the priests there had helped one of my god-daughters to have her first communion and confirmation all at once - after taking a couple-long week courses.
Again there was no pressure, and this was just natural talk among friends who also enjoyed having a pint together or walking through Inca ruins.
As our holidays ended, my new friend not only took us to the airport, but walked inside with all the rest of the family and joined in the hugs, kisses and tears as we said our goodbyes and headed back to Spain. We exchanged telephone numbers.
Jump forward now to yesterday, when I got a telephone call from Peru, and it was my taxi-cab friend, telling me that he had made an important decision last month (January) and that he had gone to talk to a priests, and that he'd signed up for a crash RCIA course and that at the end of February he is being baptized, and will have his first communion and confirmation.
He was calling to say thank you for being a friend.
10:50 PM
Personally I think you should be ashamed of yourselves. Years ago , at the mention of Opus Dei, it was people like you who said that it didn't exist. Now you go on as if it was some kind of flower power. Even when Tony Blair has at last come clean and we see how he was used by Opus Dei to plant Ruth Kelly, to convert England by Papal numbers of immigrants to a destiny that Parliament had no consciousness of , or control over, and when both he Benedict XVI and George Bush led a crusade against the will of right-thinking members of society around the world -- when in effect it raised innocent towns, villages and cities ,and killed and maimed and starved milllions. Even yet, you pretend no connection exists between this secret society and the political subversion of your own country. The next thing you will force the Angelus on BBC for its Pavlovian effect on the British people.
Orwell was right: he just didn't know its name was Opus Dei.
Seamus Breathnach
www.irish-criminology.com
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