Opus Dei

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.

The traditional penitential practice to which you refer is the use of the “cilice,” a light chain with small protrusions designed to be annoying without causing real injury. It is roughly akin to a “hair shirt.” It is not a “heavy chain.”

The point of physical penance is not “trying to mimic Christ on the cross.” It is to gain mastery over physical desires by strengthening the will. In this sense it is much like a diet and a great deal like the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition.

The tradition of physical penance is hardly unique to Opus Dei, Catholicism, or even Christianity. It is most prudently practiced under the supervision of an experienced spiritual director. The point is not “suffering” per se, but to concentrate the mind and will on higher things. Hence it is important to avoid excesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.

The traditional penitential practice to which you refer is the use of the “cilice,” a light chain with small protrusions designed to be annoying without causing real injury. It is roughly akin to a “hair shirt.” It is not a “heavy chain.”

The point of physical penance is not “trying to mimic Christ on the cross.” It is to gain mastery over physical desires by strengthening the will. In this sense it is much like a diet and a great deal like the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition.

The tradition of physical penance is hardly unique to Opus Dei, Catholicism, or even Christianity. It is most prudently practiced under the supervision of an experienced spiritual director. The point is not “suffering” per se, but to concentrate the mind and will on higher things. Hence it is important to avoid excesses.

So you have confirmed this practice. It may be similar to "the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition" but it sure sounds like it's meant to be painful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.

The traditional penitential practice to which you refer is the use of the “cilice,” a light chain with small protrusions designed to be annoying without causing real injury. It is roughly akin to a “hair shirt.” It is not a “heavy chain.”

The point of physical penance is not “trying to mimic Christ on the cross.” It is to gain mastery over physical desires by strengthening the will. In this sense it is much like a diet and a great deal like the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition.

The tradition of physical penance is hardly unique to Opus Dei, Catholicism, or even Christianity. It is most prudently practiced under the supervision of an experienced spiritual director. The point is not “suffering” per se, but to concentrate the mind and will on higher things. Hence it is important to avoid excesses.

So you have confirmed this practice. It may be similar to "the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition" but it sure sounds like it's meant to be painful.

No, I specifically said it was meant to be annoying but non injurious. “Pain” isn’t the point. Development of the will (intellect) over bodily self indulgence (the flesh) is the point.

As for “confirming this practice,” the cilice and other physical penances have been around for centuries at least. They’re no big secret and no big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

TLDR = gaslighting

Of course you would try to rationalize it, how else would you trick people into this sub-cult?

I agree this reads like gaslighting. There are so many holes in this narrative. The human race has not forgotten the atrocities of the Catholic Church and this reads as an insult to all who are knowledgeable or have been victimized. What does “sanctify your everyday” look like? Why would members see those that disagree as “vengeful””? As a person raised in Catholicism the emphasis on PRACTICING speaks volumes. The term is devout.
In my experience the ones who are inclined to join an organization like this have the most to hide. It soothes that good ‘ol Catholic guilt.

The Catholic Church historically and into the present day has done more to help people and improve their lot (and this only speaking in human terms) than any other collection of people anywhere.

I think the people with the “guilt” problem are the ones who know what they’re doing is wrong but don’t want to stop.

I literally just spit out my tea laughing so hard at this delusional statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.

The traditional penitential practice to which you refer is the use of the “cilice,” a light chain with small protrusions designed to be annoying without causing real injury. It is roughly akin to a “hair shirt.” It is not a “heavy chain.”

The point of physical penance is not “trying to mimic Christ on the cross.” It is to gain mastery over physical desires by strengthening the will. In this sense it is much like a diet and a great deal like the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition.

The tradition of physical penance is hardly unique to Opus Dei, Catholicism, or even Christianity. It is most prudently practiced under the supervision of an experienced spiritual director. The point is not “suffering” per se, but to concentrate the mind and will on higher things. Hence it is important to avoid excesses.

Look, Mary, if you want to be a freaky masochist, just do it! You don’t need this group to help you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

TLDR = gaslighting

Of course you would try to rationalize it, how else would you trick people into this sub-cult?

I agree this reads like gaslighting. There are so many holes in this narrative. The human race has not forgotten the atrocities of the Catholic Church and this reads as an insult to all who are knowledgeable or have been victimized. What does “sanctify your everyday” look like? Why would members see those that disagree as “vengeful””? As a person raised in Catholicism the emphasis on PRACTICING speaks volumes. The term is devout.
In my experience the ones who are inclined to join an organization like this have the most to hide. It soothes that good ‘ol Catholic guilt.

The Catholic Church historically and into the present day has done more to help people and improve their lot (and this only speaking in human terms) than any other collection of people anywhere.

I think the people with the “guilt” problem are the ones who know what they’re doing is wrong but don’t want to stop.

I literally just spit out my tea laughing so hard at this delusional statement.

Actually, what’s “delusional” is the blind, virulent, reflexive hatred of a religion because one feels convicted by its teachings even while insisting those teachings are unfounded and that the religion has no right to promote them.

Whatever one thinks of the Catholic Church, no rational person can deny what it does for good. By way of example:

“Health Care

645 Catholic hospitals in the United States assist 87,972,910 patients annually.
One in six patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital.
There are over 19.5 million emergency room visits and over 102 million outpatient visits in Catholic hospitals during a one-year period.
Over 5.2 million patients are admitted to Catholic hospitals annually.
Catholic hospitals employ 521,821 full-time employees and 223,800 part-time workers.
Catholic health care systems and facilities are present in all 50 states providing acute care, skilled nursing and other services including hospice, home health, assisted living and senior housing.”

More examples:

https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/catholic-health-care-social-services-and-humanitarian-aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

TLDR = gaslighting

Of course you would try to rationalize it, how else would you trick people into this sub-cult?

I agree this reads like gaslighting. There are so many holes in this narrative. The human race has not forgotten the atrocities of the Catholic Church and this reads as an insult to all who are knowledgeable or have been victimized. What does “sanctify your everyday” look like? Why would members see those that disagree as “vengeful””? As a person raised in Catholicism the emphasis on PRACTICING speaks volumes. The term is devout.
In my experience the ones who are inclined to join an organization like this have the most to hide. It soothes that good ‘ol Catholic guilt.

The Catholic Church historically and into the present day has done more to help people and improve their lot (and this only speaking in human terms) than any other collection of people anywhere.

I think the people with the “guilt” problem are the ones who know what they’re doing is wrong but don’t want to stop.

I literally just spit out my tea laughing so hard at this delusional statement.

Actually, what’s “delusional” is the blind, virulent, reflexive hatred of a religion because one feels convicted by its teachings even while insisting those teachings are unfounded and that the religion has no right to promote them.

Whatever one thinks of the Catholic Church, no rational person can deny what it does for good. By way of example:

“Health Care

645 Catholic hospitals in the United States assist 87,972,910 patients annually.
One in six patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital.
There are over 19.5 million emergency room visits and over 102 million outpatient visits in Catholic hospitals during a one-year period.
Over 5.2 million patients are admitted to Catholic hospitals annually.
Catholic hospitals employ 521,821 full-time employees and 223,800 part-time workers.
Catholic health care systems and facilities are present in all 50 states providing acute care, skilled nursing and other services including hospice, home health, assisted living and senior housing.”

More examples:

https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/catholic-health-care-social-services-and-humanitarian-aid

Yet another whitewashing attempt. I don't have the time to pull up all the atrocities that have also been committed by the church... over centuries.

[Anonymous]

Opus Dei were told off, formally by the Catholic Church in the late 80s for the practice of flagellation. They were told to stop it completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.

The traditional penitential practice to which you refer is the use of the “cilice,” a light chain with small protrusions designed to be annoying without causing real injury. It is roughly akin to a “hair shirt.” It is not a “heavy chain.”

The point of physical penance is not “trying to mimic Christ on the cross.” It is to gain mastery over physical desires by strengthening the will. In this sense it is much like a diet and a great deal like the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition.

The tradition of physical penance is hardly unique to Opus Dei, Catholicism, or even Christianity. It is most prudently practiced under the supervision of an experienced spiritual director. The point is not “suffering” per se, but to concentrate the mind and will on higher things. Hence it is important to avoid excesses.

This response seems to be defending sick extreme behaviors that all religions are susceptible to. There are a few posts like this that are probably the same person.
This is an example of extreme behavior that is not the norm for devout “practicing” Catholics.
I am a devout Catholic and consider this behavior not within the realm of normal or religious. I do think “offering up” something to those less fortunate is virtuous. But this action is not the same as willingly inflicting self suffering.
Organizations like Opus Dei are necessary for religious extremists to validate this behavior. It not only validates, it also emboldens a sense of superiority.
WWJD. Not this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.

The traditional penitential practice to which you refer is the use of the “cilice,” a light chain with small protrusions designed to be annoying without causing real injury. It is roughly akin to a “hair shirt.” It is not a “heavy chain.”

The point of physical penance is not “trying to mimic Christ on the cross.” It is to gain mastery over physical desires by strengthening the will. In this sense it is much like a diet and a great deal like the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition.

The tradition of physical penance is hardly unique to Opus Dei, Catholicism, or even Christianity. It is most prudently practiced under the supervision of an experienced spiritual director. The point is not “suffering” per se, but to concentrate the mind and will on higher things. Hence it is important to avoid excesses.

The cilice is VERY KINKY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

TLDR = gaslighting

Of course you would try to rationalize it, how else would you trick people into this sub-cult?

I agree this reads like gaslighting. There are so many holes in this narrative. The human race has not forgotten the atrocities of the Catholic Church and this reads as an insult to all who are knowledgeable or have been victimized. What does “sanctify your everyday” look like? Why would members see those that disagree as “vengeful””? As a person raised in Catholicism the emphasis on PRACTICING speaks volumes. The term is devout.
In my experience the ones who are inclined to join an organization like this have the most to hide. It soothes that good ‘ol Catholic guilt.

The Catholic Church historically and into the present day has done more to help people and improve their lot (and this only speaking in human terms) than any other collection of people anywhere.

I think the people with the “guilt” problem are the ones who know what they’re doing is wrong but don’t want to stop.

I literally just spit out my tea laughing so hard at this delusional statement.

Actually, what’s “delusional” is the blind, virulent, reflexive hatred of a religion because one feels convicted by its teachings even while insisting those teachings are unfounded and that the religion has no right to promote them.

Whatever one thinks of the Catholic Church, no rational person can deny what it does for good. By way of example:

“Health Care

645 Catholic hospitals in the United States assist 87,972,910 patients annually.
One in six patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital.
There are over 19.5 million emergency room visits and over 102 million outpatient visits in Catholic hospitals during a one-year period.
Over 5.2 million patients are admitted to Catholic hospitals annually.
Catholic hospitals employ 521,821 full-time employees and 223,800 part-time workers.
Catholic health care systems and facilities are present in all 50 states providing acute care, skilled nursing and other services including hospice, home health, assisted living and senior housing.”

More examples:

https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/catholic-health-care-social-services-and-humanitarian-aid

One problem women and girls are not safe if they are pregnant
Or have any female issue

[Anonymous]

Cult

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Opus Dei were told off, formally by the Catholic Church in the late 80s for the practice of flagellation. They were told to stop it completely.

Citation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective, it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks.

TLDR = gaslighting

Of course you would try to rationalize it, how else would you trick people into this sub-cult?

I agree this reads like gaslighting. There are so many holes in this narrative. The human race has not forgotten the atrocities of the Catholic Church and this reads as an insult to all who are knowledgeable or have been victimized. What does “sanctify your everyday” look like? Why would members see those that disagree as “vengeful””? As a person raised in Catholicism the emphasis on PRACTICING speaks volumes. The term is devout.
In my experience the ones who are inclined to join an organization like this have the most to hide. It soothes that good ‘ol Catholic guilt.

The Catholic Church historically and into the present day has done more to help people and improve their lot (and this only speaking in human terms) than any other collection of people anywhere.

I think the people with the “guilt” problem are the ones who know what they’re doing is wrong but don’t want to stop.

I literally just spit out my tea laughing so hard at this delusional statement.

Actually, what’s “delusional” is the blind, virulent, reflexive hatred of a religion because one feels convicted by its teachings even while insisting those teachings are unfounded and that the religion has no right to promote them.

Whatever one thinks of the Catholic Church, no rational person can deny what it does for good. By way of example:

“Health Care

645 Catholic hospitals in the United States assist 87,972,910 patients annually.
One in six patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital.
There are over 19.5 million emergency room visits and over 102 million outpatient visits in Catholic hospitals during a one-year period.
Over 5.2 million patients are admitted to Catholic hospitals annually.
Catholic hospitals employ 521,821 full-time employees and 223,800 part-time workers.
Catholic health care systems and facilities are present in all 50 states providing acute care, skilled nursing and other services including hospice, home health, assisted living and senior housing.”

More examples:

https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/catholic-health-care-social-services-and-humanitarian-aid

One problem women and girls are not safe if they are pregnant
Or have any female issue

Gosh, I’ll have to let the lady know who went to a Catholic hospital and (1) safely delivered a high risk pregnancy; (2) survived severe postpartum George while retaining her fertility; and (3) received years of quality care for fibroids, excessive bleeding and other gynecological issues.