By now, a number of you may have seen Ron Howard’s film version of The Da Vinci Code by Don Brown.  In the April 24th issue of Time, reporters Sean Scully and Caroline A. Miranda/New York, Jordan Benfante and Jeff Israely/Vatican City, Amanda Bower /San Francisco, Lucien Chauvin/Lima, Mark Thompson/Washington and Dolly Mascarenas/Mexico City have presented an excellent overview of Opus Dei, featured so prominently in the book.

The writers open their article by describing the reaction of Opus Dei member and arts-administration graduate student at Columbia University, Elizabeth Heil, to the film.  While watching it for the first time, she broke into giggles and explained, “I wish we were that interesting.”

I find it interesting that a member of that cult (and I have always looked upon it as such) and a graduate student at a prestigious university, should find it uninteresting.  Many, who have studied the sect with open minds,  have found it scandalous, full of contradictions, with evil ambitions and complete indifference to the harm done to those who sign up to follow Christ there, only to find themselves lost in a spiritual house of mirrors, with no way out. A spiritual house of  mirrors might be frightening, confusing, lonely, but uninteresting?

Either Ms. Heil has surrendered to Opus Dei’s mind-control methods, or she has refused to pursue the history of her organization, a choice unworthy of a Christian’s God-given responsibility to seek the truth, as well as that of a student privileged to be enrolled at a university where scholarship is the coin of its realm.

For your perusal, the articles on Opus Dei have been brought up from the Archives, and you might find it “interesting” to begin with the following, describing the prelature as a “House of Cards.”

Opus Dei -A House of Cards?
February 7, 2002 

Next week, we’ll take a closer look at Time’s article. Until then, let us be truth-seekers together. And to you former members of Opus Dei, who have written to describe your painful journeys of leaving the sect, while being told day after day that you were facing sure damnation, my sincere congratulations for your faith, courage and love of God that brought you home to a new world of peace, freedom, and complete acceptance as Christ’s special friend, and ours.   Amen. Amen.

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