User:Alecmconroy/opusdeidiff
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[edit] Original Version
[edit] Controversy
Throughout its history Opus Dei has been criticized from many quarters leading Catholic journalist John Allen, Jr. to described Opus Dei as "the most controversial force in the Catholic Church", and Escrivá as a "polarizing" figure.[1] [2]
Controversies about it have centered around criticisms of its recruiting methods, the alleged strict rules governing members, its acknowleged practice of mortification of the flesh, its alleged secretiveness and elitism, the alleged right-leaning politics of most of its members and the participation by many in extreme right-wing governments, especially the Francoist Government of Spain until 1978.[3]
[edit] Critical views
In the English-speaking world, the most vocal critic of Opus Dei is a group called the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN), a non-profit organization that exists "to provide education, outreach and support to people who have been adversely affected by Opus Dei." ODAN is headed by Diane DiNicola, mother of a former member, Tammy DiNicola. [4] Other major critics are Maria Carmen del Tapia, an ex-member who was a high-ranking officer of Opus Dei for many years,[5] liberal Catholic theologians such as Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit, and supporters of Liberation theology, such as Penny Lernoux and Michael Walsh, an ex-Jesuit.[6][7]
David Clark, who specializes in helping people leave cults, say that Opus Dei is either a "cult", or at least "cult-like".[8] Critics state that Opus Dei is "intensely secretive"— for example, members generally do not publicly disclose their affiliation with Opus Dei, and under the 1950 constitution, members were expressly forbidden to reveal themselves without the permission of their superiors.[9] This practice has led to rampant speculation about who may be a member.[9] Opus Dei has been accused of deceptive and aggressive recruitment practices such as showering potential members with intense praise ("Love bombing"),[10] instructing numeraries to form friendships and attend social gatherings explicitly for recruiting purposes,[11] and even requiring regular written reports from its members about those friends who are potential recruits.[12] Most of all, critics allege that the group maintains an extremely high degree of control over its members— there used to be a time when numeraries submitted their incoming and outgoing mail to their superiors to read,[13] and members are forbidden to read certain books without permission from their superiors.[13] Critics charge that Opus Dei pressures numeraries to sever contact with non-members, including their own families.[10]
Critics assert that Escrivá and the organization supported the governments of Francisco Franco[14][15] and Augusto Pinochet,[16] and Alberto Fujimori of Peru during the 1990's[17], both of which included members of Opus Dei amongst their ministers and prominent supporters. And it has even been alleged that Escrivá expressed sympathy for Adolf Hitler.[18][19] One former Opus Dei priest, Vladimir Felzmann, who has become a vocal Opus Dei critic even tells the story 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."[20][21][22] (see Opus Dei and politics)
Concerning the group's role in the Catholic Church, critics have argued that Opus Dei's unique status as a personal prelature gives it too much independence, making it essentially a "church within a church".[23] Some critics state that Opus Dei exerts a disproportionately large influence within the Catholic Church itself, citing for example the unusually rapid canonization of Escrivá, which some considered to be irregular.[24] Lastly, Opus Dei, as a part of the Roman Catholic Church, also shares many criticisms of Catholicism in general— for example, some criticize the fact that female members of Opus Dei cannot become priests or prelates.[25]
[edit] Supporting views
According to journalists who did separate works on Opus Dei such John Allen, Jr.,[1] Vittorio Messori,[26] Patrice de Plunkett,[27] Maggy Whitehouse[28] most of the accusations against Opus Dei are mere myths.[29][30][10] Allen and Messori said that most of these myths were created by its opponents. Allen stated that he perceived that Opus Dei members generally practice what they preach.[31][32]
On accusations of secrecy, Allen says "Opus Dei cannot be called secretive." These accusations, he says, stem from a clerical paradigm whereby Opus Dei members are expected to behave as monks and clerics, the traditional models for sanctity, who are externally identifiable as such. Instead, its lay members, like any normal Catholic professional, are ultimately responsible for their personal actions, and do not externally represent the organization which provides them religious education. Opus Dei itself, he says, provides abundant information.[33] To explain the celibate lifestyle of numeraries and their relationship with their family, supporters quote Jesus's comment that "He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me".[34] On accusations of seeking independence from church control, Catholic officials say that church authorities have even greater control of Opus Dei now that its head is a prelate appointed by the Pope and thus members are "even more conscious of belonging to the Church".[35][36]
As to criticism on its alleged participation in 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.[37][38] Also, there were notable members of Opus Dei who were vocal critics of the Franco Regime such as Rafael Calvo Serer and Antonio Fontan, who was the first Senate President of Spain's democracy. Thus German historian and Opus Dei member, Peter Berglar calls any connection made between Opus Dei and Franco's regime a "gross slander."[39] At the end of Franco's regime, Opus Dei members were 50:50 for and against Franco, said John Allen.[1] Similarly Álvaro del Portillo, the former Prelate of Opus Dei, said that any statements that Escrivá supported Hitler were "a patent falsehood," that were part of "a slanderous campaign".[40] He and others have stated that Escriva condemned Hitler as a "rogue", a "racist" and a "tyrant". [41] Various authors state that Escriva was staunchly non-political, and repeatedly stressed that freedom is an essential element of Opus Dei. Allen states that Escriva's relatively quick canonization does not have anything to do with power but with improvements in procedures and John Paul II's decision to make Escriva's sanctity and message known.[1] (see Opus Dei and politics)
While Opus Dei spokepersons have admitted mistakes in dealing with some members and do not as a rule contest their grievances,[42] [43] supporters have also questioned the motives and reliability of some critics. Sociologists like Bryan R. Wilson write about some former members of any religious group who may have psychological or emotional motivations to criticize their former groups, and they state that such individuals are prone to create fictitious "atrocity stories" which have no basis in reality.[44] Many supporters of Opus Dei have expressed the belief that the criticisms of Opus Dei stem from a generalized disapproval of spirituality, Christianity, or Catholicism. Expressing this sentiment, one Opus Dei member, Cardinal Julian Herranz, stated "Opus Dei has become a victim of Christianophobia."[45] Massimo Introvigne, author of an encyclopedia of religion, argues that critics employ the term "cult" in order to intentionally stigmatize Opus Dei because "they cannot tolerate 'the return to religion' of the secularized society".[46]
Regarding alleged misogyny, John Allen states that half of the leadership positions in Opus Dei are held by women, and they supervise men.[47] The Catholic Church teaches that "the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven are not the ministers but the saints." [48]
[edit] Other views
Sociologists Peter Berger and Samuel Huntington said 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 emphasized Opus Dei's hispanic roots as a source of misunderstandings in the Anglo-Saxon world. As the United States become more hispanized, he said, it is expected that controversies about Opus Dei and other Catholic organizations of its type, will decrease.
In her 2006 book, Opus Dei: The Truth Behind the Myth, Maggy Whitehouse, a non-Catholic journalist, believes that part of the problem of Opus Dei is the relative autonomy of each director and center which has produced serious mistakes at the local level. She recommends greater consistency and transparency for Opus Dei, whom she sees as having learned the lesson of greater openness when it faced the issues raised by The Da Vinci Code.
