Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei [Hardcover]

Maria Del Carmen Tapia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

Much has been written about Opus Dei, which under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II has become the most powerful organization in the Roman Catholic Church. Described as a "Holy Mafia" by its critics, "The Work", as it is known, is said to have all the characteristics of a sect: excessive secretiveness, questionable recruitment practices, a shocking disregard for human rights, and an unwholesome cult of its founder.

No one until now has described the inner workings of Opus Dei, from its goals and methods to the actual day to day activities of its members, with as much thoroughness and detailed knowledge as Maria del Carmen Tapia. A Numerary (full member) of Opus Dei for almost twenty years (1948-1966), she spent five years in close proximity to the founder Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer, whose beatification in 1992 raised a storm of protest for the haste and irregularity of its procedures. The author describes her recruitment, her forced estrangement from her family, her life in the "Golden Cage" of Opus Dei's governing center in Rome, her years as head of the women's section in Venezuela, her sudden reassignment to Rome, her life there as incommunicada for several months, and finally her total disillusionment and the reprisals over her attempts to leave.

This is the story of a religiously motivated young woman who was manipulated, turned into a fanatic, and only gradually came to her senses.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A former numerary, or full member, of Opus Dei, a personal prelature within Roman Catholicism, Tapia offers in almost crushing detail a chronicle of her 20 years with the prelature. She does not hesitate to assert that its methods and structures resemble a cult and that fanaticism and zealotry abound. However, her work has problems. For non-Catholics, terms like personal prelature and secular institution remain without clear definition. In addition, Tapia's interior life remains a mystery; she fails to convey how such a secretive, cultlike sect, disliked and mistrusted by those closest to her, moved her to renounce family and friends for nearly 20 years. Tapia does provide the externals, offering only bare snippets regarding Opus Dei's ability to incorporate her "very flesh and spirit." Readers seeking enlightenment on the needs and motivations of cult followers will be disappointed. An optional purchase at best.?Sandra Collins, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Lib.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 364 pages
• Publisher: Chiron Pubns; 1St Edition edition (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826409377
• ISBN-13: 978-0826409379
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #575,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A true testimony of Opus Dei from the inside, September 28, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Javier Puerta - Madrid, Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei (Hardcover)

For anyone that has been a "numerary" member of Opus Dei, the facts that the author describes constitute no surprise. In different countries, in different times, the story of strong psychological pressure and manipulation on potential recruits and on members has been repeating itself for decades now. The very detailed description of places, names, and practices, has made me so vividly recall the asphyxiating atmosphere that I once lived when recruited by Opus Dei at the age of fourteen. The book reflects the great fraud of the Opus Dei praxis which consists in presenting to the catholic people the attractive message of being a way to help them live their faith from within the society as citizens and professionals; however, once inside, the numerary member gradually becomes just a component of the recruiting machinery of Opus Dei. Without physical violence but via tremendous though subtle psychological pressure, the member gradually abdicates his/her own will and renounces to making his/her own decisions even on very small details of his/her life. Once the mind of a person has been manipulated to make him/her convinced that "the will of God is transmitted to him through the directors of Opus Dei", the degree of control over that person is complete. The book very well describes this process which is common to all "numerary"" members. The last part, describing the last stay of the author in the Opus Dei headquarters in Rome, is very impressive and demythify the figure of the founder of Opus Dei but does not constitute the key argument against the Work. It is all the previous chapters, showing how, in the name of the father, very young persons are recruited and converted into instruments of the Opus Dei organization through a process that finally makes them convinced that it is God's will that they become obedient members. With all my love for current and former Opus Dei numerary members who at very early age have undergone a recruitment and indoctrination process that has caused them anxiety and distress, I want to say that "Beyond the Threshold" is a true testimony of what Opus Dei has meant in the life of many.

49 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent representation of life within the Opus Dei, July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei (Hardcover)

I was a numerary of the Opus Dei in Spain for two years 1977-1978. I was recruited at the age of 19 while attending the University of Barcelona Spanish Studies course for foreigners. My parents who lived in the United States had to threaten with legal action before the Opus Dei allowed me to see them. The book brought back floods of memories. All the aspects of life within the Opus Dei that I had shared in common with Carmen, she had described absolutely accurately. I was alone in a foreign land and they took advantage of my vulnerability to take over my life. Luckily I my parents managed to get me out by hijacking me in London. Carmen has done the world a great service by exposing this terrible organization. I am still a daily Mass going Catholic, and now a medical school student. I was so glad to read that she had not lost her faith over her terrible ordeal. It's never too late to start over!

44 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important document in the debate, October 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei (Paperback)

The book is for many people an eyeopener for other it is a scandal. However no matter who is reading it, certain traits and problems in Opus Dei must be admitted- both by the devotes and the opposition. I have no personal experiences brought out from that organisation. I have never been a subject for recruitment by Opus Dei. My knowledge is from what I read about them, from other people associated in different degrees with Opus Dei and from my own observation. Quite much of what is described in this book coincides with my own humble experience of this organisation.

The personal experiences described by the former Opus Dei member- Maria del Carmen-Tapia- are shaking and frightening. When reading through the pages I consulted a manual on sects, considering the overall methods used in OD. I think, provided that del Carmen-Tapia's descriptions are accurate, one can define OD as a certain kind of sect with brain-washing, degradation of personality, very excessive cult of the guru (read Msgr. Escriva) and diminishing of personal freedom among certain class of members- the numeraries. Everything that of course is done under disguise or sacrifice for the sake of the organisation, the higher truths and goals it claims to fulfill. This organisation seem also to be very secret with well defined security levels. Someone referred to Opus Dei as catholic freemasonry. I do not think this kind of comparision is qualifying. Nevertheless information from upper levels is portioned out down according to certain criteria. Secrecy is also kept laterally. Everything that is fine, every organisation must have certain levels of integrity and "business" secrets. The problem seem to be that these secrets are mostly futile things, not worth keeping a secretive attitude toward. These things are most probably used in the process of brainwashing. The other aspect mentioned in the book is a certain lack of frankness, a kind of artificial, laboured attitude toward the non members. This kind of attitude produces unnatural and weird situations. For example young people whom OD recruits are expected to be more honest to Opus Dei than to their parents becuase of Opus Dei alleged superiority in the realm of the spiritual. When being invited on an Opus Dei dinner in their headquarter non-OD people are not explicitly told about if or how much to pay for the dinner. It is insinuated with a certain kind of "discretion" yet another way used in Opus Dei. The visitor is in a way put in an unclear situation. This allusive, enigmatic way of talking is very characteristic and can be often a source to bisarre misunderstandings.

Another point mentioned in the book is the gender perespective on Opus Dei. The organisation treats men and women unequally. The position of a woman is, in spite of her right in the organisation to have modern professions, inferior to that of Opus Dei men. Opus Dei women have serving functions. Their freedom is clearly diminished compared to men.

The overall organisation and customs in Opus Dei originate from the old aristocrate Spain and is often irrelevant outside that country. Present Opus Dei operatives stick irrationaly to these outer forms which are many times irrelevant and even harmful ( i.e treatment of women) both to Opus Dei and its adepts in foreing countries. There is a certain ignorance among the liders of Opus Dei and even lack of interest in how the organisation should be reshaped according to the new enviroment and culture.

Many so called progressive catholics and people outside the Church criticise Opus Dei for being backward, unmodern, medieval or even fascist. I think this kind of critics is very often a kind of biased ideological interpretation based on misperception of essentials. The important sectarian traits as well as other unhealthy psychological problems within Opus Dei do not get their proper space in that kind of critique. Opus dei is certainly an elitist organisation shaped and designed for upper classes, the wealthy and influential people which is well described in "Beyond the threshold". This is not a secret. It was one of Msgr. Escrivas open goals to have an exclusive apostolate among these groups. The idea in itself is sometimes used as a typical bad argument against OD. Another side of the coin is that Opus Dei sees itself as a kind of elitist organisation, indispensable in the life of the church. They create among their members an aura of indispensability. According to them OD is supposed to play a major role in the critical hours of the church now or in the future. This, I think is very ell described in Maria del Carmen-Tapia's book. The recruitment to every prise of people in high positions is another trait of this organisation. It is important to OD that the influential persons are the natives in the actual country where recruited. The "hotest" professions are rich industrialists, nobility, militaries, intelligence workers, politicians and higher positioned academics. The main goal seem to be many times unfulfilled. There are some risks with Opus Dei methods of recruitment. These riscs are charasteristic for every sectarian organisation using psychomanipulative techniques. Many often a certain kind of people is let in. People who are easy to manipulate because of a dormant psychopathology in the background and certain psychological-emotional problems or even syndroms.

There are certainly other good books about Opus Dei. As yet this one seem to be the best and most throughout and helps very much to grip the spirit of that organisation.