Customer Reviews

Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Powerful Secretive Society within the Catholic Church

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Bottom line the book was very informative, which is what I was looking for. The writer takes a critical look at Opus Dei, and does a good job covering the history of the organization and the founder as well as describing current activities. If you are looking to learn about Opus Dei from an outsider's point of view, I highly recommend this book.

It is easy to recognize that some or all of the negative
reviews for this book here on Amazon were written by Opus Dei members. Contrary to what they claim, Walsh has written a well researched history of the movement, reporting accurately and fairly on some of the controversy surrounding its founder and his legacy. This is a balanced work well worth the read.

As one who was invited to join Opus Dei and did not, I must say that the book is fairly accurate. I do not mind their goal, which is personal holiness, but I do disagree with some of their views and attitudes. I found them cliqueish(one should only go to confession to a priest that belongs to the order)and distrustful of many other Catholic groups(especially the Charismatic(Pentecostal) movement in the Church). I also have a problem with their founder's(Escriva) anti-semitism.

This one shares the spotlight with Lucien Gregoire's "Murder in the Vatican' for tops in murder and intrique within the Church. I strongly recommend that you not pass this one up

Walsh does bring out some facts in this book (which is why I gave it one star), but his presentation wreaks of third-rate trashy journalism -- by which I mean an emotional and unbalanced report of the truth. It's kind of like listening to political adversaries shooting their silly barbs at each other during an election time. This is unfortunate because Opus Dei is a very manipulative organization which, because of its immense wealth, influences an increasing number of Church authorities with a fundamentalist kind of conservatism. (Tony Hendra's new book, "Father Joe," [2004] has a great word for people like this: "cathoholics.") I think that if Walsh had written a more dispassionate book, it would have been more effective in making his point: namely, that for all their claim to being model Catholic clergy and lay persons, they use utterly un-Christian methods to achieve their ends within the structure of the Church. With this, I would agree.

Though it is chocked full of supposedly crystal clear evidence of Opus Dei's evil ways, most of the research is plainly outdated and mostly irrelevant. I tried desperately to read this book with an open mind. Yet Walsh's tone becomes shrill bordering on the infantile with certain phrasing, particularly at the end of the book, not at all hiding his deeply personal hatred for Opus Dei. For a man who left the priesthood, it's hardly surprising that he would have an intellectual problem with celibacy amongst lay men and women. A Catholic group getting political when the Jesuit priest Fr. Drinan spent several terms in Congress? I can't help but find astonishing that a man who used to give out the sacraments to the Faithful could examine another Catholic group through such narrow lenses of supposed "left" and "right" and could leave almost no material in his "investigation" to the actual spiritual content of his subject.

Walsh, a former Jesuit, bases many conclusions about Opus (admittedly) on the Prelate's constitution of 1950! He holds the Prelature hostage to practices based on thier rule of half a century ago. What if someone's only view of America's south was a snapshot of 1954? While it may be true that Escriva was slow to embrace the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council, so were thousands of clerics ordained before 1969.Opus influence in anti-Marxist dictatorships is frequently cited, yet there exists no apology for Jesuits holding state positions in Ortega's Sandanista Cabinet! He concludes that Opus is "less Christian" than those who practice Liberation Theology. Ironically, it was a member of Walsh's former Order that was a US Congressman with a Pro-Abortion voting record.

If those writing negative reviews about this book are Opus Dei members, then those writing positive reviews about this book are limp wristed liberals. Give me a break. Try reviewing the book instead of pushing your agenda. Of course, people who liked this book were swayed by the agenda than any actual facts contained therein.

I'm not a member of Opus Dei, and even though I've read portions of The Way, I'm far from being an expert about Opus Dei. However, it was so glaringly obvious that Michael Walsh has a bone to pick and had skewed his facts so badly it really was an utter waste of time to continue reading.

How in the world can a Jesuit criticize any religious organization for meddling in secular politics? It's laughable.

One has to wonder why so many people have gone so far out of their way to throw insults and slander at others trying to live simple, Christ-centered lives as they go about their humble, normal, everyday activities. There are powers with which we are at war... powers that would like to see less Christ-centered, humble people running around.