Monday, February 13, 2006

Opus Dei aims to improve its public image ahead of Da Vinci Code movie

The Montreal Gazette
The Gazette
11 February 2006
By RACHEL ZOLL


NEW YORK (AP) - The entrance to the national headquarters of the Roman Catholic group Opus Dei is the last place you would expect to find mention of The Da Vinci Code.

The conservative organization has spent the last few years trying to escape the bestseller's shadow, after the novel portrayed Opus Dei as a murderous sect with self-mutilating members who are fixated on power.

But now the low-profile spiritual community is starting a drive to improve its image ahead of a major film based on the book - and that campaign begins at the group's front door, where a sign invites fans of the Dan Brown novel to learn about "the real Opus Dei."

"The unfortunate thing is there are going to be tens of millions of people who will read the novel and see the movie and have that be their only exposure to Opus Dei," said Brian Finnerty, a spokesman for the group. "Because the book is marketed as being in some ways factual, it's difficult for people to tell where the lines between fact and fiction are."

The movie, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, is set for May 19 release and is already expected to be a blockbuster. Opus Dei is trying to counter with its own productions.

Founded in Spain and now with 86,000 lay and clergy members worldwide, the group has commissioned a short documentary that extols the benefits of its emphasis on personal holiness in daily life.



Leaders are also working with American and British TV networks on independent documentaries about the organization to be broadcast around the movie's release. And reporters are being invited to tour the U.S. headquarters, which is a residence for Opus Dei members and a centre for community activities. The organization plans to highlight its charity projects worldwide, including work with young people in poor Chicago neighbourhoods and a wide range of health and communications efforts in Africa.

They have also turned to the Web for help. Among their many postings is a new blog on The Da Vinci Code by a young Opus Dei priest based in Rome. And in a surprising partnership, the group has struck a deal with the same publishing house for the novel - Doubleday - to release The Way, a collection of spiritual thought by Opus Dei founder Josemaria Escriva, considered a key text for the group. Its publishing date is just 10 days before the movie opens.

Finnerty said Opus Dei would not call for a boycott of the Sony Pictures film. Leaders of the community are aware that bitter criticism of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ helped popularize that movie, he said.

"We wouldn't want to do Sony the favour," Finnerty said. He said Opus Dei approached Sony about their concerns, but received only "vague assurances" in response.

Asked about Opus Dei's worries, Sony spokesman Jim Kennedy said the company views The Da Vinci Code as "fiction that is not meant to harm any organization."

Opus Dei's image problems did not begin with Brown's novel and likely will not end with the Howard-Hanks film.

Ever since it was established in 1928, the organization has been controversial within and outside the church. Inside the church, it is unusual for a group to bring together men and women, and lay people and clergy, in one association to spread the gospel.

Outsiders have especially seized on Opus Dei's practice of corporal mortification. About 30 per cent of lay members have taken vows of celibacy, and they wear a small barbed chain around the upper leg - called a cilice - for part of the day as a spiritual discipline. Some ex-members have started opposition groups, such as the Opus Dei Awareness Network, to raise questions about this and other practices by the group.

Secrecy also is an issue: Opus Dei's historic resistance to revealing the names of its members, leaving that decision to individuals, has sparked claims that it is a cult.

Still, Finnerty said the book brought a new level of hostility. His office still receives e-mails and letters related to the book that he characterized as hateful.

Brown says on his website that he worked "very hard to create a fair and balanced depiction of Opus Dei" and denied that his book was anti-Christian. The novel contends that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had children, and that Opus Dei and the church are at the centre of covering it up. An Opus Dei follower commits the murder that sets the plot in motion.

Finnerty said that when the plot was first made public in the trade press, a colleague told him the story line was so silly no one would buy it. Three years and millions of sales later, Opus Dei hopes to turn the notoriety to its advantage.

Said Finnerty: "It's given us a lot of opportunities to talk about who we really are."

Opus Dei, the international Roman Catholic group that zealously adheres to church teaching, says it has long been misunderstood.

They say those misperceptions have taken even stronger hold because of The Da Vinci Code, the bestselling Dan Brown novel that puts the group at the centre of a plot to cover up a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

A major film based on the book is set for release May 19 and Opus Dei is trying to educate the public ahead of that date about its work and goals. What follows is a look at the organization in question-answer form, based on information from its national office and the book Opus Dei, by Vatican analyst John Allen:

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Q: Is Opus Dei a religious order like the Jesuits or Franciscans?

A: No. There is no other organization like Opus Dei in the church. The group is made up mostly of lay people, along with a small minority of clergy, and is split almost evenly between men and women. Pope John Paul named it a "personal prelature." Among other things, that means that its leader, a bishop in Rome, has authority over members regarding their work with Opus Dei just as a bishop has authority over a diocese.

Q: What does Opus Dei do?

A: At its most basic, the organization aims to help traditional Catholics grow spiritually. Aspiring members must complete intensive theological training and rigorously observe Catholic ritual in a way that the average parishioner does not.

Q: This sounds similar to training for clergy. How is it different?

A: Lay members of Opus Dei are generally not seeking to become ordained. Josemaria Escriva, who founded Opus Dei in 1928 in Spain, believed that lay people should take a dynamic role in helping spread the gospel within their daily lives and through their secular professions. A majority of Opus Dei members have families and work full time outside of the organization.

Q: What's so controversial about that?

A: The controversies about Opus Dei have more to do with its practices than its message. About 30 per cent of its members take a vow of celibacy, and as part of their spiritual discipline, use corporal mortification. For some time each day, they wear a cilice, a small barbed chain, around their upper leg, partly to remind them of Christ's suffering. Another tool they use during a short prayer is a small twine whip called a "discipline." Some ex-members have questioned the practice. But Opus Dei says these tools have long been used by Christians and are a very small part of their spiritual lives.

Q: How are female members treated?

A: Criticism of women's roles focuses mostly on a category of member called "numerary assistants." These women - about 4,000 members - dedicate their lives to maintaining Opus Dei centres, which means in some cases cooking and cleaning for households of men. However, women hold other Opus Dei jobs where they supervise men. Another practice that has raised questions is the group's strict separation of men and women, including separate entrances in group residences and gender-segregated events and classes. Still, in their everyday lives, Opus Dei members mix with those of the opposite sex.

Q: Who supports Opus Dei?

A: Beyond its 86,000 members worldwide, the group was a favourite of John Paul's, who canonized Escriva, and has drawn support from millions of others who participate in Opus Dei community events, attend their schools and work on their charity projects. However, some ex-members have formed opposition groups, such as the Opus Dei Awareness Network, based in Pittsfield, Mass., and some cardinals and other high-ranking church leaders have expressed concern about how the group operates.

Q: Would I know anyone who belongs to Opus Dei?

A: The group does not generally publicize the names of its members, preferring to allow them to discretely disclose their affiliation on their own. Among their explanations for this approach is that they don't want members to stand out from average people, since their goal is to live out holiness in secular society. However, the practice has led to accusations of secrecy and is viewed by critics as evidence that the organization has something to hide.

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