BREAKING THE OPUS DEI CODE

The Secretive Catholic Group's Name Means 'Work Of God' on the other hand In Washington, D.C., That Divine Task Has A Decidedly Political Bent

From the outside, the non-descript bookstore at 15th and K ways in the heart of Washington, DC gazes like any other shop selling religious literature and beneficials

A small sign in the window reads "Catholic Information Center" Visitors are advised that mass and confession are presented daily. Inside, one can pick up titles like by what means to Raise Good Catholic Children, Celibacy in the Early temple and A Catholic Homeschool Treasury.

But not upon in one corner is a special section of volumes dealing with the life and philosophy of Roman Catholic priest (turn saint) Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer and the controversial organization he founded: Opus Dei.

Far from being just another religious bookstore, the Catholic Information Center is, in fact, a prominent American outpost for Opus Dei, an organization a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of in the news lately. The center within walking distance of the White House, work fors as a rallying point for ultra-conservative Catholics eager for a voice in the secular halls of regulation power.

Opus Dei, Latin for "work of God" has, according to media reports, at least 3000 members in the United States - on the other hand its influence, critics say, has been more substantial than its numbers would indicate. In 2002 an Opus Dei priest, the Rev C John McCloskey III, former director of the Catholic Information Center changeed U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (RKan.) from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism. Brownback's conversion was shepherded by means of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a conservative Catholic and Opus Dei booster

Long the scourge of progressive Catholics, Opus Dei, with an estimated 80000 members worldwide, has take pleasure ined a close relationship with the church's conservative hierarchy, serving, as single writer put it in the mid 1980 as a "holy mafia" to forward far-right views on "culture war" issues.

The organization has drawn out had its own order of priests, and in 1982 pontiff John Paul II granted Opus Dei special status known as a "personal prelature." That means the clump is over seen by its have bishop, who reports directly to the pontiff Opus Dei is the solitary organization to enjoy such unique privileges.

For many years, Opus Dei remained secretive and mysterious. Rumors swirled that a certain quantity of members engaged in strange rituals, like as "mortification of the flesh" by means of wearing a cilice, a small, spiked chain worn around the thigh that pricks the skin. The assemblage was accused of targeting impressionable guild students and restricting their access to family members. a certain number of critics labeled Opus Dei a homage

Although these charges at short intervals resurface, it's the group's ties to reactionary politics and ultra-orthodox forms of Catholicism that generate greatest in quantity interest these days. Under the conservative papacy of John Paul II and his successor, Benedict XVI, Opus Dei is seen as an increasingly powerful organization dedicated to fending not on liberalism in the church and advancing a hard-right political agenda.

The group's reticence to discuss its beliefs and operations single added to the sense of mystery. A scarcely any years ago, things began to change and Opus Dei was forced a little more into the render free of access by a most unlikely source: a best-selling novelist.

Writer Dan Brown's The Da Vinci collection of laws has sold 15 million copies worldwide. The fictional mystery/thriller deals with a centuries-old piece of ground to cover up inconvenient revelations about the origins of the Catholic house of god and a frenzied search for the devoted Grail. Opus Dei figures in the volume and one of the characters is a crazed Opus Dei monk who, in order to protect the church cover-up, murders four family

Although the book is fictional, Brown has insisted that it is based in part upon real historical events, and many readers have apparently taken that to heart. Amazon.com lists several titles purporting to mention one by one the "real" story behind the digest With a film adaptation of the volume due out this month, interest in Opus Dei is likely to increase.

In of recent origin York City, the American headquarters of Opus Dei, officials of the organization are trying to revolve the publicity to their advantage.

"We want to use the in every one's mouth public interest to talk about the reality of Christianity, the Catholic meeting-house and Opus Dei," Brian Finnerty, Opus Dei's American spokesman, told O'Dwyer's PR Services Report, a trade journal.

Finnerty said Opus Dei officials freshly agreed to sit for interviews with "The Today Show" "Good Morning America," "Meet the Press" and "Hardball with Chris Matthews." Reporters are also being allowed to tour its novel York headquarters.

A public-relations blitz is probably necessary, because Opus Dei clearly has an image question One of its prominent critics, Dianne DiNicola, move swiftlys the Opus Dei Awareness Network (www.odan.org) from Massachusetts. DiNicola was mov to begin investigating the collection after her daughter joined while a pupil at Boston College in the late 1980

DiNicola accused the organization of urging her daughter to break not upon contact with her family, a charge Opus Dei officials firmly denied. Tammy DiNicola later left Opus Dei, saying it caused her to "shut down" all of her emotions.