Faith, power, manipulation - The secrets of the Opus Dei sect | DW Documentary

opus dei is among the most powerful organizations within the catholic church extremely well connected in the vatican endorsed by former popes and feared by former members [Music] i'd call it an authoritarian organization within the catholic church even more authoritarian than the church itself the head of opus dei in germany rarely gives interviews but he made an exception for this report he emphasized the group's christian values [Music] the primary importance of opus dei lies in the wonderful message of how to live every day with love and mercy as a christian opus dei founder jose maria escrivar was revered as a saint during his lifetime he aligned himself with powerful people especially in spain the group's german branch also seeks close contact to politicians and church leaders such as cardinal reiner maria volky cologne's controversial archbishop traditionally media shy opus dei was forced into the spotlight by dan brown's best seller the da vinci code and the subsequent film the group was portrayed as bloodthirsty and ruthless but where is the line between myth and reality is opus dei a catholic cult that endangers members and a free society or is the personal prelature nothing more than another pious institution fighting to keep an ever-decreasing number of believers in the fold [Music] pamplona the capital of the northern spanish region of nevada this is where opus dei began its ascension [Music] the catholic church played a leading role in the lives of many in this rural region the ground here was fertile for a new devout group like opus dei in 1928 a young priest jose maria escrivar is struck by what he calls divine inspiration he founds opus dei in english work of god his mission christianized the world things move slowly at first but the spanish civil war marks a turning point opus dei and nevada politicians support general francisco franco after his victory the general shows his appreciation as the token of gratitude navarre was permitted to maintain its own tax system opus dei benefited financially by siding with franco another reason why the group settled here when escriva was asked why he'd chosen navarre he said it was god's plan as if god had pointed his finger here the deal with the fascist leader francisco franco pays off for god's elites as they call themselves members of the group hold key economic and political positions they use their powerful roles to open spain up to tourism and liberalized the economy in the early 1960s a finance minister associated with opus dei becomes head of the bank of spain government loans flow to companies tied to the group spain's government and opus dei remain intertwined even now education justice and presumably banking are still under its influence how we turn to anna azansa a philosophy lecturer and former long-time opus dei member opus dei has retained so much power because there was never a true break from the country's past which would have been critical for our social progression it's like we put on a fresh coat of paint after franco's death but spain's core foundation and structures remained intact no one was held accountable young people today know next to nothing about the dictatorship the subject is taboo and a lot of it is covered up no one is brave enough to self-reflect and analyze it it will likely go on like this for the next century anna azansa has insight into the inner workings of opus dei she was part of the group for 19 years one of about 90 000 members globally members in north and south america make up about a third of that total there are roughly 10 000 members in africa asia australia and oceana combined spain is opus dei's strongest base with about 35 000 members another 4 000 are in italy and in germany about 600 clergy and laypersons in 1945 opus day starts expanding from spain to portugal and italy then to germany france and england it later establishes centers in north and south america today there are members in 90 countries including africa and eastern europe opus dei is structured around strict hierarchies only men are allowed to join at first though women are soon allowed too pralit fernando ocaris now heads the group about two percent of its members are priests about 10 percent are so-called numeraries who live in opus dei centers separated by gender and committed to celibacy they are supported by assistant numeraires women who cook and clean in the facilities the largest group are the supernumeraries who follow the values of opus dei but are allowed to marry and lead private lives the german branch of opus dei is based in cologne it's long been supported by the archdiocese of cologne previously by cardinal joachim meisner then by his successor cardinal volky not everyone approves of this close relationship this priest from the archdiocese spoke to us on the condition of anonymity to avoid facing repercussions cologne is one of the richest diocese in germany and worldwide that's why cologne has become an attractive destination for ultra-conservative catholic groups that emerged in the 20th century [Music] legionnaires of christ the neo-catechumenal way and others have found their way here [Music] they've been welcomed by the bishops and are readily supported this priest and other ministers have their reasons for not wanting to openly criticize oprah's day the corner clear was this corner catholicism i've always been struck by how fearful the bishops are of an open conflict with opus dei all i think is what do you have to lose it's not as if a bishop will be stripped of his title for criticizing opus dei but the fear is real what fuels this fear is it justified after persistent requests christophe bockkamp agreed to an interview he's been the head of opus dei in germany for more than 25 years the regional vicar is pleased with the group's growing popularity bishops worldwide ask our prelate in rome to open branches of opus dei everywhere we can't keep up with the demand in the last few decades centers have sprung up all across eastern europe in our case membership is growing gradually the primary importance of opus dei lies in the wonderful message of how to live to spend every day in love and mercy as a christian foreign love and mercy so why is there so much fear surrounding opus dei boccamp doesn't understand either we continue to probe what does the group actually want internal writings mention the sanctification of daily life and christianizing society what does that look like in practice [Music] initially sanctifying daily life and imbuing work with christian values is a good concept the notion that christianity is not only limited to a religious service or a pious exercise in church and instead is connected to society and life outside the church i believe the intuition there is a good one and there were others before opus dei but eventually more elitist notions the pursuit of power and certain ecclesiastical goals emerged that's a clear thread throughout opus day's history and that's when christianization of society and the sanctification of work and daily life take on a different meaning former opus dei members rarely recount christian values many talk of bullying and insistence on obedience we spoke with another former member who asked to remain anonymous i wanted to become a nurse i moved out of my home and during my training i tried out various things and that's how i got to know sonenfeld a vocational school here in cologne i initially had no idea it was related to the church that comes i realized that later first the people befriend you and slowly you're shown around look the house has a chapel from the church they watch your reaction how you react whether or not you show interest and i thought it was great a secular organization and i found it totally fantastic i was ecstatic i started trying to convert everyone around me like other religious groups opus dei focuses on recruiting young people who can attract more members we were supposed to find more people who had the calling we took a sewing course at the adult education center not to learn to sew but to find people we could invite to the center that was the goal now i see through it all but before i thought it was great i was enchanted i would have given my life for them [Music] many new members feel a great deal of pressure to perform not delivering causes trouble lived from their control overstay thrives on control meaning pressuring people to follow all these rules and punishing them if they don't when it comes to the faith there's a certain pressure to excel opus dei puts an emphasis both on economic success and the idea that faith is a kind of measurable performance you always come up short you always feel you're not doing enough also a means of applying pressure and domination this is was an adolescent when he was recruited by opus dei he stayed for nine years he founded a platform for former members after leaving one of the reasons behind the platform was that former members at first feel very guilty you promised to do something but didn't opus day approaches people without saying who it is and what it wants it acts like a cult in some critical areas the candidate is shown emotion and is courted but when they actually join the trap is sprung the tone changes and everything is demanded of them as the founder said we strip him down to his shirt organized the screen we've seen in our piece of scent carmen charo knows this from personal experience she was only 12 when she was courted by the opus dei youth club [Music] i was a shy girl lonely and my father always made me feel stupid everyone welcomed me warmly at the opus dei youth club we played guitar i felt accepted and little by little they got me to the point where i signed up but i soon realized that i was not really suited for a life in opus dei i felt imprisoned but whenever i wanted to leave they pressured me you can't do that god will never forgive you you'll pay for it all your life things like that i had little self-confidence and i didn't know where to go so i was easy prey for them and they caught me again and again [Music] we meet antonio escavius in madrid he was a priest in opus dei for 30 years then he quit married and started a new life [Music] everything is planned in opus dei the alarm clock rings just after six which means get out of bed kiss the floor and say serviem or i will serve god and opus day then it's time for a cold shower warm water is prohibited then praying the rosary and mass after assisting with breakfast pray again then work and in the evening internal reflection alone and once a week with the centre's spiritual director a life of rules and renunciations only approved books no movies no theater it's really a parallel universe you're not allowed to watch a soccer game or drive your own car where and whenever you please you have to give your car key to the director and the money you earn is tightly controlled you get a small amount for the basics but even then you have to track your expenses and account for every subway ticket at the end of the month and if you want to buy a new pair of pants you can't just go to a store you have to ask the director first the philosophy of opus dei founder jose maria escrivar can be read in his book camino in english the way he wrote your duty is to be an instrument obey as an instrument obeys in the hand of the artist not stopping to consider the reasons for what it is doing [Music] obedience duties rules bans former members recall how their frustrations gradually mounted [Music] can you obey that's usually the first question so that you can be molded and only do what the father and other leaders tell you is [Music] this metal chain with two to three millimeter thick spikes you wear it with the spikes digging into your thigh and sit on it for two hours every day to subdue one's desires thus east and this is the penitential scourge other means of penance are the cold shower for the father in the morning and sleeping on the floor twice a week numeries can't sleep on mattresses out of principles there's also the practice of resting your head on a phone book instead of a pillow when you sleep i'd sometimes have a stiff neck i eventually resented it all i thought this can't be that's constantly sign suffering and sleepless nights for the head of opus dei in germany it comes back to pius tradition just there's a tradition of asceticism in the church that mother teresa practiced that pope john paul practiced that many others practiced it's something people today may not understand it's about following the lord who suffered who was crucified who was whipped it serves as a little reminder it must be good for our body our body is a part of our being asceticism is part of christian life how people follow that is up to them this is fine a reminder of christ's sufferings as an exercise of faith critics are skeptical [Music] there are extremely violent fantasies behind it and it's extremely harmful physically although that's always disputed the idea that keeping this evil body in check and inflicting harm is a form of following christ who bore the cross and was whipped that's very difficult for me to understand spiritually there's a very long tradition of misogyny and physical harm throughout the history of catholicism and christianity but specifically hostility towards women but in opus dei a lot of catholic teachings what all catholics are supposed to believe is taken to the extreme zone [Music] our conservative groups like opus dei perceived within the catholic church an interview request with cardinal volky was rejected two men from volky's inner circle are closely linked to opus dei marcus hoffmann his former vicar general and right hand man is a member of the priestly society of the holy cross an organization inextricably tied to opus dei the suspended auxiliary bishop dominicus schwaderlab is also linked to the group whether or not opus dei is trying to influence volky is disputed the archdiocese rejects the idea volky insists he is not a member of opus dei and is not closer to this group than any other so opus dei has been entrenched in the archdiocese of cologne for a very long time it didn't begin there are several very powerful high-ranking and influential people in the clergy in the archdiocese of cologne who are supporters members and sympathisers of opus dei and voki is most certainly under their influence the main idea here is you can't be the archbishop of cologne and have opus dei against you that's just not possible it's too influential in cologne too significant too ingrained opus day's importance in the archdiocese of cologne is especially evident in the church of saint pantalion in 1987 it was entrusted to the priests of opus dei giving opus dei its own church in cologne dear sisters dear brothers today we remember the blessed bishop again cardinal volcky preached here as did his predecessors huffner and meisner transferring the parish to opus dei sparked outrage at the time [Music] many in the parish maybe even the majority were against it members of the parish council resigned some were transferred to other parishes meanwhile opus dei members came here and expanded the parish housebound [Music] theologian peter hertle is an expert on opus dei 2015 this church was singled out during pope benedict the 16th visit in 2005 as an opus dei parish at the time it was the only church in cologne chosen by the pope for a meeting it's clearly an important church and central to opus dei in germany opus dei can be found in many powerful institutions for example in the european central bank opus dei member luis de quindos is vice president at the european court of human rights in strasbourg spanish judge maria elusigue is reportedly linked to opus dei too as the perspective this is of course intentional it's precisely about influencing politics the economy culture the judiciary the whole academic field universities in other words positioning yourself close to the elites or becoming part of the elite yourself the vatican in rome has been the center of christianity for two thousand years and opus dei founder jose maria escrivar moved to rome in 1946 to cement his position he was also subsequently laying the groundwork for opus dei to become an elite force within the vatican before john paul ii became pope when he was still a cardinal in poland he had great admiration for escrivar and opus dei escrivar died in 1975 and did not live to see the election of john paul ii to the papacy but the polish pope elevated opus dei to the status of a personal prelature seven years later unique in the church's history it became indirect subordination to the pope in 2002 john paul ii canonized escrivar as a saint less than 30 years after the founder's death another unusual move in the history of the catholic church when josef ratzinger was elected as john paul ii successor in 2005 opus dei reportedly welcomed the news opposed opus dei was very engaged leading up to the election of pope benedict of josef ratzinger on the first day of the conclave an opus dei member told me it will be a very short conclave and ratzinger will be elected and that's precisely what happened pope benedict also supported opus dei he appointed priests from the group as bishops in the vatican he remains linked to the group buoyed by their vision of strengthening the faith and pope francis he's a jesuit and not considered a close ally to oprah's day but he allows the personal prelature its freedoms and has appointed more members as auxiliary bishops escrivar's legacy lives on almost 50 years after his death presumably the pious spaniard would have been ored to see what became of his original vision especially in his homeland we visited the campus of the opus dei owned university of narvara in pamplona manuel mira is an architect and former pamplona city councillor he studied at the university and knows its history well the entire campus takes up 1.2 million square meters 120 hectares that's about 200 soccer pictures the area was previously used as a public park the city of pamplona gifted it to opus day a very generous gift indeed manuel mira firmly believes tuition should be free but that's not the case tuition costs up to 18 000 euros a year well above the spanish average they are looking for people who will ascend to the highest echelons of society who will earn an academic title or hold a significant political office or become a bishop or even the pope opus dei maintains a close-knit network to steer members into powerful positions besides the university in pamplona there's the pontifical university of santa croce in rome hospitals in pamplona and madrid business schools in spain the united states brazil and germany several hundred schools and kindergartens as well as numerous foundations the investments seem to be paying off the spanish judiciary is still said to be influenced by opus dei former judge santiago vidal made serious accusations the newspaper el publico quoted him as saying one third of all spanish judges and prosecutors are linked to opus dei [Music] opus dei also appears to draw significant financial support from spain's educational system according to el pais a leading spanish newspaper in 2020 investment in state-supported private schools the majority of which are religious increased by seven percent while investment in the public school system was cut by five percent [Music] opus dei's network of private schools also includes the iese business school in barcelona the financial times has ranked the school's mba program among the best globally an iese campus was opened in munich in 2015. students don't have to be catholic to study there but they do have to be able to pay the hefty tuition more than 70 000 euros for the two-year program we wanted to ask the head of the business school in munich whether graduates are expected to do favors for opus dei later in their careers but our interview request was denied we were told our questions made little sense back to spain in the southeastern part of the country to murcia we meet a woman who tells us a shocking story about the way her father's death unfolded my father was an opus dei member as was my late mother and my brother fernando is an opus dei priest one day my brother told my father you will die in four days my father was really shocked he told everyone he did have lung cancer but it wasn't in the final stages his doctors had told him that he had several more months to live and he was active meeting friends for coffee but he died exactly four days later under very strange circumstances according to josefina ortado a doctor from opus dei was in and out of her father's apartment he sounded sedated on the phone and eventually stopped picking up josefina was working as a doctor in england at the time her father died on may the 17th 2015 before she could return to spain ascension day and the anniversary of the beatification of opus dei founder escrivar what a coincidence then at his funeral other opus dei members said it was such a blessing from heaven that saint jose maria's creva was his mediator to god people even called to congratulate me it was truly absurd but it opened my eyes [Music] she grew suspicious her priest brother played a role in her father's death she reported him and possible accomplices the toxicology report revealed her father was administered sedatives his heart medication was stopped and he wasn't drinking enough fluids was his death really planned we obtained a document from opus dei founder escrivar that was leaked to the court it stated in part when your hour comes a priest will take care of you you should confess everything to him so he can prepare you for god's embrace then a doctor will then go and get an injection is opus dei playing god a grave accusation which a spokesman denies some things are so ludicrous they don't even warrant a response i've never seen nor heard of such a document nobody can know anything about it because it doesn't exist the real question here is who made it up it's unfortunate that a family matter like this ends up in court or is picked up by the press but that's how it is in life sometimes there's nothing you can do but this document does indeed exist the text appeared in the 1989 book meditations part 4 on page 695 written by opus dei founder eskrivar the book is available to members in all opus dei centres in spain [Music] court records show the death of josefina urtado's father was investigated as a murder there were also suspicions of falsifying a will to benefit opus dei but the leads were inconclusive opus dei destroyed our lives we used to be a close-knit family but after my parents joined opus dei everything fell apart towards the end of his life my father said to me your mother and i were deceived they lied to us and deprived us of our wealth they promised us heaven but we ended up in hell [Music] josefina otado died in 2020. her family chose not to pursue the case any further investigators found no clear evidence of foul play [Music] opus dei founder escrivar like to say how difficult it is to get into the work of god and how easy it is to leave it again but former members tell a very different story i only became aware of how brutal it was when i was in this situation and thought to myself oh god you don't even have slippers you don't even have an alarm clock my father fought on my behalf and turned up the pressure they only reacted when he said we're going to the press now and what you did to my daughter will be a headline in tomorrow's newspaper that's when they reacted i got a small payout which i used to pay my first month's rent and deposit that was it other former members share similar stories if members of opus dei decide they want to leave they're pressured to reconsider regional vigor bockhamp says that's not true the decision to answer this calling is one of the freest decisions anyone can make life decisions are free by nature people are also free to choose to go another way in my 25 years as a regional vicar i can't recall any particular case where people were put under any pressure what pilate about the openness of opus dei is of course problematic those on the inside confirm what he says while those who leave tell a completely different story what's true are they then traitors are they liars someone who exercises power cannot understand that others perceive it as pressure it's really a question of who holds the power am it appears it's a matter of perspective those who have found a personal calling in the work of god cannot understand the accusations but disillusioned former members bitterly criticized the group in a secular society not everyone understands the appeal of opus dei while the german diocese admit to losing believers in droves opus dei says it easily finds new recruits [Music] since [Music] those who know leave the church are often those who believed that the church is changing anyone who is searching for order hierarchy and authority in the church isn't moving away they're saying now finally these liberals who weren't true believers are finally gone now it would be much better for us here and our influence will be much greater when all the lukewarm believers the grey sheep leave it's the purest that are left behind and in this pure flock as well as other very authoritarian spiritual communities will be more dominant [Music] the catholic church is once again at a crossroads should it open itself to the world or barricade itself pope francis seems unwilling or unable to choose a clear direction for opus dei that question is at the very crux of its future [Music] today opus dei doesn't have the same powerful role it had in the 70s or 80s but opus dei wants to play a role in the next conclave so there won't be a pope as progressive as pope francis i don't think opus dei has to fear losing its influence in the vatican pope francis is certainly no friend of opus day and opus dei definitely does not have a figurehead sitting on the papal throne but in other matters family women or in relation to gender pope francis is also somewhat conservative and certainly not at the forefront of the reform movement has a lot of money it has a lot of real estate and houses it has companies which it indirectly controls and in these ways even if it's not pastoral care it will maintain its presence and exert pressure i think opus day will hold its way among the elites and beyond that we'll patiently wait until the time is ripe to step into the limelight again opus stay is in no hurry eternity is on its side opus dei remains a phenomenon shrouded in secrecy it may not be a criminal organization or a holy mafia but it can't claim to be open or transparent either it revolves around faith power and money and if former members are to be believed manipulation and pressure too it would seem cohesion and obedience outweigh the touted values of love and mercy [Music] you

Channel: DW Documentary

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Keywords: Documentary, Documentaries, documentaries, DW documentary, full documentary, DW, documentary 2022, documentary, Opus Dei, sect, infiltration, abuse of power, Catholicism, secrecy, Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer y Albas

Id: 6Zi4hp8hJRM

Length: 42min 26sec (2546 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 30 2022