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To: wagglebee
The beautification and canonization of Escriva were controversial within the Catholic Church (mostly having to do with the internal issues of Catholicism), and most who criticize Opus Dei are Catholics.

Information like the following comes from the critics of Opus Dei.

http://www.answers.com/topic/opus-dei
Fr. Vladimir Felzmann, a former Opus Dei member who is presently working as a priest in a parish in England, quoted Escriva as saying that Adolf Hitler “couldn’t have been such a bad person. He couldn't have killed six million. It couldn't have been more than four million.” Felzmann quotes Escriva as having said: "Hitler against the Jews, Hitler against the Slavs, this means Hitler against communism."

Opus Dei and Francisco Franco supported each other.

Opus Dei, to be brief, was involved with Augusto Pinochet.

I haven't found anything of current antisemitism from Opus Dei, though, except for British Education Secretary Ruth Kelly's support of neo-Nazism.

The cilice, a spiked chain worn around the thighs of members for the purpose of "corporal mortification" (pain, "self-discipline"), is often mentioned by critics. Here's a photo of a cilice.




The cilice originated in Cilicia in Asia Minor, according to Rev. Michael Giesler, an Opus Dei priest. http://www.crisismagazine.com/julaug2005/giesler.htm

It would be very interesting to see where the research all the way back to Cilicia, in Asia Minor, goes. ...pre-Christian, likely?

Whips, Spiked Garters and Bloodshed...My Terrifying Life in Ruth Kelly's Religious Sect
The Mail on Sunday, UK
http://www.odan.org/media_roche.htm

The secret life of Opus Dei (with more mention of Ruth Kelly)
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1398731,00.html

Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who became a Russian spy, was a member.

Internal complaints from former members
http://www.odan.org/

Opus Dei has about 80,000 members as of the most recently known public mention (see Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican yearbook), so other information supporting Opus Dei (and rebutting that above) is very easy to find. See the enormous amount of information injected into our government archives, or see the following for starters.

Opus Dei Web Site
http://www.opusdei.org/
20 posted on 05/08/2006 5:31:54 PM PDT by familyop ("Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." --President Bush)
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To: familyop

Actually, Opus Dei and Francisco Franco did not "support" each other. The Opus Dei newspaper in Madrid was the only paper Franco ever shut down. Opus Dei was very forward looking, very engaged in planning for the future of Spain (which is why they still run a big business school and university in Northern Spain), and Franco found them threatening.

Pinochet was probably a good thing to happen to Chile, particularly after its brush with Communism under Allende. Why do you think Chile is doing relatively well now? Opus Dei was responsible for much of the education that produced a stable, modern political class.

And the practice of wearing a chain or belt, or using a discipline, is quite ancient in Christianity. It was simply to remind yourself of your sinfulness, and to train yourself not to seek comfort but to unite your sufferings with those of Christ and learn patience and humility.

Hardly something I would consider sinister.

BTW, perhaps you shouldn't get your info about Opus Dei from former Opus Dei members. There's usually a good reason that they're "former," most often that they simply weren't up to the spiritual and intellectual demands of el Opus.


31 posted on 05/08/2006 5:43:02 PM PDT by livius
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To: familyop
most who criticize Opus Dei are Catholics.

Prior to this book, very few non-Catholics had ever even HEARD of Opus Dei.

35 posted on 05/08/2006 5:46:52 PM PDT by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: familyop
but but but - there "is" no Opus Dei! ;o)

Don't confuse folks with the facts - it will give them a headache

37 posted on 05/08/2006 5:48:22 PM PDT by maine-iac7 ("...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." LINCOLN)
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To: familyop

Beautification... was she ugly?

I think that's supposed to be beAtification.


70 posted on 05/08/2006 8:56:48 PM PDT by The Red Zone
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