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Once upon a time I thought that Opus Dei was a good organization, that is, until my son joined it. Then my eyes were opened and the truth about Opus Dei became clear. What ODAN says about Opus Dei is correct. My son experienced the kinds of things that people have described at ODAN's website. My son joined an Opus Dei "center" that was located off the campus of the university that he was attending. He was a freshman at the time. He was attracted by their spirituality, by the way their priests said Mass and by the "circles" he was invited to atttend. As soon as he expressed an interest in Opus Dei, he was told that he had a vocation to be a numerary, and from that point onward, he was pressured into pursuing this vocation. The director at the center actively discouraged him from discussing any of this with us, his family. He was not given the opportunity to make an objective, informed decision. Opus Dei told him that it was God's will that he become a numerary and that he might not be saved if he did not do this. They tried to get him to recruit other students. My son's personality and behavior changed. All he talked about was "the work." He had always been a straight-A student but now he no longer cared about his grades and he wanted to reduce the number of courses he was taking at college so that he could spend more time doing "the work."

They told him to that he was supposed to attend a special three-week "philosophy seminar" in Boston during the summer and they tried to get him to spend Christmas break in Mexico instead of coming home. He didn't go to Mexico, but he did go to Boston that summer. Opus Dei charged him $750 for the three-week brainwashing session and he lost three weeks of income, since he had to leave his summer job early that year. He returned home the night before he was supposed to leave for college. At first he acted as though everything had been fine and he talked about spending the whole summer the following year working at youth camp for Opus Dei. When I asked him how he was supposed to pay for college (the youth camp was not going to pay him), he did not reply. Then he confessed that he had some serious misgivings about Opus Dei and that he had hated the three weeks he had spent in Boston. This is when the truth came out. My husband and I were alarmed when we heard what he had to say. He was allowed to call home only once. His time was completely scheduled. He was finally told that if he became a numerary, he would have to give all of his income to Opus Dei, that he would not be allowed to own books, CDs, or movies, and that he would have to go where they sent him. In short, they would run his life. They told him not to discuss anything with us. He was told that he could not speak to any non Opus Dei priest. Although he did not want to live that kind of lifestyle, he went ahead and formally made the "oblation" to become a numerary. He thought that he had to do this even if he wasn't going to be happy.

I could go on but I won't. The upshot of this is that my son returned to college and that he formally left Opus Dei before the end of his sophomore year. His personality and behavior returned to normal. He just graduated from college.

What can I say about a group that tried to push a young man into a vocation that he was not suited for? At the very least, Opus Dei engages in very questionable recruiting practices. There is a place for their kind of spirituality in the Church and if they were open and honest about it, I'm sure they could attract people to their group. But they aren't honest or open.

Opus Dei may be part of the Church, but it is not a good part of it. My advice would be to stay away from it and to keep your children away from it.