Opus Dei is a Catholic prelature

Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic prelature whose status as a personal prelature of the Pope and its controversial practices form the institutional backbone of the novel's central conflict. The organization's threatened disassociation from the Vatican drives Bishop Manuel Aringarosa's desperate alliance with the Teacher, making Opus Dei the unwitting engine of the plot's violence and deception.

Nature and Structure

Opus Dei, Latin for "God's Work," was founded in 1928 by the Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá. It promotes a return to conservative Catholic values and encourages its members to make sweeping sacrifices in their own lives to do the Work of God. The congregation is a personal prelature of the Pope himself, enjoying the full endorsement and blessing of the Vatican. Its traditionalist philosophy initially took root in Spain before Franco's regime, but with the 1934 publication of Escrivá's spiritual book The Way—999 points of meditation for doing God's Work—Escrivá's message exploded across the world. Now, with over four million copies of The Way in circulation in forty-two languages, Opus Dei is a global force, with residence halls, teaching centers, and even universities in almost every major metropolis on earth. It is the fastest-growing and most financially secure Catholic organization in the world. The organization has just completed construction of a $47 million World Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City, a 133,000-square-foot tower clad in red brick and Indiana limestone, containing over one hundred bedrooms, six dining rooms, libraries, living rooms, meeting rooms, and offices. Within this building, men enter through the main doors on Lexington Avenue, while women enter through a side street and are "acoustically and visually separated" from the men at all times.

Controversial Practices and Public Perception

Opus Dei's escalating wealth and power has made it a magnet for suspicion. The media has referred to it as "God's Mafia" and "the Cult of Christ." The practices that draw the most controversy include vows of chastity, tithing, and atonement for sins through self-flagellation and the cilice—a spiked belt worn around the thigh that cuts into the flesh as a perpetual reminder of Christ's suffering. All true followers of The Way wear this device. The pain caused by the cilice also helps counteract the desires of the flesh. Members also practice "corporal mortification" using a knotted rope called the Discipline, which they swing over their shoulders to slash at their own backs. The novel recounts several scandals that have plagued the organization: an Opus Dei group at a midwestern university was caught drugging new recruits with mescaline to induce a euphoric state perceived as a religious experience; another university student used his barbed cilice belt more than the recommended two hours a day and gave himself a near-lethal infection; a disillusioned young investment banker signed over his entire life savings to Opus Dei before attempting suicide; and FBI spy Robert Hanssen, a prominent member of Opus Dei, was revealed to be a sexual deviant who had rigged hidden video cameras in his own bedroom. These events spawned the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN), whose website relays frightening stories from former members.

Role in the Plot

Bishop Manuel Aringarosa, the president-general of Opus Dei, is the organization's primary representative in the novel. Five months before the story begins, Aringarosa received devastating news: the Vatican Secretariat Council voted unanimously to revoke Opus Dei's status as a personal prelature, giving the organization six months to break away. This decision, driven by the Pope's unease with Opus Dei's aggressive recruiting, corporal mortification practices, and policies regarding women, threatened to destroy Aringarosa's life's work. Desperate to save his empire, Aringarosa was contacted by a man calling himself the Teacher, who claimed he could uncover the Holy Grail—a relic that would bring Aringarosa enormous power, enough to make the Vatican bow before him. The Teacher demanded a fee of twenty million euro, which Aringarosa obtained from the Vatican Bank in the form of large-denomination bearer bonds, using the Vatican's own severance payment to fund the plot. Aringarosa placed Silas, a devoted Opus Dei numerary, under the Teacher's command, believing he was doing God's work. The Teacher exploited Opus Dei's reputation and Aringarosa's desperation, using Silas to murder the four top members of the Priory of Sion and to search for the keystone. The plot ultimately unravels when Aringarosa realizes he has been deceived, and Silas, in a tragic confrontation with police, accidentally shoots the bishop. Aringarosa survives and, in his hospital bed, instructs that the bearer bonds be distributed to the families of the murdered Priory members, seeking forgiveness for the sins committed in Opus Dei's name.