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Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. (ODANTM)
"Bringing light to Opus Dei’s Questionable Practices"
ODAN challenges many of Opus Dei’s Questionable Practices because of the way they affect an individual’s personal freedom, choices and family life.
Since 1991, ODAN has been in contact with countless individuals, families, the secular and religious press, clergy, religious, cult awareness organizations, campus ministers, home-schooling parents and more.
ODAN has been providing information about Opus Dei’s Questionable Practices since 1991. Over the years the information we have gathered has become large and expansive.
ODAN is in the midst of cataloguing it’s extensive collection of information and articles into a digital format. Much of the information is from almost 30 years ago, during a time when Opus Dei had not polished its veneer, especially with the media. The information ODAN has gathered is both comprehensive and important to preserve. It provides a much different view of Opus Dei and reveals a troubling picture of how harmful Opus Dei is. While some of the information was posted many years ago, it still applies to Opus Dei and its activities. The only difference today is the more media savvy approach Opus Dei uses to explain itself. Our approach is to provide accurate, honest information in a scholarly way.
ODAN is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible. Please support our work to continue providing information about Opus Dei.
Donors can make donations by check (Please make payable to ODAN, PO Box 4333, Pittsfield, MA 01202-4333); with PayPal, or Credit Card. Thank you for helping ODAN to provide education, outreach and support to those adversely affected by Opus Dei. Thank you!
Testimonies about Opus Dei:
Questionable Practices, Statutes, Statutes 1950 (Constitution) the article Leopards in the Temple and Joining Opus Dei. Each was selected for the important information contained within.
New Testimony!
Michael Chambers from Britain was a numerary of Opus Dei between 1995 and 2004 and probably the only male numerary to have ever “whistled” (= asked to join Opus Dei) in Scotland. He was also a qualified personal injury lawyer and is now taking legal action in a civil court in England for the psychological injuries that Opus Dei practices caused him, with the support of an expert psychologist’s report – and also, he believes, with God’s support! He intends to sue Opus Dei and the bishops of the three Catholic dioceses in England where he lived, for not acting on conclusions of senior Catholic figures in England in 1980/1 that various practices of Opus Dei were psychologically harmful to its “members”. If successful in court, the repercussions could be felt right across the common-law world, including in the USA. Here, Michael tells his story and invites support for his legal action.
Funding Letter December 2024:
December 2024
Dear Friends of ODAN:
"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
These powerful words from scripture have always been at the heart of ODAN for the past 33 years, since a group of devastated and concerned Catholic family, clergy, religious and former Opus Dei members formed the Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. (ODAN). Since that time, ODAN’s heart-felt mission has always been to provide education, outreach and support to those adversely impacted by Opus Dei.
Oftentimes, these individuals experience a nagging feeling in the gut that something is not right. Wherever Opus Dei operates, it leaves in its wake broken lives, allegations of deception and manipulation, alienated families, questionable practices, coercion, scandal and secrecy.
In the early days before the onset of the internet and instantaneous news and information, Opus Dei typically evaded or ignored criticisms and complaints, trying to hide behind the Church and attack all critics as unfaithful or "not true Catholics," while ignoring the substantial criticisms raised. In more recent years, Opus Dei has become more pro-active in trying to white-wash over the criticisms with a plethora of seemingly altruistic and positive messages. Yet scratching under the surface of that veneer just a little, the truth is revealed.
In Argentina, prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation of Opus Dei superiors in South America for human trafficking and labor exploitation of 44 former numerary assistants. (https://apnews.com/article/argentina-opus-dei-c04dc1f54c033a967975c6261922f698 ) In the United Kingdom and Ireland, civil suits against Opus Dei are in the works, with attorneys detailing Opus Dei methods similar to those employed by cults worldwide that left the women exhausted, indoctrinated, controlled, watched and isolated.
Over the years, former Opus Dei numerary assistants have testified to alarming facts of the inner workings of Opus Dei, some as recent as 2019, including indoctrination and commitments to Opus Dei allowed since they were minors (some as young as 14 1⁄2 years old) without the knowledge or consent of parents; receiving no money yet working 12 or more hours per day for years; no enrollment in the social security system; on leaving Opus Dei, being cast aside with no savings and nowhere to turn. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct5tfs
Opus Dei’s response to these allegations typically throws the blame on individual members of Opus Dei without addressing the very real manipulations and deceptions systemic to the organization itself. "Opus," a recent book written by Gareth Gore, was written after the author unraveled threads of secrecy and abuse pointing to Opus Dei’s involvement in the collapse of Spain’s Banco Popular, and its exploitation of numerary assistants, among other topics that raise the question: why does controversy follow Opus Dei wherever it goes?
The answer to this question is why ODAN exists – so that the truth can continue to be known, so that people can be set free to make their own choices, free of the manipulation and deception that lie beneath the polished veneer of Opus Dei. Please consider a donation today to ODAN to help us continue our work. ODAN is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible. We are so grateful for your support and prayers.
Sincerely,
Dianne R. DiNicola, Executive Director
Funding Letter December 2022:
December 2022
Dear Friends of ODAN:
In an extraordinary move on July 22, 2022, Pope Francis revoked Opus Dei’s status as a personal prelature which had been granted almost forty years ago. The pontiff issued "Ad charisma tuendum," a motu proprio, or change to church law by way of his personal authority, which effectively allows for greater Vatican scrutiny of Opus Dei’s activities and actions. Opus Dei will now be supervised by the Vatican under the Dicastery for Clergy instead of the Dicastery for Bishops, a move which will require yearly reports from Opus Dei instead of every five years. In addition, the current head of Opus Dei will no longer be a bishop; instead, his new role will be that of Apostolic Protonotary Supernumerary with the title of Reverend Monsignor.
Pope Francis stated that with the change, his hope is that Opus Dei would become less focused on hierarchy, and more focused on its charism, “the call to holiness in the world, through the sanctification of work and family and social commitments.” (Vatican News, 22 July 2022.) Despite answering the Pope in conciliatory phrases, Opus Dei has received a slap in the face with this historic decree. It is noteworthy that Pope Francis emphasized family in his comments to Opus Dei; of all its Questionable Practices, Opus Dei’s systemic destruction of the family unit with the use of manipulation and deception and a clear shunning of previously close families from the decision-making process is particularly disturbing.
Over the last 31 years, ODAN has heard from countless family units whose very fabric has been destroyed, leaving parents and siblings ostracized and their adult children, shells of their former selves. One of the articles on ODAN’s website describes the ways that Opus Dei fogs "joining" Opus Dei to suit its purposes, to the detriment of individuals who are denied the ability to make truly informed choices. (https://odan.org/tw_joining_opus_dei)
This fogging of the truth by Opus Dei is a Questionable Practice common to other cult-like groups. (https://odan.org/questionable_practices) John Martin’s excellent article "Leopards in the Temple: Opus Dei, Escriva, and John Paul’s Rome" not only describes Opus Dei’s cult-like tendencies; it also calls into question the whole canonization process of Opus Dei’s founder Josemaria Escriva, which eliminated the first hand testimony of former members who had direct contact with Escriva and were denied a voice. (https://odan.org/media_leopards_in_the_temple)
Over the years, ODAN has worked hard to provide critical information and support to hurting families and individuals. We are sad to say that ODAN has lost one of its greatest supporters, Dennis Dubro, a former numerary who experienced coercion of his conscience by Opus Dei and who fought tirelessly for truth. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones – with this letter, we want to thank Dennis for all that he did to bring light to the dark side of Opus Dei and help people negatively impacted by them.
Please consider a donation today to ODAN to help us continue our work. ODAN is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible. We are so grateful for your support and prayers.
Sincerely,
Dianne R. DiNicola, Executive Director
Funding Letter December 2021:
Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. (ODANTM)
PO Box 4333, Pittsfield, MA 01202-4333,
Web: www.odan.org , e-mail: odan@odan.org Tel: (413) 499-7168
December 2021
Dear Friends of ODAN:
In today’s world Opus Dei is involved in ordinary things. It makes the organization seem main stream. A good example is Rome’s Biomedical University Foundation. Established in 2015, it is a nonprofit organization located in the Vatican that promotes scientific research and development through an Opus Dei sponsored university and hospital. On the surface it seems to be doing good works. Does aggressive recruitment exist at the Opus Dei Biomedical University? Almost certainly, since it is a systemic problematic activity within Opus Dei.
Recently ODAN became aware of aggressive recruitment practices at Columbia University Medical Center. Key Opus Dei members hold powerful positions that make decisions benefitting the Opus Dei agenda easy. The number one goal for Opus Dei is expanding its membership, preferably as numeraries, the celibate section. This does not include everybody. Only certain individuals qualify for numerary membership and will be aggressively pursued. The people available for recruitment at Columbia University Medical Center would fit the criteria perfectly.
But the big news is the Vatican accepting a case that involved 42 women who were numerary assistants in Opus Dei, typically women from lower class backgrounds who took care of cooking, cleaning, and other household chores to serve in Opus Dei Centers and residences. The women filed a complaint for labor exploitation and abuses of power and of conscience that was filed at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This is a significant event since in the past Opus Dei was totally supported by many people who held powerful positions in the Vatican.
The women are Argentine and Paraguayan citizens who worked for the movement in Argentine, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Italy and Kazakhstan between 1974 and 2015. Some of the complaints allege the women, often minors who worked without pay, had no Social Security benefits and violated their basic rights. In 2002, ODAN published the sad story of a former numerary assistant on the website, https://odan.org/tw_basic_human_rights_were_violated. For too long Opus Dei has not been honest about its inner workings. Opus Dei operates as a totalitarian world, robbing individuals of basic rights and using deception and manipulation to aggressively target new members. It is hopeful that the Vatican under the direction of Pope Francis will pursue the truth and hold Opus Dei accountable.
Opus Dei’s questionable practices exist throughout the whole organization. ODAN has given a voice to the abuses of Opus Dei. Please consider a donation to help us continue our work.
Sincerely,
Dianne R. DiNicola
Executive Director
Contact Us
ODAN is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible. Please support our work to continue providing information about Opus Dei.
Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc.
P.O. Box 4333
Pittsfield, MA 01202-4333
Telephone: 413-499-7168
Email: odan@odan.org
Executive Director: Dianne DiNicola
Revised December 27, 2024