A Gore-awful hatchet job on a Catholic institution

October 17, 2024 22 Reactions

Opus
by Gareth Gore | Simon & Schuster | 448 pages, 2024

Here is a summary of Gareth Gore’s new book Opus – conservatives are evil, they are trying to “reshape American society and destroy many hard-won civil rights”, they are funded and controlled by Opus Dei, which the author accuses of criminal activity to achieve its aims.

I don’t know who has funded this book, but it seems no coincidence that it has been released just weeks before the US election.

The reality is different. Opus Dei is a fully approved Catholic organisation that teaches that every person is called to holiness in ordinary life, especially through work and family life.

The book itself is littered with errors, distortions, and even outright lies. In particular, there are two essential things that Gore does not accept about Opus Dei and which severely limit the accuracy and usefulness of his analysis.

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First, he does not accept that people may dedicate themselves to Opus Dei for purely spiritual reasons, to love God and to serve others. Gore always assumes ulterior reasons, the ones he understands: power, money, control of others… His telling of the life of the founder St Josemaría Escrivá is a travesty of the truth, with every event reinterpreted in that light.

Gore takes particular umbrage at St Josemaría’s desire to “re-Christianise society”, interpreting it as a push for power so as to impose a Christian way of behaviour on an unsuspecting public. This is the opposite of what Escrivá preached throughout his life, that evangelisation should be an “apostolate of friendship”, and that the gospel was to be spread not by power or influence, but by witness and love for others.

He cannot countenance that Opus Dei is made up of ordinary people trying to do good in the world, who make mistakes like everyone else, as they are human. No reference is made to deceased members of Opus Dei whose holy lives are being considered for canonisation by the Catholic Church, or to the many works of charity run by members with heroic dedication all over the world.

In fact the book is a collection of allegations and stories that have been published against Opus Dei, deliberately omitting the rebuttals or explanations offered at the time or since and which are easily available in the public domain.

For the year and a half I was in conversation with Gore, as the press officer for Opus Dei in the UK, I was convinced he was after the truth. How wrong I was! His book is unremittingly negative, with no attempt at balance, and excludes anything that might contradict the author’s narrative. It is the kind of book that brings journalism into disrepute.

Second, he does not accept the freedom of Opus Dei members. In the introduction he complains that “almost every conversation would begin the same way: with the member of Opus Dei explaining how everyone within the organisation acted with complete freedom and that anything that any of them did – whether that be in business, politics or more generally – was of their own initiative and nothing to do with Opus Dei”. I was struck by this passage as this is exactly what I had said when I met Gore two years ago. I see now that he rejected it, as it would unravel the conspiracy theory on which the book is based.

Gore thinks conservatives are dangerous, and according to him many of them, or at least some important ones, are in Opus Dei, or close to Opus Dei, or have been seen with an Opus Dei member, or at least are able to spell Opus Dei. The fact is that Opus Dei has no political programme, conservative or otherwise, though each member might have one, be it on the right or on the left, with the total freedom that Gore denies them.

When I first met Gore he told me the book would be a biography of Luis Valls Taberner (1926-2006), a member of Opus Dei who had run Banco Popular, a Spanish bank, for almost 50 years. I must have heard wrong. The book does talk a lot about Valls Taberner but it talks almost as much about Leonard Leo, who Gore knows is not a member of Opus Dei, but who is a much-talked-about figure in the lead-up to the US election.

At the heart of the book is a supposed fraud involving millions stolen by Opus Dei from Banco Popular. This is totally false. Any serious study will reveal that Valls Taberner was an excellent professional who ran his bank with honesty and integrity. In fact Gore’s analysis of Banco Popular is surprisingly shoddy, given that he is a financial journalist. Gore says Banco Popular was the most profitable bank in the world for 50 years: false, it was the most profitable bank in the world for a couple of years in the 1990s. Gore says the bank was controlled by a shadowy organisation called “The Syndicate” which was 100% controlled by Opus Dei: false, the syndicate preceded Valls Taberner and continued after his death, was totally open, anyone could join or leave it and most members were not linked with Opus Dei. Gore says that members of the syndicate voted twice: false, this was impossible and never happened… And that’s just in the first ten pages!

Two years ago I knew very little about Valls Taberner. In the months that followed I read a lot about this man especially in the website dedicated to him. There I found many contemporary articles, facts and figures about Banco Popular and the foundations set up to support charitable projects, and testimonies about Valls Taberner by some of the many people he had helped. A giant emerged. Here was a banker who lived a sober life with few luxuries, who believed so much in transparency that he published an annual list of errors the bank had made so as not repeat them in future, who renounced a substantial part of his earnings every year to donate the money to charity, who convinced other bankers to do the same instead of spending their money on a yacht or an exotic holiday, who believed in people and their dignity, lending them money without asking for security and helping them to see that they were able to return it through their work.

One story stuck with me. One day Valls Taberner read in a newspaper about a rehabilitated criminal coming out of prison who complained that he did not have enough money to start working his way back into society. Valls Taberner found out his details and made contact with him. He offered to loan him money for a motorbike, saying he believed in him and that he could return the money whenever he had earnt enough. The former prisoner bought the motorbike and started a small business. Valls Taberner lent him funds to expand his business twice more, and always got his money back.

But you will not read stories like this in Opus as they are not about power and influence.

An academic in Spain has been collecting information for some years and plans to publish a proper biography of Luis Valls Taberner in 2026, to celebrate the centenary of his birth. I cannot wait to read it.

How does Gareth Gore’s book fit into the 2024 US election campaign? Any thoughts?

Jack Valero is the press officer for Opus Dei UK and founder of Catholic Voices.

Image credit: headshot of Gareth Gore / Simon & Schuster

Transparency note: the editor of Mercator, Michael Cook, is a member of Opus Dei

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Peter Faehrmann commented 2024-12-09 12:01:17 +1100

David Page, The demise of the Catholic Church has been predicted for 2000 years. Dream on!
Frank Daley commented 2024-10-24 07:06:03 +1100

So Stephen Meyer, you originally told us “And BTW, the only thing I know about Opus Dei is what I read in The Da Vinci Code” and later you tell us “My personal;, unscientific, observation is that most people who join organisations like Opus Dei or the Masons do so for the networking.”

So given that your knowledge about Opus Dei is based on a work of fiction, you are actually telling us that your subsequent observations are totally bogus. That makes sense, as in my decades of contact with members of Opus Dei I have never met a single one who joined Opus Dei “for the networking” as opposed to a spiritual vocational calling. Perhaps you misunderstand the difference between members of Opus Dei, who have a specific vocational calling, and those who merely attend activities organized by Opus Dei, who will reflect the entire spectrum of society’s flotsam and jetsam.
Remedios Loberiza commented 2024-10-21 17:14:19 +1100

I haven’t read Gareth Gore’s book though if you ask how it fits into the 2024 US election campaign, I would answer using his X post that Opus Dei grew in the era of Trump. Then, his book criticizes conservatives as evil and funded by Opus Dei. Since commentators have generally characterized Trump’s policy agenda as conservative, then we can say that Mr. Gore is against Trump. There’s more in his X account about Mr. Trump’s running mate and Opus Dei.
Remedios Loberiza followed this page 2024-10-21 17:13:32 +1100
Steven Meyer commented 2024-10-21 14:08:21 +1100

Hi Michael Cook,

I can only speak for one orthodox synagogue. Most of our members bring their mobile phones. They put them on silent during the service.

To the best of my knowledge there is no prohibition on bringing mobile phones to churches.

I do not know how accurate the mobile phone data is but I’m pretty sure it’s closer to reality than survey data.

A personal experience. Back in the 1960s in South Africa there were three premium brands of tea and a host of cheaper brands. Our customer, the owner of one of the premium brands, wanted a household survey of tea usage. Let’s call his brand 100 Tulips.

I suggested that he offer a small reward if people claiming to use 100 Tulips were able to produce a box. This was a door-to-door, not phone, survey.

To his chagrin only about 60% of the households claiming to use 100 Tulips were able to produce a box. In fact he was so upset he fired the company conducting the survey who, in turn, fired me. The surveyors were also upset because some of the householders unable to produce boxes became very angry.

Another example from South Africa about petrol brand loyalty. In this case our customer was “Flying Horse” brand petrol. We chose a service station on a busy main road in one of the suburbs of Cape Town. There was a traffic light on a bend in the road about 500 metres passed the service station. The service station was not visible to cars stopped at the traffic light.

We broke into two teams equipped with walkie-talkies (of the non-exploding type). One team was stationed at the service station, the other at the traffic lights. I was with the latter.

The team at the service station gave us the plate numbers and descriptions of cars that had filled up. If we saw one of those cars stopped at the traffic lights we asked the drivers 3 questions

1) When last did you fill up?

2) What brand did you get?

3) Do you use that brand regularly?

Guess what? A round a third said they did not remember the brand they had just bought. Roughly a half of the rest got the brand wrong including some who said they used that brand regularly.

No, I am deeply suspicious of survey data. At best they’re a very rough guide. Often they are misleading.
Michael Cook commented 2024-10-21 12:04:43 +1100

Thanks very much for this link. Very interesting. However, this finding has been strongly criticised.

Will cellphone data, for instance, be accurate for Orthodox Jews who leave their cellphones at home on Shabbat? Maybe not. I have been to church very often when the priest exhorts people to turn off their mobiles.

Cellphone data is also less accurate when measuring attendance at events inside buildings. (How often do you lose a connection when you are inside a shopping mall, etc?)

There are some interesting comments on this brief reference in Marginal Revolution.
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/04/lds-and-indeed-usa-fact-of-the-day.html

Interesting, but not definitive.
Steven Meyer commented 2024-10-21 11:34:32 +1100

I want to take this a bit further. My personal;, unscientific, observation is that most people who join organisations like Opus Dei or the Masons do so for the networking. That doesn’t mean they’re bad people, just that they’re doing what they need to do to advance their career and social goals.

And, again in my personal observation, that’s why people attend religious services.

Which leads to this fascinating peace of research by the aptly named Devin Pope.

Fewer People Are Church Regulars Than Claim to Be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LudDLVYiRTQ

Quote:

chicagobooth.edu/review | What are people’s habits when it comes to attending religious services? How many people regularly visit their place of worship? There’s reason to think survey results may not yield accurate answers—but cell phone location data might. Using this data, Chicago Booth’s Devin G. Pope finds that in the United States, far fewer people attend religious services on a weekly or monthly basis than claim to in surveys. The data make it possible to uncover new insights on organized religion in the US, such as which groups are the most regular in their attendance and which are most socioeconomically diverse.

End quote

None of these finding surprise me. I’ve had to analyse survey data throughout my career and, to quote Doctor House, “everybody lies”.
Steven Meyer commented 2024-10-21 11:14:55 +1100

Antonio Díaz ,

Maybe Gareth Gore has a point after all. Maybe Opus Dei is not the benign organisation Valero depicts.

Margaret Tierney,

I think you’re being a bit paranoid. Most readers of this book will already be anti-Opus Dei and simply want to read a book that reinforces their beliefs. I doubt it’s the sort of book Trump supporters are likely to read and, if they do, it won’t change their mind.

In any case, I think it’s too late to change people’s minds. Now it’s down to the ground game, getting out the vote, with the odds stacks against the Dems in the Electoral College.

My guess. The Republicans will win the trifecta – house, senate, presidency.
Antonio Díaz commented 2024-10-21 05:35:01 +1100

I agree with Jack that Gareth Gore’s book is too political for my taste.

But I do not agree with the phrase “This is the opposite of what Escrivá preached throughout his life.” The problem with St. Josemaria is that he said many things, but did the opposite in many important questions. Just three examples from the book Conversations with Saint Josemaría Escrivá and another important one:

In number 19, he said that apostolate in Opus Dei is spontaneous, but in the books of meditations it says many, many times, that the apostolate is not spontaneous but directed, and in my experience the latter is the true one.

In the point n.109, referring to domestic workers, he said: “Employers must be lead to respect an adequate work-contract with clear and precise guarantees in which the rights and duties of both parties are clearly established.” But the domestic workers of Opus Dei (assistant numeraries) did work a lot of years (after the publication of Conversations) with no work-contract at all.

In point 27, he said “Each member earns a living and serves society with the profession he had before coming to Opus Dei, and which he would have exercised if he did not belong to the Work…” But then, when you have already joined as a numerary, they tell you the story of the philosopher’s stone implying that you have to quit your job when your directors ask you to.

He told the numeraries that they had to make a will when making their fidelity, but he died intestate.
Margaret Tierney commented 2024-10-21 02:32:54 +1100

I would like to comment on Opus by Gareth Gore. This book was reviewed in the Irish Times by Patsy McGarry today Sunday 20/08/24.
I had not heard of the book before reading Patsy McGarry’s review of it. I have read other articles by McGarry before & I was at first quite interested in his comments. After awhile I became quite amazed because he seemed to accept every statement he read in the book. Now I have absolutely no vested interest in Opus Dei & have only a rough idea of what it is about but this review irritated me.
I often buy books after read in the reviews but this one I certainly would not buy.
I could be entirely wrong, but int these troubled times it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that this is some form of politically motivated effort to effect the coming elections. If it’s not then it would need to be a bit less biased.
Juan Llor Baños commented 2024-10-20 20:29:03 +1100

Jack Valero, very accurate article with very accurate arguments!!
David Page commented 2024-10-19 10:33:12 +1100

My problem with Opus Dei is that women are simply not considered to be worthy of equality. Actually, that applies to all of Catholicism. There is no logic or reason to this, and it will eventually lead to the demise of this religion.
mrscracker commented 2024-10-19 00:52:20 +1100

Hello Mr. Steven. I hope this finds all well.
I think there are real differences between Opus Dei & the Masons. And Opus Dei isn’t just for men either. But I agree about the networking advantages they have in common.
I’ve known members of Opus Dei & folks in the Heritage Foundation. Quite a few relatives were Masons on my daddy’s side of the family. There are a lot of foolish conspiracy narratives about Opus Dei & the Masons. They’re mostly decent people & in the case of the Masons, one of the very few fraternal organizations that would admit Jews.
Patrick Obrien commented 2024-10-18 22:31:13 +1100

Whatever this book says, Opus Dei has its problems. Read “Beyond the Threshold,” by Maria del Carmen Tapia, who was an Opus Dei member from 1946 to 1965.
Steven Meyer commented 2024-10-18 13:31:51 +1100

James Dougall

Thanks for that comment. No, I don’t take the Da Vinci Code seriously.

Should I take Opus Dei seriously?

Organisations like Opus Dei or the Masons or exclusive clubs become forums for networking. It’s a way for powerful men – it’s still usually men – to get to know each other, to have confidential talks.

Often, if the network is big enough, it provides cover for sub-networks which may have agenda of their own so that Saint Whatisname’s supposed intentions hardly matter anymore.

Apparently some of the people behind the so-called Agenda 25 are Opus Dei members. Who knows whether Saint Whatever would have approved of tying the organisation he founded to the apparatus of the state?

Valero wrote:

“First, he [Gore} does not accept that people may dedicate themselves to Opus Dei for purely spiritual reasons,”

I suppose it’s possible that some do. But my guess is most are in it for the networking, for access to people with power and social connections.
Emberson Fedders commented 2024-10-18 11:27:46 +1100

“conservatives are… are trying to “reshape American society and destroy many hard-won civil rights”.

Yes, correct.
James Dougall commented 2024-10-18 10:48:52 +1100

Steven Meyer, I have too much respect for you to believe you take the Da Vinci Code seriously!
Steven Meyer commented 2024-10-18 10:00:11 +1100

mrscracker, I haven’t read this book and I don’t intend to.

But I doubt it will have any influence on US elections.

And BTW, the only thing I know about Opus Dei is what I read in The Da Vinci Code.
Steven Meyer commented 2024-10-18 09:55:14 +1100

So one side accuses Harris of being a Communist and the other accuses Opus Dei of being, essentially, a Christo-Fascist organisation.

Everyone hurling accusations against everyone else.

Play on children.
mrscracker commented 2024-10-18 01:19:21 +1100

I don’t know who has funded this book, but it seems no coincidence that it has been released just weeks before the US election."
********
There are no coincidences in the weeks before a US election.
:)
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