Amidst the complex maze found globally in the Roman Catholic Church, the vying powers of influence are unending. Some of these, such as the Order of the Jesuits, are more pervading than others. Their influences are detectable from the local parish to the universal perspective of the Roman Church. From a public perspective, the dark chain of command begins with the pontiff and his immediate staff and colleagues, and continues through the College of Cardinals at the Vatican and around the world; there is also the plenary scope of bishops with their web of subordinates; then there is the multi-faceted corps of mendicant orders (which include men and women); and finally, there are the local priests and lay organizations. Collectively, this labyrinth of organizations is the ubiquitous extension of the pontiff, his ears, eyes, and presence by proxy. He is portrayed as the “voice of God,” Christ’s chief shepherd on earth, yea, His very “vicar” on earth.
There has always been a mystery to this “Mother of Harlots,” especially in the extensive secrecy found within the Roman system of authority. Even as the kingdom of darkness is filled with demons perpetually given to pride and jealousy against their leader the Devil, so it is with the earthly kingdoms controlled by the Devil. Within the meticulous polity of Rome, there is the unending competing for control. There is a perpetual core of hatred, evil, and subtle plots to gain control of the top chair of Peter. Yes, there is always someone or some group of men standing in the wings ready to alleviate the papacy of its present ruler, either by death or by convincing him of their ideology and plan for world domination. It is a fearful thing to enter the “Chair of Peter,” for the men surrounding such a man can never be fully trusted; they all have their unique, evil agenda. They are always in the posture of watching and waiting for the moment of a clandestine takeover, a time to betray and make way for another man who would be more fitted to their persuasion.
It is interesting to note that the highest rate of murder per capita of residence in the world is Vatican City. Its statistical acts of murder are regular occurrences: from random killings in St. Peter’s Square to the “in-house” affairs of the Mother Harlot. Though her history has been filled with assassinations motivated by jealousy and covetousness, her end-time history is escalating with such internal hostilities of greed and power. With all the vices of wickedness and evil agendas, history has yet to see the final outcome of what Rome will be in its final chapter.
The Struggle for Power
In the past one hundred years, Romanism has become more fragmented in thought and purpose. Its unanimity before the public is only veneer. Its powers of darkness have been like a whirlwind ever churning up the religious debris of the past as contemporary thought among Jesuits vies for a prominent position of present-day influence in the Church. The Jesuits have boldly reached a preeminence of power, and it seems they are now ready to change the purpose of Rome’s existence to ride the political back of a more contemporary beast, that of Marxist Communism.
However, there has been the unassuming rise of a grassroots movement within Romanism that is gathering momentum from a least likely direction. It is a lay-movement known as Opus Dei (Latin, “Work of God”). Surprisingly, this unique entity within the Roman Church is neither a religious order (as the Dominicans, the Franciscans, or even the Jesuits) nor a religious movement (such as the Charismatic movement that came into Romanism in the late 1960s in the aftermath of Vatican II). Uniquely, it is made up of ninety-five percent laity and only five percent clergy.
The founder of Opus Dei was Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (1902–1975), a controversial and charismatic Spanish priest in his time. He was only twenty-six years old when he claimed to have received “direct inspiration from God” to found Opus Dei. “The Work,” as it is called by its members, is “to sanctify daily work, no matter how mundane, to spread the word of Christ and to endeavour to live the life of a saint.” Escrivá, after professing to have received this inspiration from God, gave his life to the creation and expansion of Opus Dei. Its beginnings were in the country of Spain in 1928; the movement was given approval by Pope Pius XII in 1950. In 1992, twenty-seven years after Escrivá’s death, Pope John Paul II canonized him as a saint.
In 1982 Pope John Paul II made the religious organization into a “personal prelature,” which meant that Opus Dei would have its own bishop. Such a bishop would cover all the members wherever they were, rather than through normal geographical dioceses. Two years ago (2013), the organization numbered 92,575.
The Birth of Opus Dei
Prior to Escrivá’s declaration of his Opus Dei, Rome’s view of spirituality was found in the context of religious monks and nuns. The monastic life, especially to be identified in the rule of St. Augustine and St. Benedict, was seen as the keystone of Rome’s definition of “spirituality.” There was a modification of this monastic life to rise in the mendicant orders of the Dominicans and the Franciscans. Further modification came through the Diocesan Priesthood (what was called the “secular” or the parish priests). Thus, all priests, both the regular and the secular, had to daily pray what was called the “divine office” (a designated series of prayers and meditations); it was these individuals that the Vatican viewed as “spiritual.” The “Liturgy of the Hours” was organized in the monastic style, with the hours of the day broken up as the monks divided their day.
Consequently, over the centuries the laypeople basically have had no “spirituality” that was uniquely their own. It was in the light of this burden that Escrivá believed something needed to be provided for them. He saw nothing for the laity within the Church save for those who felt called to embrace a “Third Order” called “tertiaries” consisting of Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and other orders.
It was out of this concern that he devised what he called “spirituality of and for the laity,” what he named Opus Dei. He believed it would be a means “by which the Catholic Faithful sanctify themselves and the world in which they live and work.” He declared that it was for all the laity, from all walks of life: homemakers, teachers, students, doctors, lawyers, bus drivers, etc., and even for the retired laity. Escrivá believed “the goal is for each member of Opus Dei to bring their Roman Catholic Faith into their whole life, home, work, and play.” As he viewed it, they were to be leaven in the world; the laity being in the world were to bring their Romanist Christ and the Catholic Faith into that same world by the way they practiced their faith. His view of the local clergy was to “help the laity find their spirituality and to help them bring the faith to the world.”
One of the integral aspects of Opus Dei is that the members “do not wear their religion on their arm sleeves.” But they in a subtle fashion infiltrate society by their living among society. The members are very well read in all of the teachings of the Church, they are very loyal to the pope, and they know how to defend their Church dogma and faithfully practice their Romanist faith with aggression and tenacity. They are to be fully committed to the Romanist doctrine and heart. Opus Dei is founded upon an absolute surrender to the cause of Rome for the laity, and perhaps to even rise higher in character and commitment than the priests, whose failures and sins have publically escalated in recent decades.
We must keep in mind that by-and-large, Opus Dei is a layperson movement of men and women with the laity numbering about ninety-one thousand and the priests numbering about two thousand. Additionally, within its “Priestly Society of the Holy Cross” are another two thousand priests. Finally, there is also what is called the Opus Dei “cooperators,” that number well over seven hundred thousand. They are scattered throughout more than ninety countries; seventy percent of these live as traditional families in private homes, with secular careers. The rest live a celibate life within the Church’s Opus Dei centers.
The Opus Dei network of infiltration includes key appointments in well over five hundred universities and over seven hundred newspapers and periodicals, many TV and radio stations, publicity agencies, film companies, secondary schools, publishing houses, and different types of training centers. But in a broader spectrum of encroachment, their members are found deeply entrenched (but undetected) in the governments of the world. Even in the United States they operate in various governmental agencies, including federal agencies such as the FBI and CIA.
As we have noted, the vast majority of Opus Dei followers are laypeople who embrace a very strict Romanist lifestyle and live in the world instead of withdrawing to the confinements of a monastery or convent. Priests, monks, and nuns are easily recognizable by their clothing; however, members of Opus Dei are not easily recognized, and for this reason, they have developed a reputation for secrecy.
One of the criticisms of Opus Dei is the degree to which it was seen to be favored by Pope John Paul II and the equal support it received from Benedict XVI. On the one hand, Opus Dei stands for all that is conservative in the Romanist Church. On the other, it invented a completely new form for evangelization of the Church that includes both priests and laypeople, which was the hope of John Paul II’s project of a “Second evangelization” and his passion for the universality of “sanctity in the Church.”
The year after the canonization of the founder of Opus Dei, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (2003) gave the world some concept of this organization within Rome. The “Fact” prefacing Brown’s book draws attention to reports of “brainwashing, coercion and a dangerous practice known as corporeal mortification,” while noting Opus Dei’s recent construction (at that time) of a stunning $47 million national headquarters on New York’s Lexington Avenue. It is interesting to note that Dan Brown chooses a homicidal albino monk to represent Opus Dei as a cult bent on fear and destruction.
As to what power this controversial group holds both in and out of the Vatican, it would be difficult to say. In the Vatican’s environment of scandals and secrecy, it is hard at times to separate fact from fiction. There have been consistent rumors that this organization has had great influence over the papacy. When Escrivá was taken into sainthood in an unheard of brief segment of time in 2002, this seemed to have confirmed, in and of itself, Opus Dei’s power over the pontiff.
We do not have the space in this article to enter into the unique and peculiar manner that Opus Dei devotees secretly live from the moment they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed. The beating of themselves and the popular “cilice” they wear (a spiked chain worn around the upper thigh for two hours each day, leaving small holes in the flesh) are part of the disciplined life they have chosen in their aggressive living of the Romanist “Christ.” This information comes directly from the writings of Escrivá himself, who laid out his beliefs in his Opus handbook, The Way: “Blessed be pain. Loved be pain. Sanctified be pain . . . glorified be pain.”
Converts to Opus Dei are encouraged not to tell family members or friends of their new lives; many have been forbidden from using the phone or contacting their families. Once a person becomes a member, he is controlled by the leaders of the movement.
The current Bishop Prelate of Opus Dei is Javier Echevarría Rodríguez. Members of the movement are in key positions of the Romanist Church, which makes it very difficult for investigators to assess how far Opus has penetrated the papacy.
The Rulings of Opus Dei
Twenty-five to thirty percent of all members of Opus Dei live as “numerary” members, their housing provided by the organization. Living in this context demands a lifestyle controlled by the governing rules. They are not permitted to associate with former members or critics of Opus Dei unless they are endeavoring to draw them back into the group. They are told by the leaders to have a list of fifteen friends with the selected ones at the top to be potential candidates to join Opus Dei. They are strongly encouraged not to associate themselves with anyone who is not a potential for the organization. The women are required to wear skirts or dresses except on rare occasions in recreational activities. Hairstyles are to be simple since they are only given thirty minutes to get ready in the morning and are not permitted to attend Mass early in the morning with wet hair.
To control these members, all meals, if possible, are to be eaten in the center with the others. Members have no input as to the menus or food shopping. They are not permitted to spend any monies on sweets or even coffee at the jobs they work. Female numeraries sleep on a board placed on top of their mattress and once a week they are to sleep without a pillow. Once a month there are all-night vigils of prayer. All of this is to discipline them to live with less sleep. All of the money they make is to be given to the organization, and thus all of their bills are paid. Even inheritances must be given over to the organization after being a member for five years.
Numeraries do go on one excursion per month with other members in their house. If the excursion happens to be a trip to the beach, the women can never sunbathe; they must be covered or people will see the red prick marks or scabs made from wearing the spiked cilice. Instead of vacations, numeraries attend an annual “summer course” of indoctrination classes or go on a pilgrimage to a holy shrine.
Their daily schedule includes Mass, one hour of meditation, rosary, spiritual reading, examination of conscience, then going to their work. There are weeknight and weekend indoctrination classes called “the circle” given by the director. The numeraries are required to live in the Center of Studies for two years. They are told where to live after that, what jobs they are to take, and the schools they are to attend. Obedience without question is given to their superiors.
There is a strong hierarchy within Opus Dei. A large part of its deception is that it claims to never own any property outright. All Opus Dei universities, schools, and residences are controlled and financed by various foundations whose boards and directors are members or sympathizers of Opus Dei. “Supernumeraries” (or those members who can marry and live in their own homes) do not know what goes on among the numeraries. Somewhat like the Masonic Order, one has to go higher in Opus Dei to find out more of what is happening within the organization.
The Opus Dei members are controlled absolutely in all they do. They are taught that the Roman Church has absolute truth, and she only knows what is good or bad. The laypeople have no right to decide about religious things, but they all have to blindly follow their orders. This reveals that Opus Dei is not of a spirit of the new wind of Vatican II, but rather the contrary. It stands for a Church of authority and doctrines instead of one of a free spirit and conscience. And thus, those who identify with Opus Dei are constantly monitored; their daily lives are scrutinized in every detail.
Conclusion
Perhaps we need to ask to what extent are demonic powers present in Opus Dei? There certainly are differences in demonic powers; some demons are more powerful than others based on their order as angelic beings before their fall. Thus the evil influence upon an organization or even an individual differs in the light of what demon controls such entities. Though Satan has control over the Romanist Church, his demons are ever vying for their positions of control within. What demonic powers control the Jesuits, and what demonic powers control Opus Dei? There is a hatred embroiled in the leadership of every religion, including Roman Catholicism. It is evident that Opus Dei and the Jesuits are against one another within the same apostate church.
We must acknowledge that a man would have to be demonically possessed to become a pope. But even among demons there are those who appear either innocently religious or openly evil through the people they possess and empower. It is evident that between the two previous popes their “humility” of submissiveness to Church and papal authority was what Rome has always sought among its parishioners. Because of this, Opus Dei has had a growing influence on the Church and those previous popes. But in spite of the organization’s Romanist “conservativism” and its humility of appearance, it will be found in the same plight as all other movements within Rome.
Whoever becomes the head of Opus Dei becomes the power of manipulation with obsessive control of its members. At its birth Opus Dei seemed to have given allegiance to the Church and the pope; as it has grown in influence, its allegiance has changed to more of its own organizational ideology (as we have seen with the Jesuits). It too could easily turn against the “powers that be” within Rome and begin its own agenda of takeover within the Vatican. It could easily become a sleeping cell of committed loyalists to its own vision and against the pope or Roman tradition. Many view Opus Dei’s founder greater than any pope and saint to whom they pray. There is already much fear within Romanism that its members could be preparing the stage for an Opus Dei pope.
If the winds within Rome would change, such as with this present Jesuit pope, what profound effect could Opus Dei have with such committed people? The Jesuits are known for their disciplined life and absolute allegiance to their superiors, even to the point of a committed conscience to such superiors. Opus Dei also has its own “committed,” disciplined people with absolute allegiance to their superiors, yet they live and work among the common man of society. This may give them a greater advantage of influence in a broader spectrum of the Church than the Jesuits have. Then again, Pope Francis may bring about changes that forcefully diminish Opus Dei, which in turn could bring about another mysterious assassination.
Only God knows what forces of evil within Rome will finally emerge on top to bring about the “new” Romanism needed for the final world religion led by Rome.