[Apologetics] Da Vinci Code Boosts Opus Dei Numbers

[Stephen Korsman]

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Subject: Da Vinci Code Boosts Opus Dei Numbers


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Da Vinci Code Boosts Opus Dei Numbers

The Scotsman ^ | 6/28/06 | Murdo MacLeod

Posted on 05/29/2006 1:43:24 PM PDT by marshmallow

THE controversial religious organisation lambasted in the blockbuster
movie and book The Da Vinci Code has revealed that membership inquiries
have soared in the past year.

The film and book portray Opus Dei as a murderous and secretive cult
within the Roman Catholic church. Despite this negative view,
membership applications have increased tenfold.

The film, based on the book by Dan Brown and starring Tom Hanks and
Audrey Tautou, centres on the controversial theory that Jesus Christ
married Mary Magdalene and that the two had a child.

Opus Dei is portrayed as a ruthless suppressor of the truth, using any
method - including murder - to protect the church. But Opus Dei's
website insists their primary aim is to encourage spirituality in every
area of members' lives.

Jack Valera, Opus Dei's UK spokesman, said: "We're getting 10 times
more enquiries than we would normally get. Over the last two months, as
the hype for the film has built up, we have had about 50 inquiries a
month about membership. We would normally get about three or four a
month.

"Some have mentioned the book or the film in their e-mails. It's quite
surprising, and I believe it's down to the publicity surrounding the
run-up to the film."

Valera added: "I did go to see the film - that was not for pleasure but
professionally. I watched it under sufferance. It was gruesome to us,
much nastier than in the book, in my view. And again it was so boring,
it was far too long, at least half an hour too much. After all the hype
I expected something a bit better."

Claire McDonald, an Opus Dei member in Glasgow, said: "My husband and I
went along to see because we thought: 'We're in Opus Dei; we might as
well know what's in the film.' I thought we might be able to enjoy a
thriller even if it was disparaging Opus Dei. But it was boring; it was
even worse than Gladiator."

The generally poor reception the film has received from critics has
meant that the Catholic Church in Scotland has decided that its media
spokesman does not need to check out the movie for its top churchmen.

The church's spokesman, Peter Kearney, said: "This was one of my tasks,
to check out the film. But after seeing how critical the reviews have
been, we've decided that I don't need to go now. It's obvious that
critics don't think much of it."

Opus Dei, whose name means Work of God in Latin, was founded in 1928 by
a Spanish priest named Josemaria Escriva.

He wanted to extend the spiritual boost people receive from Sunday
worship through the rest of the week. Although his ideas were initially
frowned on by the church hierarchy, Catholic leaders later embraced the
organisation and Escriva was made a saint in 2002.

A member of Opus Dei would be expected to go to Mass every day, and
also read a portion of Scripture and of an uplifting religious book
each day.

In addition, a member should attend an evening meeting during the week
for prayer and reflection and have a one-to-one spiritual chat with a
more senior member of the organisation.

A spokeswoman for Sony, the distributors of the film, said: "We don't
have a comment."