Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 75(4) November 2025
Book Review
Opus: Dark money, a secretive cult, and its mission to
remake our world
by Gareth Gore. Publ: Simon&Schuster
Gareth
Gore has written a book against Opus Dei. I am not a member of Opus Dei.
So why should I care? Partly, because I owe Opus Dei so much. But mainly,
because Gore is really attacking the Catholic Church. If Dan Brown wrote a
work of fiction about Opus Dei, Gore has gone further with this fantasy.
A British journalist named Antonio Cundy wrote a series of articles against Opus Dei. Being the cynic that I am, I did a Google search for "Antonio Cundy" and "Abortion." The very first article was from 17 June, 2019 issue of Grazia entitled "From Phoebe Waller-Bridge to Sharon Horgan celebs are calling Conservative parties leadership candidates to repeal Northern Island's archaic abortion law." Their petition was signed by one Antonio Cundy.
What about Gore? Here is the best summary of his book in his own words: " If (Pope) Francis dies before real reform happens...then Opus Dei will emerge from its near-death experience invigorated and defiant...the movement will plough forward with its plans to re-Christianise the planet...Gay marriage, secular education...will become its next target. Given its supporters’ unexpected victory over abortion, it's quite possible that Opus Dei and its sympathisers could mastermind equally devastating victories in those areas."
So, there we have it: Cundy and Gore want abortion. Therefore they don't like Opus Dei. In fact they don't like the beliefs of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others. Gore says he was raised without religion because his Irish father disliked Catholicism. Like father, like son, it would appear.
There are so many old-fashioned anti-Catholic jibes scattered throughout the book. It is noted that the theologian Von Balthasar was critical of Opus Dei. Gore fails to mention that Von Balthasar later made a retraction. Gore refers to the great martyr-Cardinal Pell as "Pedo Pell." He fails to mention that the Cardinal was exonerated on appeal after suffering unjust imprisonment.
Was Opus Dei really behind the overturning of Roe v Wade? I would be delighted if they were. The truth is that most pro-lifers have never come across Opus Dei. The dreaded re-Christianisation is much bigger than one movement.
There are also some hilarious howlers. For example, Gore notes that at a US Supreme Court Christmas party, the justices were singing along to the piano accompaniment by an Opus Dei priest. What were they singing? Perhaps some secretive messages were being sent? In fact, they were singing Christmas carols. Gore also refers to notorious liberation theologian Ernesto Cardenal as a Cardinal and the Dean of an Opus Dei university as a deacon.
So, hilarious and salacious in parts, but not quite true. The take-home message is that the secularists and atheist fundamentalists will stoop to any means to attack the Catholic Church. They know who their real enemy is.