Today, Leo XIV received Gareth Gore in audience. Gore is a British financial journalist who has attacked Opus Dei in recent years.
Since his election, Leo XIV has met with the leadership of Opus Dei twice to discuss the revision of their statutes.
Opus Dei as "Abusive Cult"
Gore's most notable book is Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church (2024).
He presents a caricature of Opus Dei, claiming that the organisation has built its influence through networks of members in business and finance, including figures linked to Banco Popular Español. He speaks of an "abusive cult".
Gore describes a strict internal discipline and secrecy, and alleges that Opus Dei engages in coercive recruitment and exploitation.
He invents that some assistants (women who perform domestic work in Opus Dei centres) are victims of human trafficking.
The Collapse of Banco Popular
However, the collapse of Banco Popular in 2017 is generally explained by financial regulators as being the result of heavy losses from bad real-estate loans and a rapid bank run.
EU authorities declared the bank 'failing or likely to fail', rendering shareholders and some bondholders liable for losses, before selling it overnight to Banco Santander for €1.
Santander then injected around €7 billion to stabilise the bank.
Opus Dei Replies: "Outright Lies"
Opus Dei published a detailed rebuttal of Gore's claims, stating that Gore's work "gives a false picture of Opus Dei based on distorted facts, conspiracy theories and outright lies". He misreads documents, generalises from a small number of testimonies and conflates the actions of individual members with institutional policy.
The organisation explains that assistants joined voluntarily and often had contracts and social benefits. A legal complaint in Argentina alleging trafficking has not resulted in a conviction.
According to Opus Dei, Gore often presents normal elements of Catholic spiritual life, such as spiritual direction and personal discipline, as evidence of psychological control and constructs conspiracy-style narratives from social connections among Catholic professionals.
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