The Opus Dei Diaries
March 21, 2024 at 04:33AMAntonia Cundy explores the women whose labor has supported the Opus Dei organization for decades. In theory, Opus Dei was designed to help ordinary Catholics become holy through everyday work, in practice, women gave their lives to the organization as domestic workers. Weaving together three women’s stories, Cundy creates a compelling investigation into a dubious history.
Anne Marie ran her hand along the stone wall. A vivacious woman in her early sixties, she has small, bright eyes and a warm, kind face. She pictured herself as a young girl again, rushing through the corridors in her green woollen uniform. We followed down a hall, where sepia-frosted glass flooded a chapel with an artificial dawn. Bookcases lay in disarray around the room, their volumes — The Catholic Encyclopedia, Conversations with Saint JosemarÃa Escrivá — covered in dust. Each one was stamped “Ballyglunin Park Conference Centre”.
Anne Marie moved towards a wood-panelled door in the corner. Inside, hardly larger than a coat cupboard, was a confessional, a small kneeler facing a lattice screen. Forty-six years earlier, this was where a priest first suggested that Anne Marie join Opus Dei. She was 15 and had come to Ballyglunin to take a catering course. But within a few months, she would commit to years of unpaid domestic service for one of the most powerful organisations in the Catholic Church.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/03/20/the-opus-dei-diaries/
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