Opus Dei – Secrets & Power;John allen,Penguin Books: Conspiracy theorists have been in clover recently, with Dan Brown’s runaway bestseller success sparking a wave of new beliefs and reviving old ones. In among all the hidden Grails and lost bloodlines, the activities of one rather small, somewhat reclusive, Catholic group, Opus Dei, have come under close scrutiny. For proof of the rise that Brown has brought in the prominence of Opus Dei, one need look no further than the furore created over the revelation that the Education Minister had had links with it. Around this seemingly insignificant group has been woven a complex web of stories, which claim that this organisation possesses great wealth and temporal power. It is this web which John Allen, Vatican correspondent for C.Nn.Nn., seeks to unravel.In the writing of this book Allen was given unprecedented access to Opus Dei records and operations, and while this could lead to accusations of partiality, he has clearly strived to present both sides of the argument, with interviews from dissatisfied ex-members and opponents of Opus being included. Despite this attempt to create an unbiased view does at times appear to be attempting to excuse the actions of Opus Dei.Allen’s book covers a fascinating topic in a far more effective and well researched manner than many other works on this area. However, it seems that the style of his narrative is better suited to a television documentary than a written study. On occasion his book can feel rather fragmented as it attempts to deal with each aspect of the organisation. Aat the same time, the wealth, indeed the surfeit, of witness statements and case studies detracts from the force of his argument,and gives one the sense of an author struggling to include every scrap of evidence he has gathered.Despite these criticisms, Aallen has succeeded in creating an engaging and intelligent book. Aalthough it probably fails to fully penetrate the intricacies of its workings, this book does succeed in revealing a far less dangerous and much more complex organisation than conspiracy theorists would have us believe.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005
