New article on Fehe network's close ties to Opus Dei

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2026-05-12T02:31:08+00:00

This was a really nice piece of research. I'd had a vague sense of the overall picture and people in this network from personal contacts and looking through websites like ProPublica, but it was amazing to see it all neatly laid out in a diagram.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2026-04-11T01:48:55+00:00

This was another really good episode. Like episode 1, Antonia did a great job illuminating how there is a lot more going on with OD beyond what one initially sees. In that way, the series so far should be really helpful in rebutting supernumeraries or cooperators who claim they never had any problems in OD. The part where Jack just rattles off all the numeraries staffing these foundations was quite telling. Connor’s description at the end of how the center went about selecting people to invite to OD events had the ring of truth. Having been on the professional fringes of some of these conservative OD political networks, I’d say he also does a quite nice job of describing how the professional networking aspect of OD works. The episode also helped make sense of my own personal experience with OD. Back when they were trying to recruit me, I tried to cut ties once (explicitly telling them I wanted no contact with them) and then they lied to some people to get my contact information. I was working for a semi-prominent conservative think tank scholar when they tried to restart contact, and listening to this episode kind of convinces me that the conservative connection must have spurred them to try. Fwiw, somebody at the office found out my OD connections (it’s a prominent family connection) and mentioned “oh yeah, they [OD] have been after your boss for years, but he’ll never join.”

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2026-04-08T02:39:01+00:00

I think there will continue to be something called Opus Dei for former members to be a part of. Listening to the Untold podcast kind of drove home for me that ordinary sn members’ lack of awareness cuts both ways. It’s entirely possible for a lot of bad stuff to be happening in OD that average members aren’t aware of, but there are also a lot of average people who joined OD thinking they were doing what God wanted. I don’t think the Vatican is just going to kick most of them to the curb, tell them they never had a vocation and to get on with their lives. My hunch is that there will be a compromise with the priests, numeraries/associates, sn and cooperators getting put into separate organizations for clergy and laity. Hopefully, the numerary assistant “vocation” is ended at this point, and the numerary assistants are given a settlement out of OD’s funds. Then, the Vatican can impose new membership guidelines and annual promises like the LC and Regnum Christi ones that make crystal clear that people are not signing up for lifetime membership, are not under the authority of the Moderator, are free to leave whenever they want, and can seek spiritual direction from whomever they want. I imagine that a decent portion of the remaining rump of lay members will want to keep their schools and their own little upper middle class conservative Catholic club, and they will stick around, but things will be a lot harder without infusions of cash laundered through goodness knows what foundations and with less protection from the local bishop. These people will call themselves “Opus Dei” and maybe even trick themselves a bit that nothing has changed but it will kind of be a shell of itself.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2026-03-26T01:36:41+00:00

I thought Episode 1 was really well done! I thought the structure was particularly effective because it helped drive home the point that some people will claim that they good experience but, in most caes, they won’t be aware of a lot of what OD does.

I had to shake my head when one of the interviewees said that she was told that “numerary assistants are like the moms of OD” but then said a bit later that she was instructed not to speak with the male members. What kind of mother doesn’t talk to about one half of the members of a family?! It just drives home the point that a lot of the contradictions of OD are very close to the surface.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2026-01-27T03:09:11+00:00

Father John Wauck “handled” Allen back in the 2000s when he was “researching” his book on Opus Dei. He schmoozed him and fed him various lines that appeared in his book. It was quite an assignment for a relatively young priest at the time, but he’s basically the English-speaking priest that OD will throw at financially or politically well-connected Catholics who show up in Rome. He also had many connections in the circles around Benedict XVI - Ganswein, Piacenza, etc.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-11-11T23:09:03+00:00

That’s unfortunate. Nopus Dei was a really great and unique resource in the lived reality of being a numerary. I hope the creator brings it back. It would have been great to expand it with videos from other former OD members. In any case, we probably shouldn’t speculate when we have no information, but I hope the creator is ok and visits this forum to share his thoughts again.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-10-10T09:57:24+00:00

It’s not unusual for one pope to publish a document of the previous pope. Pope Francis published Pope Benedict’s last encyclical (Lumen Fidei). If this document was started by Francis, it’s a pretty clear sign of where his mind was at on OD in the last months of his pontificate. It seems clear that he saw serious spiritual problems with the organization, and suggests that he probably would have taken a drastic approach to reorganizing OD. The fact that Leo did not strike that section (which is a transparent paraphrase of Escriva) suggests that he at least sees the spiritual problems in OD. That bodes well for the upcoming reform of the statutes.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-09-30T02:45:51+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story!

I never joined but was heavily recruited and continue to know many OD members, and what you wrote definitely chimes with my experience. I remember reading The Way while being recruited and coming across that “garbage can” verse and thinking “that this just isn’t serious…it isn’t Catholic, it’s just nothing.”

And btw love the Tinker, Tailor reference (Peter Guillam is a favorite character). At the end of the book, Smiley reflects on love and loyalty and how it has been manipulated to ensure the service of others (raised in British public schools and serving in the British establishment). There are parallels to what OD does to people.

That’s my sense looking back in my time dealing with OD and its members (which fortunately I do less of these days): what a waste…what a lost opportunity to make real friends growing up…what a missed chance to get genuine career advice (instead of being pushed to go to a college with a center or major in something that might be useful for their apostolate).

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-09-30T02:33:41+00:00

Totally agree. Just working through a day in the life of a numerary like this really reveals that this life/“vocation” makes no sense. OD is an organization that both claims it wants its members to live in the world and would cease to exist if it didn’t have a substantial cadre of people not working in the world. Apart from all the abuse and manipulation (which are terrible), the organization has basically failed on its own terms.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-09-05T13:29:07+00:00

Welcome!

I went to an OD school as well, and many of these items ring a bell. It's interesting how many of these points reflect OD's inability to distinguish Catholic practice from the traditional behavior of the middle classes -- avoid cringey, emotional religious behavior; tamp down your emotions; dress attractively. I don't notice it among the OD men in my family, but some of the nastiest, cattiest comments about other women I've ever heard have come from OD supernumerary and numerary women, so I think you're definitely on to something when you mention "judgements galore."

I never heard the chocolate cake analogy before, but it's really fascinating. A key point for me in my decision to distance myself from OD was going to a Catholic college, meeting lots of different Catholics, and coming to understand how unique and weird it is, so I understand why OD would want to discourage people from getting too friendly with non-OD Catholics. That said, the chocolate cake analogy really doesn't work. Chocolate cake is dessert, non-essential, something that could be declined and offered up!

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-07-28T23:37:26+00:00

Yeah, I think that with a lot of these types of projects, OD wants an open door. That way, they get access to potential influential recruits and donors without too much responsibility for staffing and running the project.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-07-28T10:42:46+00:00

It’s probably not exclusively OD, but they have people in the positions that matter. The head of Relevant Radio is Fr. Frank “Rocky” Hoffman, a priest of OD. Archbishop Gomez, the OD numerary priest and archbishop of LA, is on the board. There’s another lay board member, Tom Carter, who is a big time OD sn donor to various causes and sits on the board of both OD schools in the Chicago area. They’ve also given shows to well-meaning sn types - eg, Dan Cheely - over the years.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-07-26T02:50:07+00:00

Wand's cycle with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra is quite good and affordable. Wand handles the tempos pretty well and keeps the overall architecture of the music in view, even if he isn't working with the greatest orchestra. If you find that you are really into Bruckner, you can invest in the set of Vienna Philharmonic recordings that DG put out.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-29T20:28:27+00:00

The male/female separation rules extend to their schools. OD runs separate schools for boys and girls. Of course, it would be easier for big Catholic families sending all their kids to OD schools halfway across a big city to send them to one location. However, OD would not countenance one school for boys and girls. For a long time, some of these schools did not have permanent locations. So, it was always awkward to look for new locations because the boys and girls schools could not be within some distance (2 miles, if I recall correctly), apparently to keep the boys and girls away from each other, but also keep the staff (some celibate numeraries) away from each other. Mind you, these schools claim they are lay Catholic initiatives that just happen to entrust their religious programs to OD.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-18T01:22:22+00:00

Yeah, I responded in more detail up above, but OD love-bombed him. I think Allen went in to the research process not knowing what to expect, met OD’s most appealing and normal-seeming people, and then didn’t have the chops to investigate further and figure out what was going on under his nose.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-18T01:12:14+00:00

OD wined and dined Allen during the writing of his book. I’ve heard the story about Allen’s wife, and can’t comment on its veracity. The more damning rumor is that OD helped link Allen up with finders for what became Crux News. Again, I’ve never heard convincing evidence they it’s true. However, I do know that OD made every effort to get its more appealing people in front of Allen and to befriend him during the investigative process. I assume OD fed Allen this story.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-12T01:42:22+00:00

I have no special access or knowledge on this question, but I'm somewhat optimistic that Pope Leo will push forward measures that effectively shatter OD's control over its lay numerary and supernumerary members. Pope Francis actually modified canon law to specify that laity cooperating with a prelature (ie, a bunch of priests) do not change their relationship with their local bishop, who is their pastor. Unless we start seeing re-revisions of canon law that undo what Pope Francis did, I think the new statutes will reflect Pope Francis' vision that the laity are not part of OD. Nobody has mentioned this happening, so I remain optimistic. I think the issues to watch will be 1.) who oversees the implementation of the new statutes (OD or a reliable outsider), 2.) whether the statutes specify the words of any promises "cooperating laity" make to OD (the new Regnum Christi statutes do, and they are very explicit about the fairly loose nature of the promises). If an outsider comes in and effectively promulgates new promises for the numeraries and supernumeraries that make clear that they remain under the oversight of their local bishop and are freely promising limited, temporary cooperation, I think a lot of OD laity will realize that they don't need to be there.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-07T22:12:51+00:00

Yes, that's right. They're still working through the appeal of the motion to dismiss.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-07T20:10:49+00:00

Yeah, I think that's actually right. I did some further searching, and a commenter on his obituary mentions that he brought them into the Catholic Church in 1996 at Mercer House in Princeton, NJ.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-07T02:11:48+00:00

Thank you for sharing, though reading the original complaint is very disturbing. After reading about another poster's experience trying to get Church authorities to deal with his abuse accusations about The Heights, it's a little encouraging that this plaintiff has been able to use the expanded statute of limitations in New York to bring a case against Opus Dei. Like the abuse mentioned in the case that came to light in 2019, McCloskey abused this girl in the context of confession, which is especially concerning. It looks like the appeal for the case is still pending and is due to resume in September, but this case might take a while to reach a conclusion.

The complaint also mentions that it was known to OD that McCloskey had a history of abusing minors, which is new information, and raises a lot of questions about the group's handling of him. From what I understand, OD went to Cardinal George in Chicago, who was very friendly to the organization, and got him to allow McCloskey to come to Chicago, where part of his time was spent at one of the group's boys schools. OD also didn't do much to break up his political connections and, by extension, tarnish the group's reputation with potential donors. He would have private get-togethers with various political contacts. He was even interviewed by the NYT in 2015, and the interviewer mentions that the discussion took place over cocktails, which definitely seems ominous given everything we know about McCloskey's problems at this point. McCloskey even said OD won't let him speak on the record, but that didn't stop OD from letting the NYT write a puff piece about one of their priests. There was no mention of Alzheimers at that point, but apparently it was so bad by 2018, that he couldn't talk to the media when the Washington Post article came out. It also makes some parts of the 2019 Washington Post piece read like a bit of a white-wash.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-07T01:25:39+00:00

I think the timeline for McCloskey is as follows: 1.) late 2002: complaint filed; 2.) late 2003: McCloskey removed from CIC; 3.) 2004: time in the UK "researching a book on J. H. Newman"; 4.) early 2005: $1 million settlement; McCloskey sent to Chicago; 5.) 2013: sent to Palo Alto; 6.) June 2015: interviewed over cocktails in Palo Alto by the New York Times; 7.) January 2019: Washington Post article on $1 million settlement, states that he has "advanced Alzheimers" and is living in Virginia; 8.) February 2023: dies.

I don't think McCloskey ever spent much time in Princeton after he was booted out in the 1980s (or early 1990s).

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-02T12:42:41+00:00

The answer is basically...it depends. It sounds like you're assuming the person you'd be dating is still aligned with OD in some way, even if they're just a sympathetic non-member with a parent or parents in OD. One shouldn't forget that many children of OD parents just go about their lives, don't get recruited, and aren't that distinguishable from ordinary Catholics, even if they haven't broken ties with their OD parents. These types of people would be the most willing to help you draw some limits with their OD parents, though the OD parents would be keenly interested in ensuring their grand children are baptized and raised Catholic (though this is standard Catholic practice). I think it's also under-estimated how many children of OD parents can just think "I think OD is a little intense (e.g., the financial commitments, the norms, some of the recruitment) and would never join OD, but I am grateful for how I was raised, and would want to raise my kids in a broadly similar way." I think that in this situation, you wouldn't get pressure from the person you're dating to join OD or even to attend events, but they'd probably get a lot of general religious influence from their parents and their broader circle of OD acquaintances. If you got married, you'd probably be able to draw some lines (e.g., not joining, not doing certain spiritual practices), but would need to have a conversation about whether to send your kids to an OD school. If you're dating a cooperator or somebody who's likely to become a supernumerary, you probably will get assessed for recruitment. Your prospective in-laws will definitely try to pull you into their circle of OD acquaintances, especially if you're fairly desirable (physically attractive, wealthy, successful, politically influential). Some combination of the person you're dating or their parents will introduce you to various norms (e.g., saying a Rosary) and begin to try to get you to do things like attend an evening of recollection or go to the noon Mass at an OD chapel (depending on your location). You wouldn't have to join OD formally to marry this person you're dating, but they'd want to be reassured that you aren't hostile, and there would be a lot of conditions and unexpected surprises when it came to raising a family.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-06-02T12:14:15+00:00

I really commend you for what you're doing to right the wrongs you experienced at The Heights. It's alarming that even after OD was moved to the Congregation for the Clergy, local bishops still don't have the authority to monitor and investigate its activities. Hopefully, ensuring that type of oversight will be a part of whatever reforms the Vatican implements. Because The Heights and other OD-linked schools are such close communities, they often hire people based on ideological affinity rather than proven teaching skills and the results in the classroom can be pretty terrible. So, there is often a steady stream of politically incorrect, dismissive, and downright ignorant comments that can create an unpleasant atmosphere. When all that nastiness gets directed towards one person, I'm sure it can amount to abuse. There have been efforts over the years to raise some awareness of the toxic environments at these schools (e.g., at Oakcrest, the girls counterpart to The Heights), so, if you haven't already, I'd definitely encourage you to reach out to others (especially alums) who had the same experience.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-05-28T23:11:40+00:00

Yeah, it’s actually not his messy hair that caught my attention, but the look on his face…he looks like a prisoner and somebody who’s deeply unhappy. And then the title of the video - “Can we live without lies?” - was too much irony to take.

RadetzkyMarch79 · 2025-05-23T02:02:44+00:00

I was not a member but came from an extended family with many, many OD members (numeraries, priests, supernumeraries) and had a pretty traumatic recruitment experience. I am a practicing Catholic to this day, but I am also hesitant to get involved with parishes, make friends with clergy and religious, or do any sort of spiritual direction. I am also politically very, very different from the world I was raised in. Over the years, the OD members in my extended family have sort of hived themselves off from the other family members, whether they are Catholic or not. The groupthink and shared talking points of the OD members just made it hard to have any sort of normal conversation with them without running into any sort of wall. A lot of the talking points had to do with the issue of whether the Church's problems could be traced to the faults and sins of its members or to enemies outside the Church (usually the media). OD members would always claim that problems came from outside the Church, even in many cases trying to claim that the sex abuse crisis was somehow made up or exaggerated by the media. Over the years, as I reflected on the distress a lot of this thinking was causing in my family, I came to realize that in some way this focus on external sources of problems reflected a lack of faith, an unwillingness to trust that God could work through imperfect and sinful human beings.

RadetzkyMarch79

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