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Gareth Gore Profile picture
Gareth Gore
@gareth_gore
Author of OPUS – "A damning account" WASHINGTON POST – “Vividly told and excellently researched" FINANCIAL TIMES – "Disturbing and important" IRISH TIMES
5 subscribers
May 20 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Opus Dei members told to brace for “dramatic, traumatic, historic and revolutionary” changes as Pope Leo XIV tackles decades of abuse inside the organisation

A THREAD 🧵 Image Vatican sources have reassured Opus Dei victims who have long campaigned for justice that they “won’t be disappointed” as huge reforms edge closer

eldiario.es/sociedad/alivi…
May 14 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Pope Leo meets Opus Dei boss in a private audience to get an "update" on its reforms

You might recall Opus Dei cancelled a vote on its reforms hours after Francis passed away

Leo "listened with great interest to the explanations given" - I bet he did!

opusdei.org/es/article/aud… Looks like Leo is keen to continue the good work started by Francis in reforming this abusive cult

Opus Dei's strategy of dragging its feet and waiting for Francis to die may well have backfired

May 9 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Photos have emerged of the new pope presiding over a special mass to commemorate the controversial founder of Opus Dei

What should we read into them? Is he a supporter? Is Pope Leo XIV perhaps not as progressive as we thought he was?

A THREAD 🧵

open.substack.com/pub/garethgore…Image The mass took place back in 2019 in the Peruvian city of Chiclayo, where Robert Prevost was a bishop

The special mass was dedicated to Josemaría Escrivá, the controversial founder of Opus Dei

open.substack.com/pub/garethgore…Image
May 2 • 17 tweets • 7 min read
An Opus Dei cardinal stands over the pope’s dead body wearing his cardinal robes – in defiance of restrictions imposed on him by the late pontiff

What should we read into this brazenly provocative act?

A THREAD 🧵 Image Juan Luis Cipriani was disciplined in 2019 after being accused of sexually abusing a minor

Pope Francis banned him from making public statements – AND from wearing cardinal vestments

thecatholicherald.com/cipriani-contr…
Apr 29 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
Scandal erupts at Vatican as an Opus Dei cardinal who was ousted by Pope Francis amid accusations of sexual abuse is spotted taking part in the pre-conclave, as the horse-trading begins to elect the next Pope

A THREAD 🧵

cruxnow.com/vatican/2025/0… Juan Luis Cipriani, the first-ever Opus Dei cardinal and a towering right-wing figure in the Church, was first spotted in Rome last week

He was seen praying over the dead body of Pope Francis, the man who banned him from his ministry, forcing him into effective exile in Spain Image
Apr 26 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
"Opus Dei has spent decades seeking to infiltrate the American conservative movement and has poured money and resources into penetrating Washington's corridors of power”

Great piece from @Newsweek

newsweek.com/pope-political… Gore noted that Pope Francis had been in a "standoff" with the group, which was set to vote on new statutes over the coming weeks. Prior to his death, the group put a hold on the new statute votes.
Apr 25 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
When he died on Monday, Pope Francis had been on the cusp of signing into canon law a huge reform of Opus Dei, an abusive cult at the heart of the Church

Those reforms may now never happen

A THREAD 🧵 Image Opus Dei was due to vote on a new set of statutes, which have been rammed down its throat by the Vatican, at a meeting this week

But, within hours of Francis’ death, the vote was quietly cancelled

catholicnewsagency.com/news/263607/op…
Apr 21 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
The Far Right is Coming for the Vatican

Excellent piece from the fantastic @ninaburleigh

open.substack.com/pub/americanpo… “The ultra-conservative wing of the US Catholic Church – a group made up of cardinals, bishops, priests and wealthy individuals – has spent years preparing for this precise moment”
Apr 21 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Francis did more than any previous pope to address the abuse and exploitative of Opus Dei, a manipulative cult at the heart of the Catholic Church

But his death leaves that work unfinished. So, what’s next?

A THREAD 🧵 Image It all started out so well

Early on in his papacy, Francis saw Opus Dei as an ally in his efforts to clean up the Vatican after years of scandal and corruption

He picked several Opus Dei figures to oversee those efforts Image
Mar 7 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
Do you think @markwahlberg realises that @HallowApp, the Catholic prayer app he fronts, is actively promoting Opus Dei – a group accused of human trafficking, child grooming, drugging its members and spiritual abuse – this Lent?

🧵 A THREAD

foxnews.com/media/mark-wah… Opus Dei has been crowing about the partnership with Hallow and Wahlberg all week.

Hallow launched its Lent challenge on Wednesday.

This year, it is "inspired" by the The Way, a book written by Opus Dei's controversial founder Josemaría Escrivá.

opusdei.org/en/article/hal…
Feb 17 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
👀

Federalist Society boss overheard telling private gathering that Chief Justice John Roberts was a solid pick for the Supreme Court because “he attends an Opus Dei evening of reflection once a month”

via @Streamdotorgstream.org/as-a-catholic-… When the Federalist Society advocated for Roberts to be nominated to the Supreme Court in 2005, it was the first time it had campaigned publicly for a particular candidate

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
Feb 10 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Nice to see Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, taking time out of his busy Project 2025 schedule to spend some time with leaders of the European far-right in Madrid at the weekend

politico.eu/article/lookin… I wonder if he got to visit the Opus Dei national headquarters in Madrid while he was there 🤔

theguardian.com/us-news/articl…
Jan 26 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
When a victim of sexual abuse approached Opus Dei to report one of its cardinals in 2018, the organisation refused to even speak with him

Soon after, he started to receive threats — and told that, if he went public, he'd be sued and his identity leaked to the press

A THREAD 🧵 Image This extraordinary story has come to light thanks to the excellent reporting of Iñigo Domínguez at @el_pais

After the victim was ignored by Opus Dei, he wrote to the Pope, who removed the cardinal from duties

elpais.com/sociedad/2025-…
Jan 22 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
"Gore did his homework ... OPUS has certainly become required reading on the subject of Opus Dei"

Another great review of my new book OPUS, this time from the good people at @americamag

A THREAD 🧵

americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2… "The first thing to note about Opus is the tremendous amount of research that went into the project. This involved serious attention to many published works, interviews with present and former members of Opus Dei (including significant leadership figures), and archival research."
Jan 16 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
Most organisations would respond to serious allegations of abuse by immediately launching an independent investigation.

Not Opus Dei.

Instead, it’s launched a 106-page diatribe seeking to defend the indefensible.

A THREAD 🧵

catholicnewsagency.com/news/261555/op… The diatribe comes in response to my book OPUS, which reveals a litany of complaints including:

- grooming children
- spiritual/psychological abuse
- human trafficking
- labor violations
- surreptitious recruitment
- hidden finances
- political ties
simonandschuster.com/books/Opus/Gar…
Jan 16 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Most organisations would respond to serious allegations of abuse with a clear response to immediately launch an investigation.

Not Opus Dei.

Instead, it’s launched a 106-page diatribe seeking to defend the indefensible – through contorted logic and disinformation.

A THREAD 🧵
catholicnewsagency.com/news/261555/op… The diatribe comes in response to my book OPUS, which was published by Simon & Schuster a few months ago.

It reveals a litany of new complaints against the organisation: of crimes and institutional failings, its surreptitious recruitment methods, the grooming of children, of spiritual and psychological abuse, vast cover-ups, as well as its hidden financial and political ties.
simonandschuster.com/books/Opus/Gar…
Jan 8 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
For the first time, one of the hundreds of victims of Opus Dei’s cruel system of grooming and coercing impoverished young girls into a life of servitude tells her own story.

Anne Marie Allen’s new book SERVE comes out in May.

A THREAD 🧵

linktr.ee/annemarieallenImage She was 15 when she was accepted onto a cookery school that promised qualifications and a dream future.

Seeking a better life, she moved to the west of Ireland.

Her happiness was short-lived as it became clear she had been tricked into a life of servitude in Opus Dei.
Dec 12, 2024 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
"A genuine exposé, a fluid, authoritative account...Gore has done a great service in putting all this material in the public domain in such a digestible format: no wonder Opus Dei is so unhappy with him.

@TheTLS and @PeterKGeoghegan review my new book

the-tls.co.uk/religion/relig… "It seeks to lift the veil on an organization whose secrecy – and outward image of piety and impecuniousness – masks, according to Gore, a litany of exploitative practices, opaque money and clandestine political influence operations that has, so far, culminated in the Trumpist takeover of the US Supreme Court."
Nov 28, 2024 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Vatican to study how to address "spiritual abuse" in church law

....could this be a precursor to a full-scale intervention in Opus Dei - and bringing its leaders to justice?

From @Cindy_Wooden and @NCRonline

ncronline.org/node/288111 Back in May, the dicastry said:

"The use of purported supernatural experiences or recognized mystical elements as a means of or a pretext for exerting control over people or carrying out abuses is to be considered of particular moral gravity"
Nov 23, 2024 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
I’m sorry, but this is just WEIRD….

The Washington Post’s executive editor takes time out of his busy schedule to basically say that my book doesn’t include enough positive stuff about Opus Dei

What the actual f**k?

A THREAD 🧵

ncronline.org/culture/book-r… Before we even get into it, WHY – as the guy charged with restoring confidence in the Post – would you undermine your paper’s own coverage?

It called the book “a sober, fact-based indictment....a well-told, gripping story....a damning account of a sprawling organization” only last month

washingtonpost.com/books/2024/10/…
Oct 27, 2024 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Understanding the bombshell Opus Dei human trafficking indictment

🧵 A THREAD based on this excellent interview with @PaulaBistagnino discussing the groundbreaking case against Opus Dei in Argentina

buenosairesherald.com/society/crime/…Image For decades, Opus Dei has recruited poor girls in rural Argentina and neighbouring countries on the promise of education and a better life.

Instead, they ended up working for years with no pay and found themselves unable to retire - even when they got sick.