2025-08-16
44 分钟You've probably heard the name Opus Dei, maybe from the wildly popular novel The Da Vinci Code,
in which this Catholic organization forms a major plot point.
It served Dan Brown's literary purposes because it's one of those inherently shadowy,
what to call it, religious groups, sects.
I'm holding back from the word cults for now.
Opus Dei is no stranger to controversy,
but recently some of the shadowy stuff is breaking out into the open.
In Argentina,
43 women have filed a lawsuit accusing the organization of exploitation and human trafficking.
In July, prosecutors formally accused Mariano Fazio, its second-in-command.
Opus Dei denies wrongdoing.
brushing the charges away as labor disputes, not crimes.
But what does the group call labor?
The Heroic Minute is a documentary series from HBO that gives some harrowing hints.
It followed 13 women as they recounted life inside Opus Dei.
They spoke of isolation, psychological control,
and perhaps most of all, unrelenting, unpaid domestic work.
All of this is causing outrage in Spain, where Opus Dei was founded,
where, still largely in the shadows, it maintains the most power.
I'm Jason Palmer, and this is The Weekend Intelligence.