What do you think?
Rate this book
Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei
An explosive expose of one of the most powerful and secretive sects operating within the Roman Catholic Church-Opus Dei.
This book reveals that Opus
-Has become the Catholic Church's paramount financial power
-Influences its members through a combination of secret rites and insistence on absolute obedience
-Uses a strategy of discretion to cloud its real intentions
-Aims to prepare Christendom for the next crusade against Islam
This book reveals that Opus
-Has become the Catholic Church's paramount financial power
-Influences its members through a combination of secret rites and insistence on absolute obedience
-Uses a strategy of discretion to cloud its real intentions
-Aims to prepare Christendom for the next crusade against Islam
486 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Robert Hutchison
9 books3 followersRobert A. Hutchison was born in Canada and studied at McGill University in Montreal. He was a correspondent for the London Sunday and Daily Telegraph, and his articles for the Toronto Financial Post won him four National Business Writing Awards. He is the author of four other investigative non-fiction books covering a range of subjects: Vesco, Off the Books, Juggernaut and In the Tracks of the Yeti. For the past fifty years he has lived in Switzerland. His website can be found at roberthutchison.ch
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 20, 2024
An insightful exposé, which is better appreciated if one has a prior understanding of, or exposure to, the Church and Opus Dei, albeit this book goes into more detail in some aspects, backed up by researched and cited examples and anecdotes.
Amongst the author’s assertions, he is at great pains to demonstrate the folly of how “the end justifies the means” and how one (with questionable motives) subjectively accords a “just war”.
It is said when all else fails, follow the money trail for answers. Unless, of course, the persons with the money are shrewd enough to leave no trail at all.
Definitely worth reading by anyone with an interest in the subject matter.
Amongst the author’s assertions, he is at great pains to demonstrate the folly of how “the end justifies the means” and how one (with questionable motives) subjectively accords a “just war”.
It is said when all else fails, follow the money trail for answers. Unless, of course, the persons with the money are shrewd enough to leave no trail at all.
Definitely worth reading by anyone with an interest in the subject matter.
October 22, 2018
An amazing investigation! Thorough and stupendously well-researched by an author that, not only understands Latin, Spanish and Italian, but has in-depth experience of Opus Dei, the R.C. Church, Vatican politics, high finance, banking and, significantly, political intrigue in the Western World.
Some of it was a 'little above me' and I tended to get confused over the non-English names and organisations. This is my inadequacy, not a detraction from my praise of the author.
This book is not a conspiracy theory but an statement of fact supported by authentic documentary evidence incriminating Opus Dei over a period of some 80 years.
Some of it was a 'little above me' and I tended to get confused over the non-English names and organisations. This is my inadequacy, not a detraction from my praise of the author.
This book is not a conspiracy theory but an statement of fact supported by authentic documentary evidence incriminating Opus Dei over a period of some 80 years.
January 6, 2023
Seldom do I come across a book that turns me off so quickly, and so completely, as this book did. For a little over a year I have been researching Opus Dei with the goal of doing my Thesis on the organization. If even a tenth of what this book claims is true, then this group is the best in the world at keeping secrets, and the people I have known who are members are great deceivers, better than what the devil himself is given credit for being.
The cover of the book claims: "A responsible piece of investigative reporting … packed with meticulous detail." from Publishers Weekly. Yet I find none of that in this book in comparison with other books on the same subject. Both this author, and Michael Walsh in his book The Secret World of Opus Dei, claim to have access to secret documents that are not reproduced or evidenced other than their claims given to their existence.
Hutchison claims that Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, was not really interested in the spiritual life of his followers. He states: "Escriva was interested in power. He was a schemer. God's schemer. And he wanted to control higher education, and later government ministries." p.87 This book makes such wide and varied accusations against Opus Dei that it is hard to believe the author has not been charged with libel and slander. Hutchison claims that Opus Dei has overturned governments, controlled the FBI and the CIA, bankrupted the Vatican so that Opus Dei could bail them out, and orchestrated assassination attempts including the one against Pope Paul VI. He even went so far as to claim that Opus Dei controls the majority of the Clergy and Laity in the Roman Curia and that they even actively recruit in the Pentagon and other government organizations around the world to achieve the power and control they want. Hutchison even alludes to the fact that Pope John Paul II was really just a puppet for Opus Dei; he calls JPII Opus Dei's Pope.
How this book is published as Non-Fiction and not Fiction I will never know. Of the 30 odd books I have read, both for and against Opus Dei in the last year, this book is definitely the worst and thus deserves a 'Hate It' book review. If you want to read something unbiased and informative, I would start with John Allen Jr.'s book Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church. It is worth the read. But this book by Hutchison is trash and does not deserve your time, effort or hard-earned money.
(First Published in Imprint 2007.01.12 as 'Hate it' part of the 'Love it/ Hate it' book review column.)
The cover of the book claims: "A responsible piece of investigative reporting … packed with meticulous detail." from Publishers Weekly. Yet I find none of that in this book in comparison with other books on the same subject. Both this author, and Michael Walsh in his book The Secret World of Opus Dei, claim to have access to secret documents that are not reproduced or evidenced other than their claims given to their existence.
Hutchison claims that Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, was not really interested in the spiritual life of his followers. He states: "Escriva was interested in power. He was a schemer. God's schemer. And he wanted to control higher education, and later government ministries." p.87 This book makes such wide and varied accusations against Opus Dei that it is hard to believe the author has not been charged with libel and slander. Hutchison claims that Opus Dei has overturned governments, controlled the FBI and the CIA, bankrupted the Vatican so that Opus Dei could bail them out, and orchestrated assassination attempts including the one against Pope Paul VI. He even went so far as to claim that Opus Dei controls the majority of the Clergy and Laity in the Roman Curia and that they even actively recruit in the Pentagon and other government organizations around the world to achieve the power and control they want. Hutchison even alludes to the fact that Pope John Paul II was really just a puppet for Opus Dei; he calls JPII Opus Dei's Pope.
How this book is published as Non-Fiction and not Fiction I will never know. Of the 30 odd books I have read, both for and against Opus Dei in the last year, this book is definitely the worst and thus deserves a 'Hate It' book review. If you want to read something unbiased and informative, I would start with John Allen Jr.'s book Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church. It is worth the read. But this book by Hutchison is trash and does not deserve your time, effort or hard-earned money.
(First Published in Imprint 2007.01.12 as 'Hate it' part of the 'Love it/ Hate it' book review column.)
January 3, 2011
Contains extensive footnotes, b/w photographs, maps, bibliography,index.
February 16, 2023
A JOURNALISTIC ‘EXPOSÉ’ OF THE ‘DECEIT’ OF OPUS DEI
Author and journalist Robert Hutchison wrote in the ‘Acknowledgements’ of this 1997 book, “The sensitivities surrounding Opus Dei and the shyness of people who have been victims of religious sects mean that many whose experiences and comments helped structure this exposé of power and deceit within the Catholic Church have no wish to be named. Though not a Catholic myself, I was deeply touched by their faith and openness when talking with me, and without their testimony this book would have come to life in the form it has taken.”
He explained in the Introduction, “John Paul II’s closest advisers were the men of Opus Dei---‘God’s Work’---a spiritual organization, which, through his help, had become the Church’s only Personal Prelature… a privileged bishopric without a territory. The confrontation between John Pau II and the leaders of radical Islam … was a double-headed strategy that was both cunning ad simple: offer an olive branch, and strike with the rod. In other words, have dialogue with the more open face of Islam… that the West can live with and respect---while meeting radical Islam’s militancy with an appropriate measure of Christian militancy with an appropriate measure of Christian militancy… If no modus vivendi was possible, Opus Dai wanted the West to be morally prepared for a showdown with Islam. Now we are not taking about Opus Dei as some fringe group, but a powerful organization that… has been at the heart of the Vatican power structure---an organization every bit as fundamentalist on the Christian side… as Turabi and his followers are on the Islamic side. Its members include the Pope’s personal secretary, his spokesman and certain of his ministers… behind them stand 80,000 members worldwide, all but 2 percent of them successful, specially indoctrinated lay people.” (Pg. xiv-xv)
He continues, “Opus Dei professes bewilderment when accused of running a vast earthly empire with tentacles extending in many countries to the highest level of government… One is left to conclude that Opus Dei does not want the world to know that it is really up to… Of course the notion that Opus Dei might singlehandedly take on a newly emerging Islamic alliance is on the face of it ludicrous. But the fact remains that Opus Dei does not read like an open book. Its leadership prefers to remain in the shadows. Members are possessed of great spiritual singlemindedness. And they adhere to the word of the Scriptures and of their Founder with the same unbending orthodoxy that Islamic fundamentalists reserve for the Koran.” (Pg. xvi)
In the first chapter, he states, “John Paul II believed without exaggeration that the Church of Rome was confronted with its most serious crisis since the Protestant Reformation. Papal authority was under attack. He blamed much of the dissension on the Second Vatican Council. Ever since, there had been insubordination and rebellion among the clergy. Leftist-inspired Liberation Theology and notions of Cosmic Christ were threatening the established orthodoxy. The Pope’s authority … was roundly contested … The role of women was being re-examined against his will… and the obligation of celibacy challenged. While dissension reigned within, form without he saw a threat in the worldwide reawakening of Islam. Under these circumstances, Opus Dei was a valued ally. And so, John Paul II accepted the thesis that Escrivà had founded his ‘Obra’ with divine assistance, the result of the Aragonese priest’s ability to commune with God.” (Pg. 4-5)
He recounts, “Abiding by the Founder’s maxim that ‘all is fair in love and war,’ Opus Dei employed every trick in the book, including trampling over people’s reputations, to steamroller the beatification [of Escrivà] through.” (Pg. 16) He continues, “No other beatification in recent times had engendered such controversy, For thousands, Escrivà was an evident worker of miracles while for others he was a charlatan.” (Pg. 18)
He asserts, “To claim that Escrivà was only interested in the spiritual well-being of his disciples and the manner in which they carried out their apostolate… was nonsense. Escrivà was interested in power. He was a schemer, God’s schemer. And he wanted to control higher education, and later government ministries, to assure that there would be no return to Anarchism, Liberalism and Marxism… To maintain that Opus Dei had no political mission was, consequently, being less than forthright. It did have one…” (Pg. 87)
He states, “In establishing a strong Catholic… presence at the summit of society, Escrivà… believed that the use of … dirty tricks---was permissible and, indeed, frequently necessary… The theory behind this reasoning was that in politics and big business the most successful practitioners resorted to devilish tactics and therefore their use should not be denied to those whose sold intention was to further the work of God.” (Pg. 117)
He reports, “When former members wanted to put their doubts, fears of observations before the beatification tribunals, they were systematically excluded from doing so because they were portrayed as being mentally unbalanced or sex fiends. And yet no independent verification of the claims was ever made. As for an institution of the Church imprisoning members or making them accomplices in their own loss or freedom?” (Pg. 178)
He explains, “Vladimir Felzmann, who left Opus Dei after twenty-three years to become a priest… believes that people who live inside Opus Dei … become so conditioned by ‘mortification of intellect’ that they become emotionally dependent and totally bind themselves over to the organization… These factors combine to form a powerful mind control system, making a mockery of Opus Dei’s claim that it never… interferes in the private or professional lives of members. Through this system highly intelligent people are induced to surrender their capacity for ethical reasoning to a superior authority, in some cases abdicating all moral responsibility for their conduct in the secular world.” (Pg. 181-182)
He notes, “That Opus Dei had developed a strong sect-like character did not seem to concern the Vatican unduly. The Work had amassed significant resources and was sworn to protect the Church from her enemies, which any pope could not fail to appreciate. Opus Dei’s success was a reflection of the foresight of its central directors.” (Pg. 198)
He observes, “Opus Dei is a poor family with many children. For anyone who has relations with the Prelature, this theme is repeated with the regularity of monks reciting a mantra. Opus Dei has no money. It refuses to publish a balance sheet… In 1992, Opus Dei was so deprived of cash that it requested members invited to attend Escrivà’s… beatification gala for a contribution, in addition to travel costs, of $3,000 each to cover expenses.” (Pg. 339)
He summarizes, “With its unbending dogmatism, Opus Dei has been credited by its supporters with putting life back into the Church and accused by others of polarizing the Church. Many Catholics, however, do not want to know about the Curial battles between Progressives and Conservatives… They want to worship in peace and with confidence in their pope. But as the Millennium Jubilee approaches, this may no longer be possible. The ‘smart and obstinate’ work of the Pope’s secret warriors risks bringing about a polarization of religions.” (Pg. 426)
He concludes, “Opus Dei is a secret sect that has successfully removed itself from the hierarchical control of the Church. Secrecy is an enemy of an open, democratic society. If Opus Dei is not secretive, as it repeatedly maintains, why does it refuse to publish the quintennial reports on its apostolic work that Article VI of ‘Ut sit’ requires it to submit to the Pope? The answer: ‘Neither Opus Dei nor the Holy See would make public a document prepared for the Pope.’” (Pg. 428)
This book will strongly appeal to those seeking a highly critical perspective on Opus Dei.
Author and journalist Robert Hutchison wrote in the ‘Acknowledgements’ of this 1997 book, “The sensitivities surrounding Opus Dei and the shyness of people who have been victims of religious sects mean that many whose experiences and comments helped structure this exposé of power and deceit within the Catholic Church have no wish to be named. Though not a Catholic myself, I was deeply touched by their faith and openness when talking with me, and without their testimony this book would have come to life in the form it has taken.”
He explained in the Introduction, “John Paul II’s closest advisers were the men of Opus Dei---‘God’s Work’---a spiritual organization, which, through his help, had become the Church’s only Personal Prelature… a privileged bishopric without a territory. The confrontation between John Pau II and the leaders of radical Islam … was a double-headed strategy that was both cunning ad simple: offer an olive branch, and strike with the rod. In other words, have dialogue with the more open face of Islam… that the West can live with and respect---while meeting radical Islam’s militancy with an appropriate measure of Christian militancy with an appropriate measure of Christian militancy… If no modus vivendi was possible, Opus Dai wanted the West to be morally prepared for a showdown with Islam. Now we are not taking about Opus Dei as some fringe group, but a powerful organization that… has been at the heart of the Vatican power structure---an organization every bit as fundamentalist on the Christian side… as Turabi and his followers are on the Islamic side. Its members include the Pope’s personal secretary, his spokesman and certain of his ministers… behind them stand 80,000 members worldwide, all but 2 percent of them successful, specially indoctrinated lay people.” (Pg. xiv-xv)
He continues, “Opus Dei professes bewilderment when accused of running a vast earthly empire with tentacles extending in many countries to the highest level of government… One is left to conclude that Opus Dei does not want the world to know that it is really up to… Of course the notion that Opus Dei might singlehandedly take on a newly emerging Islamic alliance is on the face of it ludicrous. But the fact remains that Opus Dei does not read like an open book. Its leadership prefers to remain in the shadows. Members are possessed of great spiritual singlemindedness. And they adhere to the word of the Scriptures and of their Founder with the same unbending orthodoxy that Islamic fundamentalists reserve for the Koran.” (Pg. xvi)
In the first chapter, he states, “John Paul II believed without exaggeration that the Church of Rome was confronted with its most serious crisis since the Protestant Reformation. Papal authority was under attack. He blamed much of the dissension on the Second Vatican Council. Ever since, there had been insubordination and rebellion among the clergy. Leftist-inspired Liberation Theology and notions of Cosmic Christ were threatening the established orthodoxy. The Pope’s authority … was roundly contested … The role of women was being re-examined against his will… and the obligation of celibacy challenged. While dissension reigned within, form without he saw a threat in the worldwide reawakening of Islam. Under these circumstances, Opus Dei was a valued ally. And so, John Paul II accepted the thesis that Escrivà had founded his ‘Obra’ with divine assistance, the result of the Aragonese priest’s ability to commune with God.” (Pg. 4-5)
He recounts, “Abiding by the Founder’s maxim that ‘all is fair in love and war,’ Opus Dei employed every trick in the book, including trampling over people’s reputations, to steamroller the beatification [of Escrivà] through.” (Pg. 16) He continues, “No other beatification in recent times had engendered such controversy, For thousands, Escrivà was an evident worker of miracles while for others he was a charlatan.” (Pg. 18)
He asserts, “To claim that Escrivà was only interested in the spiritual well-being of his disciples and the manner in which they carried out their apostolate… was nonsense. Escrivà was interested in power. He was a schemer, God’s schemer. And he wanted to control higher education, and later government ministries, to assure that there would be no return to Anarchism, Liberalism and Marxism… To maintain that Opus Dei had no political mission was, consequently, being less than forthright. It did have one…” (Pg. 87)
He states, “In establishing a strong Catholic… presence at the summit of society, Escrivà… believed that the use of … dirty tricks---was permissible and, indeed, frequently necessary… The theory behind this reasoning was that in politics and big business the most successful practitioners resorted to devilish tactics and therefore their use should not be denied to those whose sold intention was to further the work of God.” (Pg. 117)
He reports, “When former members wanted to put their doubts, fears of observations before the beatification tribunals, they were systematically excluded from doing so because they were portrayed as being mentally unbalanced or sex fiends. And yet no independent verification of the claims was ever made. As for an institution of the Church imprisoning members or making them accomplices in their own loss or freedom?” (Pg. 178)
He explains, “Vladimir Felzmann, who left Opus Dei after twenty-three years to become a priest… believes that people who live inside Opus Dei … become so conditioned by ‘mortification of intellect’ that they become emotionally dependent and totally bind themselves over to the organization… These factors combine to form a powerful mind control system, making a mockery of Opus Dei’s claim that it never… interferes in the private or professional lives of members. Through this system highly intelligent people are induced to surrender their capacity for ethical reasoning to a superior authority, in some cases abdicating all moral responsibility for their conduct in the secular world.” (Pg. 181-182)
He notes, “That Opus Dei had developed a strong sect-like character did not seem to concern the Vatican unduly. The Work had amassed significant resources and was sworn to protect the Church from her enemies, which any pope could not fail to appreciate. Opus Dei’s success was a reflection of the foresight of its central directors.” (Pg. 198)
He observes, “Opus Dei is a poor family with many children. For anyone who has relations with the Prelature, this theme is repeated with the regularity of monks reciting a mantra. Opus Dei has no money. It refuses to publish a balance sheet… In 1992, Opus Dei was so deprived of cash that it requested members invited to attend Escrivà’s… beatification gala for a contribution, in addition to travel costs, of $3,000 each to cover expenses.” (Pg. 339)
He summarizes, “With its unbending dogmatism, Opus Dei has been credited by its supporters with putting life back into the Church and accused by others of polarizing the Church. Many Catholics, however, do not want to know about the Curial battles between Progressives and Conservatives… They want to worship in peace and with confidence in their pope. But as the Millennium Jubilee approaches, this may no longer be possible. The ‘smart and obstinate’ work of the Pope’s secret warriors risks bringing about a polarization of religions.” (Pg. 426)
He concludes, “Opus Dei is a secret sect that has successfully removed itself from the hierarchical control of the Church. Secrecy is an enemy of an open, democratic society. If Opus Dei is not secretive, as it repeatedly maintains, why does it refuse to publish the quintennial reports on its apostolic work that Article VI of ‘Ut sit’ requires it to submit to the Pope? The answer: ‘Neither Opus Dei nor the Holy See would make public a document prepared for the Pope.’” (Pg. 428)
This book will strongly appeal to those seeking a highly critical perspective on Opus Dei.
December 9, 2017
great research, probably the best book available on the matter, though already 20+ years old. An update would be highly desirable, but understandably fraught with difficulties.
I believe the close association between the Opus Dei and the CIA has been scarcely explored and by my own experience they are in bed together in a diverse range of projects not open to scrutiny by society. Like the agency sponsorship of the Fetullah turkish chap network of madrassas.
As a junior student in a public engineering school in Brazil I was approached a number of times to attend to OD meetings, but never went to one. Many years after I am certain that was the right course of action - however they are a force to reckon with in most public services structures and in the power structure in general here.
Something very interesting that the book explores are the piloted bankruptcies that happened back then and that help to explain other bankruptcies that happen these days.
Anyways, kudos to mr Hutchison. I hope someone takes up the job from where he left it.
I believe the close association between the Opus Dei and the CIA has been scarcely explored and by my own experience they are in bed together in a diverse range of projects not open to scrutiny by society. Like the agency sponsorship of the Fetullah turkish chap network of madrassas.
As a junior student in a public engineering school in Brazil I was approached a number of times to attend to OD meetings, but never went to one. Many years after I am certain that was the right course of action - however they are a force to reckon with in most public services structures and in the power structure in general here.
Something very interesting that the book explores are the piloted bankruptcies that happened back then and that help to explain other bankruptcies that happen these days.
Anyways, kudos to mr Hutchison. I hope someone takes up the job from where he left it.
November 10, 2014
Not exactly a fair rating, as I could only tolerate about 50 pages of this book. It was not the writing, I am just lost interest in the topic.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews