A
Guide on How to Prevent the Infiltration of Cult-Like Religious Groups
Into Legitimate Religious
Organizations
A Guest Document
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The links and/or
information on this document are provided for research, educational and
informational purposes ONLY. The balance of the Legal Disclaimer may be
found at the end of the document.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to educate the unsuspecting faithful,
as well as the unsuspecting general public, on the infiltration
techniques used by cult like organizations - religious, political or
otherwise.
And
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [John
8:32]
....free from the serious dangers posed by said groups - whether Opus
Dei or ISIL and all others in between.
INTRODUCTION
Since we are familiar with the functioning of Opus Dei (1)
and Regnum Christi (2) we are quite confident of
the validity of what the author of this guest document states.
DETAILS
The
un-Edited Guest Document (3)
As part of its normal modus operandi, Opus Dei attempts to infiltrate
and take over other mainstream Catholic organizations with the aim of
turning them into recruitment fronts. Opus Dei will attempt to
infiltrate both the leadership councils and the general memberships of
any Catholic organization that it does not control. Such organizations
can include, but are not limited to, young adult groups, CYO groups,
college/university Newman Clubs, Campus Ministries, parishes, and
schools.
The purpose of this Guide is to provide tried and tested methods for
maintaining the independence of Catholic groups and to prevent Opus Dei
takeover and destruction of other organs of the Catholic Church. Please
note that these methods have been successfully used by the young adult
group Contemporary Roman Catholics
(CRC), one of the largest young adult groups in Manhattan, New York
City.
The CRC has been over the past several years and currently is the
target of an organized, intense and sustained campaign by Opus Dei to
take it over and turn it into a recruitment front. However, through the
effective use of these methods, the CRC has been not only been able to
prevent an Opus Dei takeover, but also increase the size of its
ministry, free from Opus Dei control.
This Guide is being distributed under the GNU General Public License.
This Guide can be customized and modified in any way to suit a
particular situation to which it is being applied.
Permission is granted for this Guide to be copied anywhere in the
world, at any time, in any format. It has been reviewed by people who
have had extensive experience with Opus Dei's modus operandi.
Please note that many of these techniques can be used against similar
Catholic groups that have been reported to use cult-like mind control
techniques, such as Focolare, Neo-Catechumenate,
Legionaries of Chirst/Regnum
Christi, Communion
and Liberation, Miles Jesu,
Emmannuel Community
1. One of the best
ways to prevent Opus Dei from getting a strong foothold in a group is
to meet regularly, preferably on a weekly basis, perhaps after a 5:30
PM Mass on Sunday. The primary reason for this is to establish and
sustain a core community of people who are friends and know each other
well. That way Opus Dei recruiters will stand out immediately, since
they will be there for only recruitment purposes, not to socialize and
build a Catholic community. It is important to note that many Opus Dei
recruitment fronts will meet infrequently, generally around once a
month, so that people intentionally will
not get to know each other well. That will give the Opus Dei recruiters
the first-mover advantage to hone in on people since they will be the
only organized sub-group that knows what the overall situation in the
organization is. By meeting only once a month, those outside of the
Opus Dei orbit will find it difficult to get to know one another to
provide a sustained counterweight to the Opus Dei recruiting onslaught.
2. Since Opus Dei is
an elitist group, try to make many of your functions no or low cost.
This will allow the maximum number of people to attend your events on a
regular basis, thereby diluting any Opus Dei incursions by sheer weight
of numbers. It should be noted that Opus Dei recruitment fronts
generally charge high admission fees to screen out those that do not
have a great deal of expendable income, as Opus Dei looks only for
people with wealth.
3. As a group, try to
organize labor-intensive apostolic works on a regular basis, such as
painting schools, clean ups, etc. In addition to answering the call of
God to serve the less fortunate, such activities also go a long way
toward building up the friendships and community within of your group,
which will again make it hard for Opus Dei to penetrate with its
recruitment activities. Since Opus Dei is an elitist group, they
generally, but not always, will be absent from such labor-intensive
activities since these types of activities are considered beneath Opus
Dei members and possible recruits. Opus Dei much prefers to recruit at
intellectual discussion groups and talks.
4. Make independent
sources of information about Opus Dei easily available to your
membership on an ongoing basis. One of the most effective ways of doing
this is to distribute the Sample Opus Dei
Informational Flyer throughout your group. This provides a concise
but informational document for people, as well as providing additional
websites to look at for more information. Such information provides
excellent inoculation against Opus Dei recruitment and infiltration. In
addition, it provides an understanding of how Opus Dei operates. Some
places on the Web with information are ODAN
and dmoz.org.
5. In order to
thwart Opus Dei recruitment in your group, prepare flyers with
information about Opus Dei, including website links. When you see a
person being targeted for recruitment, simply give the flyer to the
person with the suggestion that the Opus Dei recruiter might be
involved. Please feel free to use the Sample Opus Dei
Informational Flyer. The key is to plant a seed in the person's
mind, and let them discover more from what has been given to them.
6. DNE - DO NOT ENGAGE! Under ANY
circumstances, do not engage in an argument directly any Opus Dei
recruiter, representative, spokesperson or priest verbally, in writing,
via email or over the phone. Opus Dei does not negotiate and sees
individuals in one of two ways: recruits or enemies. In Opus Dei's
mind, there is no middle ground. If one is engaged directly in an
attempt to defend one's group from infiltration, Opus Dei will seek to
harass and/or force you into a confrontation of some kind whereby they
can go to an authority figure (such as the police, university
administration, or parish pastor) say that they are the victim of
harassment and intimidation. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS TRAP. Opus Dei
specializes in character assassination of its enemies to destroy their
reputation, knows the limits of the law and how to manipulate those
limits to its advantage. Remember, Opus Dei will only respect one
thing, and that is the force of the legal system. (see next point)
7. When Opus Dei is
getting aggressive and intimidating and refuses to back down, (or
preferably, even before) modify and mail this Cease and Desist
letter to get them to back down. It
is key that the letter is
mailed with a record of delivery and receipt. This record is
necessary
to prove to the police that the person has been served a Cease and
Desist Order should the person not back down after the Order has been
sent.
In the US, the letter can be sent via the US Postal Service's Priority
Mail with Delivery Confirmation. Please note that it is suggested that
you do not send the Order via Certified Mail/Return Receipt, since the
Opus Dei operative will be instructed to refuse delivery of the Order.
However, Priority Mail/Delivery Confirmation does not require a
signature and cannot be refused.
Be sure to keep a copy of the letter, your record of Delivery
Confirmation. In addition, you may want to send a copy to the local
police precinct, via Certified Mail, to alert them to the harassment
you are receiving from Opus Dei elements. Opus Dei members are under
tremendous pressure to recruit new people and destroy their enemies, so
please remember they will not be rational and will only back down in
the face of legal force.
8. Listen to the
women of your group. It has been observed that women are generally the
first ones to pick up on the presence of Opus Dei within a given group.
Since Opus Dei members (mostly men) are under cult-like mind control,
they will generally have a very different feel to their personalities
than those who are not under the influence of mind control. Women will
generally describe that there is a feeling of "oddness" or
"strangeness" in the room that they can't quite pinpoint. This is
generally also associated with a strong sense of unease. If there are
several women in your group reporting feelings like this, it is best to
listen to them and investigate further as to the source. (PS - this was
written by a man)
9. In a university
or college environment, Opus Dei will generally view the Catholic
Campus Ministry and/or Newman Club as a major recruiting target. Please
note that Opus Dei does not believe in working together with the
mainstream Catholic groups on campus for the betterment of the overall
Catholic community. They only view mainstream groups as pools of
potential Opus Dei recruits and nothing more. They will seek to siphon
off as many members as they could and remove them from regular Catholic
activities. Also, Opus Dei may have one or several recruitment fronts
in the form of intellectual Christian and/or apologetics groups. Their
mission statements may sound something like:
"XYZ Group is a student organization
dedicated to the study of the Christian intellectual tradition and its
approach to the modern world -- the issues and ideas of the day. The
members believe that the diverse approaches of Christian thinkers
throughout history offer an invaluable contribution to intellectual
discourse on campus. The Club is intended for any and all students,
regardless of religious affiliation, interested in exploring the truth
behind the moral and social issues of our Modern World without adopting
the common secular practice of arbitrarily excluding the voice of
Christianity from public debate."
10. In addition to
focusing on Catholic campus groups, Opus Dei will also seek to recruit
almost anywhere within the college community: students they work with,
live with, go to classes with, etc. Some places where they are trained
to find people are after daily and/or Sunday Masses, particularly those
that choose to spend time alone in prayer for a few minutes afterwards.
In addition, Opus Dei recruiters generally hone in on people who appear
to be alone, for example, as a social function or in a dining hall.
Finally, a key demographic that they look for are entering freshmen
because they are new to the university environment, may not have any
experience dealing with Opus Dei, and are also probably away from home
for the first time, and therefore are vulnerable because they are
looking to put down roots.
A drastic change in a person's environment, such as moving away from
home for the first time, can make a person much more suggestible to
outside influences, particularly from high-pressure cultic
organizations like Opus Dei.
11. Opus Dei also
runs a large number of residence halls near college campuses around the
world. The purpose of these residence halls is not to provide housing,
but to provide a pool of potential recruits for Opus Dei. In the
atmosphere of a residence hall run by Opus Dei, they have the
opportunity to apply with maximum pressure the cultic mind-control
techniques upon the non-Opus Dei residents for a sustained period of
time. It is best if your organization avoids any and all contact with
Opus Dei-run residence halls.
12. Try to limit the
number of single-sex events that your group has, such as discussion
nights, talks and retreats. Single-sex events serve as a magnet for
Opus Dei recruiters, since there are no people of the opposite sex to
distract potential recruits. Please note that Opus Dei tries to get its
members to take a vow of celibacy, so it will be naturally attracted to
those who attend single sex events. Co-ed events provide additional
barriers (though not inoculation) to aggressive Opus Dei recruiting.
13. Trust your
instincts. If you are reading this page, then that means something is
not quite right. That "something" is Opus Dei and its vicious
mind-control tactics. Remember that your love of your friends and
family is stronger than the proclamations of a hierarchy that has as
its primary goal its own survival which says Opus Dei is a "good" thing.
14. Finally, don't
give up. God gave you a mind to think, to reason, to question, to seek
answers. If you are questioning Opus Dei, that means you are using the
gifts God gave you for good. Remember, faith is one thing, blind
obedience is quite another and they are not the same. Opus Dei is here
to stay, but that does not mean you have to let them have everything
their way. Opus Dei is not a form of spirituality, but a form of
cult-like mind control. It is not what Catholicism or religion in
general is about.
Psalm
23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want...
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me
in the paths of righteousness for
His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil:
For thou art with me; thy rod and thy
staff they comfort me.
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NOTES
(1) About Opus Dei
(2) About Regnum Christi
(3) Original Source
- Updated: Jan, 2003
En Español: Guía sobre cómo impedir la
infiltración de grupos religiosos sectarios en organizaciones
religiosas legítimas
Published by The M+G+R Foundation of March 22,
2015
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