Gareth Gore, author of the 2024 book Opus, which alleges decades of abuse and manipulation by the Catholic group Opus Dei, was invited for a private audience with Pope Leo earlier this year. Gore believes the pope wanted to send a clear message by meeting him, given the Vatican’s historical complicity in allowing Opus Dei to operate outside normal church structures.
Gore’s book claims Opus Dei engaged in child grooming, human trafficking, and psychological control, using private confessions as leverage and drugging members. The group has denied all allegations. Gore also reported that Opus Dei collaborated with Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in Spain and later supported right-wing causes globally, including influencing US politics through funding and recruitment.
Gore began investigating Opus Dei while reporting on the collapse of Banco Popular in 2017. He alleged the bank was used as a “personal cash machine” by Opus Dei, which siphoned funds to finance global expansion. Opus Dei has denied involvement in the bank’s management. Former members told Gore that numeraries, the most devout members, live in controlled dormitories, practice self-flagellation, and are given sedatives for mental illness.
Female “numerary assistants” from underprivileged backgrounds reportedly worked long hours for Opus Dei, cut off from families and expected to give their salaries to the group—an operation Gore believes meets the UN definition of human trafficking. Opus Dei has consistently denied all allegations.
