Letters

The Ways of Opus Dei Dan Brown's best-selling The Da Vinci Code granted fans access to a thrillingly fictionalized Opus Dei, a religious society both secretive and sinister. Our story on the reality of the Roman Catholic group's rituals, social connections and spiritual convictions inspired readers' aversion, wonder and spirited defense

Thank you for your report on the controversial Catholic organization Opus Dei [April 24]. Any group that is exclusive, isolated and secretive cannot be truly Christian. Just like the press investigations into the protection given to pedophile priests, your article will help the Roman Catholic Church cleanse itself of its secrecy as well as the flaw of gender-determined and gender-dominated leadership. So absorbed are the church leaders in protecting their own agenda that they fail to fulfill their role in the truthful representation of Christ. ETTA ALBRIGHT Cresson, Pa.

Opus Dei seems to be a great force for good rather than the obscure society some have tried to portray it as. Maybe if more of us listened to Christ's truthful message, we wouldn't be surprised by people who try to live by it. At a minimum, there's the intriguing idea that all politicians, especially those in Latin America, should note: the solution to the problem of poverty is not to identify with the poor but to make them members of the middle class. OSCAR ISLAS Mexico City

TIME's report on Opus Dei was essentially correct and fair, but the repeated references to the society as "secret" and "secretive" were off the mark. The story is a proof of our transparency, based as it was on interviews with many of the faithful of Opus Dei, who did not hide their membership but on the contrary made an effort to answer all questions, including some of a very personal nature. The photos of the discipline [a small whip] and the cilice [a chain] presented them in such a way that readers might not know whether they were looking at instruments of torture or a means of Christian penance that could fit in the palm of one's hand. Their use is healthier and less painful than having an ear pierced or getting a tattoo. Those means of mortification are used in Opus Dei just as they have been for many centuries by other Catholics. But readers might form an opinion on the basis of those images and the use of the adjective secret that would prevent them from understanding Opus Dei. Still I consider the article essentially accurate in its description of Opus Dei and of the criticism that it receives. It was an honor to cooperate with TIME in the story's preparation. JUAN MANUEL MORA COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OPUS DEI Rome

Your article on Opus Dei made plain the dangers of fanaticism and extremism within religious thought. God wants us to hate neither others nor ourselves. The cure for evil must come from God's transformation in us, not from flogging ourselves or vainly trying to impose our practices on others. KEN BROECKEL Escondido, Calif.

Recognizing The Da Vinci Code as fiction, I was surprised to learn that Opus Dei actually exists. But your description of the society as secretive was really not fair. People who pray regularly have a quiet confidence that God knows them. Avoiding a public show of faith is not being secretive. CLEMENT SILVA Bangalore, India