Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei

This text tells the story of a religiously motivated young woman who was manipulated, turned into a fanatic, and only gradually came to her senses - all because of a religious organization working in the highest echelons of the Roman Catholic Church: Opus Dei, 'Work of God'. During the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, Opus Dei has become the most powerful organization in the Roman Catholic Church. Describe as a "Holy Mafia" by its critics, 'The Work', as it is known, has been charged with secrecy, elitism, reactionary politics and questionable financial practices. For 18 years Maria del Carmen Tapia was a 'numerary' (full member) of Opus Dei and a major superior of the Women's Branch for much of it. She describes what she calls the making and unmaking of a fanatic. There is: the devious recruitment; the forced estrangement from her family; the indoctrination; life in the 'Golden Cage' of Opus Dei's governing centre in Rome; her years as head of the women's section in Venezuela; her sudden recall to Rome where for seven months she was held a virtual prisoner; and the reprisals after she left the organization.