Untold: Opus Dei, Ep. 1
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 28 March 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Untold host Antonia Cundy uncovers the cultural and political influence of a controversial Catholic organisation in America. Opus Dei exists to help people get closer to God, but some members say they found other agendas – and unexpected harm – entangled in that spiritual mission.
We meet Sarah – a young girl drawn to Opus Dei’s message that professional work can be a path to holiness. At 18, Sarah says goodbye to her family and moves into an Opus Dei centre to learn how to make her work an offering to God. But what she experiences there feels different to the organisation she thought she knew. Sarah chafes at unexpected rules, unquestioning obedience and dehumanising treatment.
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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, briefing listeners, we've got a special treat for you today. |
| 0:02.8 | Two years ago, FT journalist Antonia Cundi began investigating the controversial Catholic |
| 0:07.7 | organization Opus Day. The story she uncovered was not what she expected, because what started |
| 0:13.6 | as an investigation into the impact Opus Day had on individuals turned into an account about |
| 0:18.9 | how it's changing the United States. |
| 0:25.8 | You can hear the first episode right now, just stay tuned, and find the link to the Opus Day feed in our show notes. Enjoy. |
| 0:31.3 | Two years ago, I started investigating a group within the Catholic Church, a small but controversial one. |
| 0:39.0 | I want to be really clear that I think that most of the people in this group are wonderful |
| 0:44.6 | people. And it's really hard because I know that they had sincere intentions, even though |
| 0:50.5 | what they did was really wrong. But I think that when you're in Opus Day, you completely lose perspective on what's appropriate, |
| 0:59.5 | on what's ethical, and you start to understand that obedience to Opus Day is the most important thing. |
| 1:06.1 | Opus Day is an organization that has nearly 100,000 members in countries all over the world. |
| 1:11.6 | The words Opus Day are Latin and they mean work of God. |
| 1:16.6 | All over the world there are priests, lay people who are married and some who are not, |
| 1:22.6 | who are members of this beautiful family called the work. Opus Day, the work of God. |
| 1:28.3 | I've spoken to dozens of people who were or still are part of Opus Day, |
| 1:34.3 | and a lot of them felt conflicted. |
| 1:37.3 | I feel some anger and sadness and some manipulation. |
| 1:42.3 | I still see there being good people in it. |
| 1:44.9 | I guess there's a lot more distrust now. |
| 1:48.5 | It's hard. |
| 1:49.7 | It's really hard to know what's true sometimes. |
... |
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