Their Kingdom Come - Softcover

Robert A. Hutchison

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552167320 ISBN 13: 9780552167321

Publisher: Corgi Books, 2012

Synopsis

To the outside world, Opus Dei's stated intention is 'to remind all people that they are called to holiness, especially through work and ordinary life'. But with an elite membership of 80,000 and tentacles reaching around the globe, this secretive sect within the Catholic Church has far greater potential influence. In recent years it has come under criticism from within the Catholic Church and from authorities in the countries where it operates, revealing a more sinister intention: to confront Islam on the world's spiritual battlefields, by whatever means necessary. Their Kingdom Come demonstrates how Opus Dei has forged an unholy alliance with the Mafia, secular powerbrokers and highly placed prelates, with the result that Christian values are being threatened by the malign influences of power politics and big money. Opus Dei's command council runs an immense intelligence network and a vast multinational conglomerate, preparing for what the organisation regards as Christendom's inevitable showdown with radical Islam...

About this title

Review

Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei by Robert Hutchison purports to expose the inner workings of an extremely conservative Catholic organization headquartered in Rome, whose members include the Pope's personal secretary, his spokesman, and several of his close ministers. These leaders are supported by 80,000 other believers around the world. Opus Dei is Latin for "God's Work," and Hutchison believes that Opus Dei's divine devotions include the operation of a media network as large as Rupert Murdoch's; immense financial support of the Church; and the preparation for a new Crusade against Islam. Their Kingdom Come paints Opus Dei as a Catholic conspiracy to infiltrate the world's upper echelons of political, financial, and educational power, and suggests that the group especially prizes its Mafia connections. Hutchison, a Swiss journalist who has written for the Sunday Telegraph and Toronto's Financial Post, weakens some of his arguments with cheap shots (chapter titles include "Moneybags Theology" and "Opus Octopus"), and he leans too heavily on anonymous sources for his most scandalous accusations. The few Opus Dei members whom he does identify, do, however, evince a steely, dogmatic self-confidence: "We have been chosen by God to save the Church," says one; "We have an orthodox vision that is pure, certain, solid, assured of everything," intones another. Opus Dei is the pope's only Personal Prelature, a privileged bishopric with no geographical boundaries. Learning more about the group is worth a reader's time, and Their Kingdom Come is a fine, though flawed, way to begin that endeavor. --Michael Joseph Gross

From the Publisher

The book the Catholic Church won't want you to read.

About this edition

• Publisher: Corgi Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0552167320
• ISBN 13: 9780552167321
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 576