# Opus Dei Opus Dei is a conservative personal prelature of the Catholic Church, founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá -- the only personal prelature in the Church. In [[The Octopus]] frame it is the most-cited node when the Catholic right is described as a disciplined network reaching into American legal and political power. ## Structure and influence Membership is tiered: celibate "numeraries" who live in Opus Dei centers, and married "supernumeraries" who live in their own homes and make up roughly 70% of members. In Washington, the Catholic Information Center on K Street is widely described as an Opus Dei stronghold; influential conservative legal organizer Leonard Leo sat on its board alongside former Attorney General [[William Barr]]. A precision point often garbled in the conspiracy literature: Leo is a donor and ally of Opus Dei causes, **not** a member of the prelature. ## Epistemic status Opus Dei's structure, the Catholic Information Center connection, and Leo's board membership and donations are documented. Sweeping claims that Opus Dei "controls" the U.S. judiciary overstate a real but looser network of shared personnel and money, and should be treated as interpretation, not fact. ## See also - [[The Octopus]] - [[Knights of Malta]] - [[Legatus]] - [[Vatican]]