On the latest episode of On The Case, host Alex Matthews interviews reporter for The Crime Desk Jordana Seal about posing as a lonely graduate to get inside Opus Dei, the secretive Catholic sect accused of enslaving young women.
Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá, later canonised as a saint, founded Opus Dei in Madrid in 1928, claiming a divine vision had called on him to create an institution helping ordinary people find holiness in their daily lives.
The group entered the popular imagination with the release of The Da Vinci Code, in which it was depicted as a powerful religious order whose devotees whip themselves bloody in service of a global conspiracy.
For the investigation, Seal interviewed former members of Opus Dei. Women like Teena Fogarty (pictured) who claim they were pressured into decades of unpaid labour
While the Opus Dei of Dan Brown’s novel is a caricature, allegations against the organisation are very real, spanning decades and continents.
‘Opus Dei have faced allegations of sexual assault, slavery, the abuse of women and children: abuses of power all across the globe’, Seal told On The Case.
‘They are alleged to have really powerful members in the US and the UK and are part of huge organisations that have the power to control many young women.’
In September 2024, prosecutors in Argentina formally accused senior Opus Dei figures of human trafficking and labour exploitation, alleging that girls from poor rural families, some as young as 12, were recruited with false promises of an education and instead put to years of unpaid domestic work.
Opus Dei categorically denies all allegations of abuse, saying the women freely chose a religious vocation and were paid in accordance with the law.
Wanting to understand how the group operates in the UK, and with former members alleging abuses that could not be investigated openly, Seal posed as a lonely graduate, new to London, to gain access to one of Opus Dei’s residences in the capital.
Pictured: The cilice (spiked garter) and discipline (small whip) used by members of Opus Dei
For her investigation, she also interviewed former members of Opus Dei: women who claim they were pressured into decades of unpaid labour and painful rituals, including self-whipping and wearing a cilice, a spiked chain, against their skin.
Seal reveals the extraordinary story behind her investigation to On The Case, from her initial discovery of the group on a Reddit forum to touring their ‘very strange’ premises undercover.
Listen to On The Case now, wherever you get your podcasts. Every Thursday, Alex Matthews interviews the Daily Mail’s award-winning crime reporters to take you inside their biggest and most chilling investigations.
