The Argentine justice system formally accused four priests who occupied the leadership of Opus Dei between 1991 and 2022 of the crimes of reduction to servitude and human trafficking. In 2021, 43 women between 40 and 50 years old reported that the religious congregation recruited them when they were minors and made them work for free for decades as domestic workers. They all agreed that they were deceived with the promise that they would have a home and be able to go to school. The instruction they received, however, was reduced to learning how to iron, cook and clean to satisfy “without receiving a salary” the demands of the members of Opus Dei in Argentina and the world.
All of the accused occupied the vicariate general of the institution: Carlos Nannei (1991-2000), Patricio Olmos (2000-2010), Víctor Urrestarazu (2014-2022) and Gabriel Dondo, who was director of the women’s branch in Argentina.
The text from the prosecution says that Opus Dei captured the complainants when they were between 12 and 16 years old through a plan that “consisted of presenting a false proposal related to the possibility of continuing and completing their primary and secondary studies, as well as receiving training. professional to obtain job opportunities, all in a context of religious education.” But, instead, the accusation says, the victims “dedicated a large part of their lives to domestic service at the institution’s headquarters, facing exhausting work days without receiving a salary.” “In some cases, they even received remuneration that they had to return to those in charge of the places where they resided. They did not even have the possibility of an effective rest or respect for any other labor rights, being trapped in a superstructure devoid of rights without any control or supervision that lasted for years,” says the request for an investigation against the four religious.
The text also details the indoctrination methods to which women were subjected in Opus Dei centers, based on psychological manipulation, a rigid belief system and “disciplinary means of punishment.” Among the “rules of life” that women had to observe were the obligation of chastity, the breaking of all family and outside ties, and submission to health check-ups that included the provision of psychiatric medication.
Opus Dei denies all accusations. “The impression is that to construct this complaint, a complete decontextualization of the training received by some of the women in the group and the vocation freely chosen by the auxiliary numeraries of Opus Dei is carried out. “This is a totally false accusation,” says the document published by the institution. According to the procedural times of the Argentine justice system, the defense of the priests and the lawyers of the complainants must now present evidence and witnesses. Once this stage is completed, the prosecutor may or may not request the prosecution of the priests, a step prior to the oral trial.
Subscribe here to the newsletter THE COUNTRY America and receive all the key information on current events in the region.
#Argentine #justice #accuses #Opus #Dei #officials #subjecting #women #regime #servitude #trafficking