John Allen has a good articleabout the upcoming Roland Joffe film, There Be Dragons. TBD is a fictional story which includes the real character of St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei.

Fun quote:

Six years ago I published a book on Opus Dei, attempting to sort myth from reality about the controversial Catholic group. One question I hoped to answer was this: What was it about St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei, which inspired hundreds of thousands of people around the world, far beyond the group’s relatively meager membership of roughly 90,000?

I presumed that all those people weren’t drawn to Opus Dei’s reputation for being a fanatical right-wing cabal seeking to hijack financial markets, topple governments, and restore the church militant. So beyond that black legend, what was it about Escrivá that people found compelling?

Even though I’m not a member of Opus Dei, I was interviewed for Allen’s book on Opus Dei. It makes for good background to TBD or even The DaVinci Code.

But Allen’s point here in particular should prompt a great discussion:

Joffé has now made films lionizing members of two groups historically regarded as sort of the matter and anti-matter of the Catholic universe: The Jesuits and Opus Dei. It’s ironic – and, perhaps, not a little bit revealing – that it has taken a “wobbly agnostic,” rather than a Catholic, to make movies with something positive to say about both.

See for yourselves on May 6 in the U.S. or March 24 if you happen to be in Spain!