Page 29 - bon-dia-aruba-20211113

A29
world news Diasabra 13 November 2021

Women in Argentina claim labor exploitation by Opus Dei

(AP) — Lucía Giménez still The lay group, which was Vatican but has been in con-
suffers pain in her knees from greatly favored by St. John tact with the women’s legal
the years she spent scrubbing Paul II, who canonized Es- representatives to “listen to
floors in the men’s bathroom crivá in 2002, has a unique the problems and find a solu-
at the Opus Dei residence in status in the church and re- tion.”
Argentina’s capital for hours ports directly to the pope.
without pay. Most members are laymen The women in the complaint
and women with secular have one thing in common:
Giménez, now 56, joined the jobs and families who strive humble origins. They were
conservative Catholic group to “sanctify ordinary life.” recruited and separated from
in her native Paraguay at the Other members are priests or their families between the
age of 14 with the prom- celibate lay people. ages of 12 and 16. In some
ise she would get an educa- cases, like Gimenez’s, they
tion. But instead of math or The complaint alleges the were taken to Opus Dei
history, she was trained in women, often minors at the centers in another country,
cooking, cleaning and other time, labored under “mani- circumventing immigration
household chores to serve in festly illegal conditions” that controls. throughout the world. ... It is that abandoning their voca-
Opus Dei residences and re- included working without something institutional.” tion would be tantamount to
tirement homes. pay for 12 hours-plus with- They claim that Opus Dei abandoning God.
out breaks except for food priests and other members The women’s complaint,
For 18 years she washed or prayer, no registration in exercised “coercion of con- filed in September with the Pope Francis has been crack-
clothes, scrubbed bathrooms the Social Security system science” on the women to Vatican Congregation for the ing down on 20th-century
and attended to the group’s and other violations of basic pressure them to serve and Doctrine of the Faith, also religious movements after
needs for 12 hours a day, with rights. to frighten them with spiri- points to dozens of priests several religious orders and
breaks only for meals and tual evils if they didn’t com- affiliated with Opus Dei for lay groups were accused of
praying. Despite her hard The women are demanding ply with the supposed will of their alleged “intervention, sexual and other abuses by
labor, she says: “I never saw financial reparations from God. They also controlled participation and knowledge their leaders. Opus Dei has
money in my hands.” Opus Dei and that it ac- their relations with the out- in the denounced events.” so far avoided much of the
knowledges the abuses and side world. recent controversy, though
Giménez and 41 other apologizes to them, as well as The allegations in the com- there have been cases of indi-
women have filed a com- the punishment of those re- Most of the women asked plaint are similar to those vidual priests accused of mis-
plaint against Opus Dei to sponsible. to leave as the physical and made by members of another conduct.
the Vatican for alleged labor psychological demands be- conservative Catholic orga-
exploitation, as well as abuse “I was sick of the pain in my came intolerable. But when nization also favored by St. “We do not have any official
of power and of conscience. knees, of getting down on they finally did, they were John Paul II, the Legion of notification from the Vatican
The Argentine and Para- my knees to do the showers,” left without money. Many Christ. The Legion recruited about the existence of a com-
guayan citizens worked for Giménez told The Associ- also said they needed psycho- young women to become plaint of this type,” Josefina
the movement in Argentina, ated Press. “They don’t give logical treatment after leaving consecrated members of its Madariaga, director of Opus
Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, you time to think, to criticize Opus Dei. lay branch, Regnum Chris- Dei’s press office in Argen-
Italy and Kazakhstan between and say that you don’t like it. ti, to work in Legion-run tina, told the AP. She said the
1974 and 2015. You have to endure because “The hierarchy (of Opus schools and other projects. women’s lawyer informed
you have to surrender totally Dei) is aware of these prac- the group last year of their
Opus Dei — Work of God in to God.” tices,” said Sebastián Sal, the Those women alleged spiri- complaints about the lack of
Latin — was founded by the women’s lawyer. “It is an tual and psychological abuse, contributions to Argentina’s
Spanish priest Josemaría Es- In a statement to the AP, Opus internal policy of Opus Dei. of being separated from fam- social security system.
crivá in 1928, and has 90,000 Dei said it had not been noti- The search for these women ily and being told their dis-
members in 70 countries. fied of the complaint to the is conducted the same way comfort was “God’s will” and

Myanmar court sentences US journalist to 11 years in jail

(AP) — A court in military- crime,” U.N. deputy spokes-
ruled Myanmar on Friday The court found him guilty U.N. human rights chief “Journalists have been under man Farhan Haq said.
sentenced U.S. journalist on Friday of spreading false Michelle Bachelet said Fen- attack since Feb. 1, with the
Danny Fenster to 11 years or inflammatory informa- ster’s conviction and harsh military leadership clearly
in prison with hard labor, tion, contacting illegal orga- sentence “is emblematic of attempting to suppress their The army’s takeover was op-
the maximum penalty un- nizations and violating visa the wider plight of journal- attempts to report on the se- posed by widespread peaceful
der three charges, despite regulations, lawyer Than ists in Myanmar who have rious human rights violations protests that were put down
calls by the United States Zaw Aung said. been facing constant repres- being perpetrated across with lethal force. Security
and rights groups for his sion since the Feb. 1 military Myanmar as well as the ex- forces killed more than 1,200
release. Fenster wept after hearing coup.” tent of opposition to the re- civilians and arrested about
the sentence and has not yet gime,” Bachelet said. “Myan- 10,000 others, according to
It was the harshest punish- decided whether to appeal, According to Bachelet, at mar has quickly reverted to the Assistance Association for
ment yet among the seven the lawyer said. least 126 journalists, media an environment of informa- Political Prisoners. Armed
journalists known to have officials or publishers have tion control, censorship and resistance has since spread,
been convicted since the The harsh penalty is the rul- been detained by the mili- propaganda seen under mili- and U.N. experts and other
military ousted the elected ing military’s latest rebuff of tary since the military seized tary regimes in the past.” observers fear the incipient
government of Nobel laure- calls from around the world power and 47 remain in de- insurgency could slide into
ate Aung San Suu Kyi in Feb- for a peaceful end to Myan- tention, including 20 charged civil war.
ruary. mar’s political crisis. The with crimes. U.N. Secretary-General
government is refusing to Antonio Guterres supports Fenster was detained at Yan-
Fenster, the managing edi- cooperate with an envoy ap- Nine media outlets have had Bachelet’s views, and reiter- gon International Airport on
tor of the online magazine pointed by Southeast Asian their licenses revoked, 20 ated that journalists every- May 24 as he was about to
Frontier Myanmar, still faces governments to mediate a others have had to suspend where, including those in board a flight to go to the De-
additional terrorism and trea- solution, and has not bowed operations, and dozens of Myanmar, must be allowed troit area in the United States
son charges under which he to sanctions imposed by the journalists remain in hid- to work without harassment to see his family.
could receive up to life in United States and several ing due to outstanding arrest and that reporting facts “is
prison. other Western countries. warrants, she said. not and must not be seen as a