London Opus Dei head complains to BBC over depiction on TV show

Published: 2007-01-25

LONDON (CNS) -- The director of Opus Dei in London has formally complained to the British Broadcasting Corp. over an alleged "defamatory portrayal" of the organization in a television police drama. The director, Jack Valero, said two episodes of "Waking the Dead," shown on the BBC One channel Jan. 21-22, depicted Opus Dei members as violent and hypocrites. "In these programs Opus Dei was portrayed as an organization of murderers, thieves and adulterers who justify and cover up evil actions while hiding behind a veneer of hypocritical piety and penitential rituals of self-flagellation," Valero said in a Jan.23 letter to the BBC. Valero told the BBC it was wrong to name Opus Dei and then attribute fictional characteristics to its members. He said it would have been more fair to invent an imaginary organization for the storyline.

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