The da Vinci Code purportedly

Susan Vigilante saw a Community Education course being offered called Da Vinci Code Historical Seminar, whose ad announces that the Dan Brown book is "tied to events purportedly recorded in history". She decided to investigate. She spoke to the teacher.

He then explained that the crucial point is that Opus Dei is "not a part of the Catholic Church. It's an arm of the pope. They're patterned on the Jesuits. The Jesuits' motto is 'The end justifies any means.'" (That would have to be a somewhat loose translation of "Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam," more typically rendered as "To the greater glory of God.") Not all that surprisingly, Mr. Tkach didn't know very much about Opus Dei, not even many lies. He was strongly of the opinion that it is "elitist." "If you want to be a member you'd better have a master's degree and a couple hundred thousand in the bank. They own a 47-story in midtown Manhattan, you know." (It's 17 stories.) When I asked him why he thinks it is frightening that Opus Dei exists "right here in the USA, today!" he told me if he had it to do again, he would have left "frightfully" out. In fact, he'd had concerns about the word at the time, fearing it might be too controversial.

I'm relieved to hear that she didn't finish the book, either. I lasted a page and a half.