Pope Leo XIV received the British journalist Gareth Gore in a private audience this Monday, as reported in the official bulletin of the Holy See’s Press Office.
The meeting has sparked interest due to the profile of the visitor; Gore is the author of a highly critical book on Opus Dei published in 2024 and has dedicated part of his recent journalistic activity to investigating and questioning the internal workings of the prelature.
The author of a highly critical book on Opus Dei
Gareth Gore is a financial journalist based in London who in 2024 published the book “Opus: dark money, a secretive cult, and its mission to remake our world”, an investigation into Opus Dei in which he argues that the institution has developed structures of power and internal practices that he considers problematic.
In his public interventions and various articles, Gore has gone so far as to describe Opus Dei as an “abusive sect.”
In the last year, the journalist has published several texts on the organization in the U.S. outlet National Catholic Reporter and has participated in numerous podcasts and interviews to promote his book.
Opus Dei’s response to the accusations
Opus Dei reacted publicly shortly after the book’s publication. In an official response, the prelature stated that Gore’s work presents “a false image of Opus Dei based on distorted facts, conspiracy theories, and lies.”
From the institution, it was insisted that the claims gathered in the book do not reflect the reality of Opus Dei nor the experience of the vast majority of its faithful, and it was defended that the prelature carries out its mission within the Church in accordance with canon law and under the authority of the Pope.
The context: the review of Opus Dei’s statutes
The audience with Gore is also taking place at a delicate moment for Opus Dei from an institutional standpoint.
The prelature is in the midst of a review of its statutes, a reform requested by the Vatican during Pope Francis’s pontificate.
Since his election in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV has held at least two meetings with Opus Dei’s leadership - in May 2025 and February 2026 - precisely to address the development of this legal adaptation process.
A meeting without official explanations
For the moment, the Vatican has offered no explanation about the content of the conversation between the Pope and the British journalist, nor whether the meeting is related to Gore’s investigations into Opus Dei or other matters.