Diocese may sell seminary to school tied to Opus Dei

National Catholic Reporter, Feb 24, 1995 by Robert McClory

CHICAGO - The Chicago archdiocese appears poised to sell a former seminary complex to a school founded and run by members of Opus Dei.

Negotiations for the sale of the 21-acre Niles College have been under way for more than a year, and the apparent, favored choice is the Northridge Preparatory School, established in 1976 to inculcate the spirit and teachings of Opus Dei in students in grades six through 12.

Sources close to the situation told NCR that Cardinal Joseph Bernardin favors the deal with Northridge and is attempting to persuade the archdiocesan consultors to concur.

Many priests oppose turning over an archdiocesan facility to the ultraright group long associated with secrecy, elitism and absolute demands on its members. "There's a lot of concern about the sale," said Fr. Don Nevins, an administrator at St. Mary of the Lake University. "I've yet to talk to anybody who favors it."

Fr. Tom Ventura, a pastor in suburban Winnetka, said there may be some argument for viewing the church as a great umbrella with room beneath for both right and left, but there is equal concern that an excessively aggressive organization may take advantage of others' tolerance to impose its own agenda.

Fr. Tom Dore, one of the consultors, acknowledged there is division among his fellow consultors on the wisdom of a sale to an Opus Dei institution. Archdiocesan spokesman Bob Quakenbush said Northridge Prep is among the bidders but no definite buyer has been selected. The asking price, he said, is about $9 million.

Niles College, located at a major traffic intersection in the northwest suburb of Niles, has 14 buildings, including a gym and library. It was dosed last September and the seminarians were moved to a revamped building on the lakeshore campus of Loyola University here.

Northridge Prep, with a current enrollment of 208, is neither owned nor directly funded by Opus Dei, said Luke Ferris, assistant headmaster. However, he explained, its founders included Opus Dei families, its chaplain is an Opus Dei priest, its headmaster and assistant headmaster are Opus Dei numeraries - laypersons with a vow of celibacy - and two-thirds of the faculty are Opus Dei members. Religious formation, Ferris noted, reflects the approach of the Opus Dei founder, Fr. Josemaria Escriva.

The school, currently housed in a former Catholic elementary school in Niles, has long been seeking an opportunity to expand. Its students, 15 percent of whom are non-Catholics, tend to excel in college, said Ferris.

A companion school for girls, The Willows, similarly operated by Opus Dei members, is also in Niles. Opus Dei, established in Spain in 1928, has been much favored by Pope John Paul II, who gave it the unique status of "personal prelature" - a worldwide quasi-diocese independent of local bishops - and oversaw the beatification of Escriva in 1992.

Critics view it as a cultlike organization that tends to control its members' lives. "There is an intense proselytism and recruiting of people who aren't told the details of membership until they're already hooked," said Deanne Di Nicola, director of the Opus Dei Awareness Network, based in Pittsfield, Mass. "Then they find themselves in a totalitarian environment."