The Sarah Landry Series : Part. 5

The Opus Dei Connection

Affiliation with Opus Dei, Bishop Ralph 

By 2013, she had started appropriating all that she had learned from His Divine Holiness into a Christian movement where she was considered the divine leader and Female God. She conducted programs and talks with followers of this new appropriated Christianity, and even was recognised by members of the Catholic clergy. In one article, it was found that she had partnered with Bishop Ralph Napierski. A member of Opus Dei, Ralph Napierski sought to promote “Ma Sudevi” as the feminine figure of Godhead amongst the Catholic community, taking the first step towards the revival of the Catholic Church’s image amongst Christians. Brought up in a Roman Catholic background herself, she was a perfect candidate to hold this status.

The Catholic Church has, for a long time,  excluded women from the clergy and left gender out of the sermons and teachings being taught in church. The role of a woman was limited. Today, women’s rights, gender equality and brining an end to sexual violence are highly discussed topics which are fought for by human rights advocates and humanitarian organizations all over the world. In this situation, the Opus Dei has the right to preach its own teachings in order to cater to these issues without the approval of the Roman Catholic Church. In response, while the Roman Catholic Church does not itself do this- Opus Dei has offered its membership to women and offered its services in women centers. 

Sarah admits herself that she was highly disappointed when she learnt that was ineligible to be a priest on account of her gender. Hinduism, however, provides the perfect pathway for a woman to take such positions of leadership in a community or in the religion itself. 

Thus, after this association with such an organisation, she returned back to His Divine Holiness’ headquarters in Bengaluru, South India, where she desired to be initiated and learn the superhuman capabilities which His Divine Holiness has demonstrated in His disciples. Manifesting Shaktis, as He called it, was possible through mere initiation which enabled any individual to connect to Paramashiva from a  space of Oneness, and express the extraordinary powers of the Third eye. His Divine Holiness had initiated her into this science as well. With this, the stage was set for her to not just appropriate ancient Hindu knowledge and repackage it with a Christian name, but also to present herself as the embodiment of a Marian figure – a savior and a body of miracles.