Opus Dei

After the global success of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," the layman could be forgiven for thinking an Opus Dei school for boys might not be a great idea.

With a plot revolving around a misogynistic church cover-up, the bestseller that made the organization a household name also did a lot to sully its reputation.

Gender equality in education

Brandenburg's Education Ministry might not be so susceptible to Hollywood's treatment of the organization, but it could have paused to consider the implications of a school associated with this conservative and secretive Roman Catholic group.

Instead, it nipped in the bud the project initiated by parents in Potsdam for the far more prosaic reason that all children have a right to an education regardless of gender, race and religion. A boys-only school, the ministry said, would infringe on that right.

But that the parents' initiative which applied to open the school does not feel that way.

"It makes educational sense to school boys and girls separately," retaliated Christoph Rüssel, one of those behind the application. He also maintains the ministry decision is untenable.

"The Constitution guarantees parents the right to choose alternative schooling for their children," he insisted. Legal experts have agreed, on the grounds that laws on gender equality in education do not apply to private schooling.

Sinister Cult?

Meanwhile, Rüssel downplayed the Opus Dei connection, saying the school would have kept to Brandenburg's standard curriculum.

"Opus Dei would have provided spiritual direction," he said. "It would have supplied a priest, who would have held regular mass and given classes on religion. But these classes would have reflected the archbishopric's syllabus."

Often described as the most controversial force in the Catholic Church, the organization has 85,000 members worldwide, and 600 in Germany.

Opus Dei -- which in Latin means "Work of God" -- was founded by Roman Catholic priest Josemaria Escriva in 1928 in Madrid.

The movement flourished during the years of Franco's rule, spreading first throughout Spain and expanding internationally after 1945.

Many of the concerns about the organization's credibility focus on these years, with critics asserting that Escriva and the organization supported the governments of Franco and Augusto Pinochet.

Escriva allegedly also expressed sympathy for Adolf Hitler. Even today, Opus Dei priests have reportedly been known to doubt the extent of the Holocaust.

Communist throwback

Wieland Niekirsch of the Christian Democrats has dismissed the decision to turn down the application as a throwback to the Communist era.

"Clearly, one can have private and even critical objections to a Catholic high school backed by members of Opus Dei," he said. "But to turn this into a guideline for government decisions is reminiscent of the negative aspects of the former East Germany's educational policies."