Opus Dei members on trial over accusations of abuse

TWO members of the powerful Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei went on trial in a Paris court yesterday, accused of subjecting a disciple to years of abusive working practices.

Catherine Tessier has claimed she was forced to work 100 hours a week for no wages by Opus Dei – which is funded by the Vatican – after her parents sent her on a live-in catering course in north-east France.

Claire Bardon de Segonzac, the head of the Dosnon School attended by Ms Tissier, and Agnes Duhail, head of the Couvrelles International Meeting Centre connected to the college in northern France, are defendants in the trial.

Ms Tessier, now 40, has said she was treated as a “virtual slave” after joining the college in 1985 at the age of 14.

Opus Dei has insisted it was “not involved in the charges being brought” and had “nothing to be guilty about”.