The intrigue of it all....Opus Dei 101

So here I am facing another Minnesota winter, looking to expand my mind. Naturally I turn to "The Winter & Spring 2006 Community Education Catalog" of the Eden Prairie, Minnesota public schools, where I see the very first course offering is:

Da Vinci Code Historical Seminar
Did you find the historical events in the 2003 fictional best-seller interesting but too fantastic to believe? Actually, most of the background items cited in the book were tied to events purportedly recorded in history.

What really made me pause however was this line: "The Priory of Sion actually existed since 1099, and Opus Dei frightfully exists right here in the U.S.A., today!"

Mr. George Tkach is the "teacher" of the "Da Vinci Code Historical Seminar" in Eden Prairie's "Adult Academy." He told Susan Vigilantes, the writer of this article that:

"Some dioceses have outlawed the book, you know. Several bishops have forbidden people to read it."
. . .
He then explained that the crucial point is that Opus Dei is "not a part of the Catholic Church. It's an arm of the pope. They're patterned on the Jesuits. The Jesuits' motto is 'The end justifies any means.'" (That would have to be a somewhat loose translation of "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam," more typically rendered as "To the greater glory of God.")

I wonder what St. Jose Maria Escriva has to say about this?