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The Priory of Sion-a European secret society founded in 1099-is a real organization.
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 The Priory of Sion is an association that was founded in 1956, in the French town of Annemasse. As with all associations, French law requires the association to be registered with the government. This took place at the Sous-Prefecture of Saint Julien-en-Genevois, in May 1956, and its registration was noted on 20 July 1956 in the 'Journal Officiel de la Republique Francaise'. The founders and signatories are in scribed as Pierre Plantard (known as Chyren"), Andre Bonhomme (known as "Stanis Bellas"), Jean Delaval and Armand Defago. The purpose of the association according to its Statutes deposited at St. Julien was entered as, "etudes et entraide des membres" - "education and mutual aid of the members".
In practice, the originator of the association and its key protagonist was most probably Pierre Plantard, its General Secretary, although its nominal head ("President") was Andre  Bonhomme. The choice of the name, 'Sion' was based on a hill south of Annemasse, known as 'Mount Sion'. The association was dissolved sometime after October 1956 but intermittently revived for different reasons by Plantard between 1962 and 1993 in name and paper only. A letter at the Sous-Prefecture of Saint-Julien en Genevois indicates that Plantard had a criminal conviction as a con man.
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In 1975 Paris' Bibliotheque National discovered parchments known as “Les Dossiers Secrets"
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In the 1960's, Pierre Plantard began writing a manuscript and produced "parchments" (created by his friend, Philippe de Cherisey) that Father Berenger Sauniere had supposedly discovered whilst renovating his church in Rennes-le-Chateau. These forged documents alluded to the survival of the Merovingian line of Frankish kings. Plantard manipulated Sauniere's activities at Rennes-le-Chateau in order to "prove" his claims relating to the Priory of Sion.
 Between 1961 and 1984 Plantard contrived a mythical pedigree of the Priory of Sion claiming that it was the offshoot of the "Order of Sion" (its correct historical title being the Abbey de Notre Dame du Mont Sion) which had been founded in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. Calling his original 1956 group "Priory of Sion" undoubtedly gave Plantard the later idea to claim that his organization had been historically founded in Jerusalem during the Crusades when meeting Gerard de Sede during the 1960's - this fabrication by Pierre Plantard was part of his literary deal with the author Gerard de Sede when they both began collaborating together during the early 1960s in a series of published books.
In order to give credibility to the fabricated lineage and pedigree, Plantard and de Cherisey needed to create 'independent evidence'. So during the 1960s, they deposited a series of forged documents, the so-called Dossiers Secrets or "Secret Dossiers", at the Bibliotheque national de France (BnF), in Paris. Therefore, people who set out to research the 'Priory of Sion' would come across these fake documents at the BnF.
Under oath, Plantard had to admit that he had fabricated everything, including Pelat's involvement with the Priory of Sion. Plantard was ordered to cease and desist all activities related to the promotion of the Priory of Sion and lived in obscurity until his death on 3 February 2000 in Paris.
More Info on “The Priory of Sion”:
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The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic sect.
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Opus Dei was founded in 1928 by St. Josemaría Escrivá. It was approved by the bishop of
Madrid in 1941 and by the Holy See in 1947. Since 1982, Opus Dei has been a personal prelature of the Catholic Church – not The . Personal prelatures exist to carry out specific pastoral missions in the Church, and are part of the jurisdictional, hierarchical structure of the Church. Personal prelatures have a prelate, secular priests, and men and women lay faithful, united as a single organism to carry out the prelature's mission. In Opus Dei’s case, this mission is to spread the ideal of holiness in the middle of the world and show that work and the ordinary circumstances of life are occasions for growing closer to God, for serving others, and for improving society. Opus Dei complements the work of local churches by offering classes, talks, retreats and pastoral care that help people develop their personal spiritual life and apostolate.
Opus Dei is a Catholic ORDER not a Sect!
In various places, The Da Vinci Code describes Opus Dei as a “sect” or a “cult.” The fact is that Opus Dei is a fully integrated part of the Catholic Church and has no doctrines or practices except those of the Church. There is no definition or theory – whether academic or popular – that provides a basis for applying the pejorative terms “sect” or “cult” to Opus Dei.
Opus Dei is a Catholic institution that seeks to help people integrate their faith and the activities of their daily life. As a personal prelature (an organizational structure of the Catholic Church), it complements the work of local Catholic parishes by providing people with additional spiritual education and guidance.
 Opus Dei was founded in in 1928 by a Catholic priest, St. Josemaría Escrivá, and began to grow with the support of the local bishops there. It received final approval from the in 1950 and began growing in many countries around the world. Today Opus Dei has roughly 83,000 lay members (over 3,000 in the ) and 2,000 priests. Several million people around the world participate in its programs and activities, which are conducted in more than 60 countries.
The Da Vinci Code also makes melodramatic assertions that Opus Dei engages in “brainwashing,” “coercion,” and “aggressive recruiting," unfairly trying to tar Opus Dei with the same brush used against groups more deserving of such epithets.
 Opus Dei proposes to people to give their lives to God, following a special path of service within the Catholic Church. One’s life can only be given freely, through a decision coming from the heart, not from external pressure: pressure is both wrong and ineffective. Opus Dei always respects the freedom of conscience of its members, prospective members, and everyone else it deals with.
As a manifestation of its beliefs about the importance of freedom, Opus Dei has specific safeguards to ensure that decisions to join are free and fully informed. For example, nobody can make a permanent membership commitment in Opus Dei without first having completed more than 6 years of systematic and comprehensive instruction as to what membership entails. Additionally, no one can make a temporary commitment before age 18, nor a commitment to permanent membership before age 23.
Additional explanation from leading Catholic figures on Opus Dei and cult allegations.
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Opus Dei’s “dangerous practice known as ‘corporal mortification’.
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The Da Vinci Code makes it appear that Opus Dei members practice bloody mortifications. In fact, though history indicates that some Catholic saints have done so, Opus Dei members do not do this.
 The Catholic Church advises people to practice mortification. The mystery of Jesus Christ’s Passion shows that voluntary sacrifice has a transcendent value and can bring spiritual benefits to others. Voluntary sacrifice also brings personal spiritual benefits, enabling one to resist the inclination to sin. For these reasons, the Church prescribes fasting on certain days and recommends that the faithful practice other sorts of mortification as well. Mortification is by no means the centerpiece of the Christian life, but nobody can grow closer to God without it: “There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2015).
In the area of mortification, Opus Dei emphasizes small sacrifices rather than extraordinary ones, in keeping with its spirit of integrating faith with secular life. For example, Opus Dei members try to make small sacrifices such as persevering at their work when tired, occasionally passing up some small pleasure, or giving help to those in need.
 Some Opus Dei members also make limited use of the cilice and discipline, types of mortification that have always had a place in the Catholic tradition because of their symbolic reference to Christ’s Passion. The Church teaches that people should take reasonable care of their physical health, and anyone with experience in this matter knows that these practices do not injure one’s health in any way. The Da Vinci Code’s description of the cilice and discipline is greatly exaggerated and distorted: it is simply not possible to injure oneself with them as the novel depicts. Moreover, their use is motivated by love of God and desire to unite oneself with Jesus Christ, not guilt, self-hatred or self-punishment.
Additional explanation from leading Catholic sources regarding Opus Dei and corporal mortification.
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All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.
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It will be shown that virtually all the descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in The Da Vinci Code are False! Distorted! or Do Not actually Even Exist!
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Pagan Symbols at Chartres
Cathedral
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Christian tradition has long connected the authors of the four canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) with the four "living creatures" that surround God's throne, as in Rev. 4:7. The icons above depict in symbolic form the four writers of the Gospels surrounding the Lamb of God: Matthew by the winged man, Mark by the winged lion, Luke by the winged ox, and John by the eagle.
 These symbols were based upon the vision of Saint John in the Book of Revelation (4:6–7). The lion signifies the royalty of Christ, the ox His priestly office, the man His incarnation and the eagle the grace of the Holy Spirit, and must also have been suggested by the vision of Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:10), although Ezekiel's description is most likely of cherubim.
Rev. 4:7 The first living creature was like a lion. The second was like a calf. The third had a face like a man. The fourth was like a flying eagle.
Ezek. 1:10 Their faces looked like this: Each living creature had a human face and the face of a lion on the right side and the face of an ox on the left side. And each one also had the face of an eagle.
 ST. Matthew, Apostle and Martyr: Matthew is called the divine man, since he teaches about the human nature of Christ and his version of the gospel begins with Jesus paternal genealogy.
 ST. MARK, MARTYR: Mark is called the winged lion, since he informs us of the royal dignity of Christ and his version of the gospel begins: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness,” suggesting the roar of the lion.
 ST. LUKE, Apostle and MARTYR: Luke is called the winged ox, since he deals with the sacrificial aspects of Christ’s life and his version of the gospel begins with a scene in the temple.
 ST. JOHN, APOSTLE: John is called the rising eagle, since his gaze pierces so far into the mysteries of Heaven and his version of the gospel begins with a lofty prologue that is a poem of the Word become flesh.
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