 Several of Escrivá's collaborators stated that he actually despised dictatorships.John Allen has written that Escrivá was neither anti-Franco nor pro-Franco.Some critics of Opus Dei, such as Miguel Fisac and Damian Thompson, have argued that the group has always sought "advancement not only of its message but also of its interests", and that it has consistently courted those with power and influence, without maintaining a coherent political ideology.