- For other uses of the term Opus Dei, please see Opus Dei (disambiguation).
The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, commonly known as Opus Dei (Latin "The Work of God"), is a Roman Catholic institution founded on October 2, 1928, by Saint Josemaría Escrivá.
Opus Dei is a global organisation with approximately 85,430 faithful in eighty countries, and central offices in Rome. In 1982 it was established as a Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II.
The prelature's aim is "to contribute to [the] evangelising mission of the Church" by spreading the the doctrine that everyone is called to become a saint and an apostle. Opus Dei "encourages Christians of all social classes to live consistently with their faith in the middle of the ordinary circumstances of their lives." [1]
Blessed and encouraged by the Popes, the Opus Dei prelature and its principles have the support of many Catholic leaders around the world: Built on the idea that Christians attain great joy from an awareness of being children of God, Opus Dei teaches them about their personal freedom and responsibility in pursuing the first purpose of the Catholic Church: sanctity or inner union with God. To help them put this into practice, Opus Dei offers the necessary training in converting their daily activities into prayer and apostolate.
Criticized in various ways throughout its history, Opus Dei has been described as one of the most controversial organisations in the Catholic Church today. Catholic theologians call it a sign of contradiction, a sign that is spoken against.
The Personal Prelature of Opus Dei forms part of the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church and is under the Congregation of Bishops.
Foundation and mission
Opus Dei was founded by St. Josemaria Escriva, who as a young lad saw footprints in the snow left by a monk walking barefooted in winter. This brought about, according to Escrivá, "intimations of love," inklings that he "had been chosen for something." After years of praying to find out what it was, on 2 October 1928, Escrivá, a priest by then, "saw Opus Dei."
The mission of Opus Dei, in the words of the founder, is:
- "to help those Christians who...form part of the very texture of civil society to understand that their life...is a way of holiness and apostolate. The one and only mission of Opus Dei is the spreading of this message which comes from the Gospel. And to those who grasp this ideal of holiness, the Work offers the spiritual assistance and the doctrinal, ascetical and apostolic training which they need to put it into practice." [2]
Its main activity is to "give a Christian formation to its members and to other people who wish to receive it." [3] Escrivá summarized the prelature's role as "a great catechesis."
Teachings
The teachings of Opus Dei on the universal call to holiness and apostolate were made a most central doctrine of the Second Vatican Council: [4]
"All the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his own way, to that perfect holiness whereby the Father Himself is perfect (Mt 5:48)."
"It belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in the affairs of the world and directing them according to God's will."
According to Le Tourneau in What is Opus Dei?, Opus Dei's teachings "belong to the common patrimony of the Catholic Church, throwing a special light on secular realities." The following is a theological synthesis of St. Josemaría 's spiritual teachings, the core principles of Opus Dei. [5]
- Ordinary life. Having become members of God's family through baptism, all Christians are called to a life of holiness consistent with their new nature as children of God. "The majority of Christians," Escrivá writes, "should sanctify themselves in the world, through ordinary work." By this, they follow Jesus, who worked as a carpenter and lived as a son of a Jewish family in a small village for 30 years.
- Santifying work. Whatever work they do is to be done with a spirit of excellence as an effective service for the needs of society. Their work then becomes a fitting offering to God. In his work of service, Jesus Christ "did all things well." (Mk 7:37)
- Love for freedom. Christians should love freedom because God the Son himself, on becoming man, took on human freedom. He sanctified mankind through love: by freely giving himself, "obeying" his Father's will throughout his ordinary life, "until death on the cross." (Phil 2,8) With his free choices ("because he wants to" (Is 53,7)), each man directs his life towards hell or towards holiness, the two ultimate roads of life. [[6]
- Prayer and mortification. Love, the essence of sanctity and apostolate, is nurtured by constant child-like prayer which is supported by norms of piety involving the Eucharist, confession, the Bible, and the Virgin Mary. Mortification, "prayer of the senses," is especially done through a sportive struggle to practice all the human virtues. "Do everything for Love." [7] "'Great' holiness consists in carrying out the 'little duties' of each moment." [8] These actions are co-offered in the Holy Mass, the same redeeming sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the center and root of a Christian's life.
- Charity and apostolate. Christians are to give the highest importance to the virtue of charity: understanding, compassion, courtesy, helping the needy, and fraternal correction. Love is orderly and should start with one’s duties. Charity demands apostolate, giving the best to people--God, the source of peace and joy.
- Unity of life. A Christian who practices these teachings has no double life, a life of faith divorced from daily work. Instead, he has a "unity of life" -- a profound union with Jesus Christ, both fully God and fully man, one person in whom divine power is fused with ordinary human activity. A true Christian's work is God's work, opus Dei. This Christian, despite all the defects which he humbly tries to remove, is alter Christus, ipse Christus, another Christ, Christ himself. [9]
According to St. Josemaría, the foundation of Opus Dei's spirit is "divine filiation", a truth about Christians which God impressed in his soul in 1931. [10] Divine filiation is the Christian's fundamental state as a son of God in Christ, a deep awareness of which brings about immense happiness on earth: [11] "Joy comes from knowing we are children of God." [12] Opus Dei, in the words of Escriva, is "a smiling asceticism." (See [13])
There are different views on the worth of Escrivá's teachings. In Opus Dei in the United States, Associate Editor of America Magazine, Jesuit Fr. James Martin (1995), says the maxims found in Escriva's The Way range "from traditional Christian pieties...to sayings that could easily have come out of Poor Richard’s Almanack." Vatican theologians, in contrast, say that St. Josemaría is "like a figure from the deepest spiritual sources." They say the founder of Opus Dei "possesses the force of the classic writers, the temper of a Father of the Church." For a fuller discussion, please see Teachings of Opus Dei.
A personal prelature of the Catholic Church
Those who practice the teachings of Opus Dei and feel called to a special vocation form a "spiritual family." This family, of which St. Josemaría was the head and the "first vocation," had to find a legal structure that fits its foundational idea or charism, according to Catholic theology.
Due to the novelty of Opus Dei's teachings and organization plus the inadequacy of legal structures in the Church, it took many years of twists and turns (1928-1982) before Opus Dei was granted the legal framework that fits its charism. And so it was on 28 November 1982, that Catholic Church established Opus Dei as personal prelature, a framework envisioned in Vatican II. John Paul II stated that it is "perfectly suited to Opus Dei." [14] (Fuenmayor et al, The Canonical Path of Opus Dei 1996)
According to John Paul II, this structure is consistent with what he calls specific characteristics of Opus Dei: the organisation is international in scope and under one head. It includes both clergy and laity working as one with no distinctions of class of membership between them. It is for men and women who are common laity or secular priests. Being a part of the Church's hierarchical structure, like a diocese, indicates that Opus Dei is a part of the Church itself, and not a mere product of voluntary association.
Like dioceses and military ordinariates, personal prelatures are under the Congregation for Bishops, for they take charge of lay people with their own secular clergy and prelate, unlike the religious orders which are under the Congregation for the Religious, because they take charge of nuns, monks, friars, religious priests, and lay orders which follow religious practices.
Like military ordinariates, personal prelatures take care of persons with some particular objectives, regardless of diocesan geographical boundaries.
The authority of the Opus Dei prelate over the prelature's faithful is restricted to their spiritual and apostolic commitments in pursuit of the prelature's mission. As Catholic faithful whose vocation is to sanctify their ordinary situation both civil and ecclesial, the lay members of Opus Dei "continue to be ... under the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop in what the law lays down for all the ordinary faithful." [15]
Vocation and membership
The Vatican Yearbook indicates that Opus Dei has 85,000 members about 1,900 of whom are priests. Of these 1,900 priests, 25 are bishops working in various dioceses. Members are distributed as follows: Africa 1600; Asia and the Pacific 4700; Americas, North and South 29,000; Europe 48,700.
In "Vocation to Opus Dei as Vocation in the Church," F. Ocariz (Opus Dei in the Church 1994) says that Opus Dei members have "one vocation", because they are called to have the same apostolic aim and to practice the same spirit and ascetical means. Because of this "oneness of vocation," Ocariz says that Opus Dei has a Christian family atmosphere.
As they are not religious nor consecrated persons like the clergy, the members of Opus Dei are incorporated into the prelature by means of private contracts and not vows. To be incorporated into the prelature, one must freely ask to do so, convinced that he has received a vocation. For more information, please see Opus Dei: Admission and incorporation.
While there is only one vocation in Opus Dei, members are differentiated according the degree of their availability to be in charge of apostolic tasks. (Thierry 1975)
Supernumeraries
Most of the members are supernumeraries, currently about 70% of total membership. Generally they are married men or women, for whom the sanctification of their family duties is the "most important business," in the words of Escriva. Supernumeraries are the least available for the formational tasks but assist in them as their circumstances permit.
According to V. Messori, in Opus Dei, "supernumeraries represent the 'normal,' the most frequent vocation in statistical terms, and in them is seen most clearly the purpose of Opus Dei--to Christianize the world from the inside through people of the world who are not worldly."
Numeraries, associates, and numerary assistants
Numeraries, associates, and numerary assistants are members who live in celibacy.
Numeraries, who comprise less than 20% of the membership, practice celibacy so as to be totally available to the formational tasks of the prelature. Taken from Spanish and Latin American academy and government, numerary generally refers to a person whose incorporation to a society is fixed. For more information on this civil term, please see Numerary.
Numeraries in Opus Dei consider Opus Dei as their family, to which they devote all their earnings. As a general rule, they live in Opus Dei centres. Most of them have secular jobs, but for some their professional work is to direct the apostolic activities of Opus Dei. Numerary members follow the practice of corporal mortification.
Associates typically do not live in Opus Dei centres. Their personal circumstances do not permit them to be as available to the prelature's work as a numerary. It is generally from the numeraries and associates that the prelate calls men to the priesthood.
Numerary assistants are women of Opus Dei who attend to the domestic needs of the centres of Opus Dei. Since there is only one vocation, they are equal to the rest of the faithful. And because of the importance of material things in transmitting the "incarnate" Christianity of Opus Dei, St. Josemaría used to call their work as "the apostolate of apostolates."
Priestly Society of the Holy Cross
The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross is an association of clergy intrinsically united to Opus Dei which they say promotes brotherhood among priests and their personal sanctification: a life of unity with all his brother priests and of obedience to his bishop.
For non-members who collaborate with the faithful of the Prelature, please see Cooperators of Opus Dei.
Formation and training
The Christian vocation to sanctity takes root, according to Opus Dei's founder, "under the 'umbrella' of God's mercy," by using two "principal means": (1) interior life, a life of uninterrupted prayer which St. Josemaría says, quoting Jesus Christ, is the "one thing necessary," and (2) doctrinal formation, [16] a well-reasoned understanding of the Catholic religion which views itself as the religion of the Logos (the Word: logic, intelligence, reason, meaning). [17] Christians should have "the piety of children and the sure doctrine of theologians." [18]
The Vatican's Code of Particular Law for Opus Dei, known as its Statutes, states: the instruction of the members should be "in complete conformity with the Magisterium of the Church." Since they have received the same vocation, "being contemplatives in the middle of the world," they receive the same formation whatever their social circumstance. Escriva referred to having the "same cooking pot" for his children. Their formation includes courses on the History of the Church, Christology, Ecclesiology, Sacramentology, Biblical Science, and Anthropology.
Spiritual and ascetical training is intended to develop the members's life of piety and foster their practice of the human virtues like love for the truth, self-discipline, and generosity which Escrivá sees as the "foundation" of supernatural habits like faith and love for God. Having given them this formation, the prelature considers that it "has nothing else to do...Here begins," St. Josemaría says, "the free and responsible personal action of each member...Naturally, in the temporal realities, there will often be different options, criteria and ways of acting." [19]
Novelty of doctrine
Opus Dei's teachings have received both support and criticisms.
John Paul II said that Opus Dei "anticipated the theology of the lay state, which is a characteristic mark of the Church of the Council and after the Council." He described its aim as "a great ideal" and its message as both timely and timeless.
Benedict XVI, three years before becoming Pope, said that Escriva's example and teaching that he merely put himself at the disposal of God in His Work is "an extremely important message...that leads to overcoming the great temptation of our time: the pretence that after the 'big bang' God retired from history."
Many Church officials and scholars have said that Opus Dei has a revolutionary theological doctrine and anthropology, teachings which will have a decisive influence in the future of the Church and the world. [20]
Through the doctrine of the sanctifying value of daily work, ordinary people, the great bulk of the world-wide Church, now have a genuine "lay spirituality" which can take them to heights of sanctity. This is a radical departure, according to Cardinal Luciani, who later became John Paul I, from the previous practice of applying religious spirituality to lay people.
Opus Dei's teaching that everyone is called to holiness, a doctrine which was half-forgotten for most of Christian history, has become a leitmotif of contemporary Christianity. For a longer discussion and quotes from Catholic leaders, please see Opus Dei and Catholic Church Leaders.
Sources of controversies
In the work of spreading this message marked by novelty, the Work faced challenges, misunderstandings and controversies, leading some Catholic bishops and theologians to see Opus Dei as a sign of contradiction, a "sign that is spoken against." (Luke 2:34)
Fr. James Martin, S.J., (1995) says that Opus Dei is "the most controversial group in the Catholic Church today... To its critics it is a powerful, even dangerous, cult-like organisation that uses secrecy and manipulation to advance its agenda." [21] Cardinal Julian Herranz, a member of Opus Dei in the Roman Curia, says, "Opus Dei has become a victim of Christian-phobia," But in fact, he said, "more people today love Opus Dei than don't."
In the 1940s, some Jesuits led by Fr. Angel Carrillo de Albornoz who later left the Society of Jesus, denounced Opus Dei's teachings as "a new heresy." It is not orthodox, they said, to teach that the laity can be holy outside the cloisters, and without public vows and distinct clothing like habits. Also, these critics were concerned that it would take away vocations from the religious orders. Some writers say that invidia clericorum (envy of clerics) is also involved in this attack. (Messori 1997, Estruch 1995)
Based on reports from Spain, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Wlodimir Ledochowski (1866-1942), told the Vatican that he considered Opus Dei "very dangerous for the Church in Spain." He described it as having a "secretive character" and that "there are signs in it of a covert inclination to dominate the world with a form of Christian Masonry."
This first of the controversies against Opus Dei generated within well-regarded ecclesiastical circles ("the opposition by good people" says St. Josemaria) is considered the root of present-day accusations coming from the most varied quarters that Opus Dei is a dangerous, secret society in pursuit of power. This is the view of historians A. Vasquez de Prada (1997) and P. Berglar (1994) and investigative journalists V. Messori (1997) and J. Allen (2005). [22]
Some critics however say that Opus Dei has problems due to its intrinsic paradoxes. Prof. Joan Estruch, the Research Director of the Department of Sociology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, says in Saints and Schemers: Opus Dei and its Paradoxes that Opus Dei is but the work of a man --Escrivá-- whose aims evolved through time. At one point, he just wanted to modernise Spain. Thus, Opus Dei became both conservative in doctrine and modern in its work ethic.
On the other hand, Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., Professor of Political Science at Georgetown University, says that Estruch's work is subjective, arbitrary and unscientific. For example, to push his conclusions, he makes absurd assumptions: priests go to seminary only to improve their lot. [23]
Fidelity and truth vs. ultraconservatism
Benedict XVI says that Opus Dei is "this surprising union of absolute fidelity to the Church’s great tradition, to its faith, and unconditional openness to all the challenges of this world." Its critics, on the other hand, say that Opus Dei promotes an overly conservative or reactionary vision of the Roman Catholic faith. They see Opus Dei as "the shock troops" of John Paul II's "ultraconservative, restorationist papacy," and now of Benedict XVI. [24]
Catholic analysts, however, say that conservative is mainly and originally a political category which is misapplied to religious, moral, or intellectual matters. These should be categorised as either faithful or heretical, good or evil, true or false. And they say that the Catholic Church views itself as "the church of the living God, the pillar and the bulwark of the truth." (1 Tim 3:15)
The present prelate, Bishop Javier Echevarría also says that everything in the Church is "conservative," for it conserves the Gospel of Christ. Similarly, everything in it is "progressive" because she looks toward the future, puts faith in young people, seeks no privileges, and is close to the poor. Some Opus Dei supporters also refer to the traditionalists who criticise Opus Dei's support for the Second Vatican Council's teaching on ecumenism and the laity.
Escrivá also says, "Religion is the greatest rebellion of men who do not want to live like beasts." Hedonism, he says, is the real primitivism or ultraconservatism.
Critics, on the other hand, say that Opus Dei has an ultraconservative way of treating women.
Women in Opus Dei
On 14 February 1930, Escrivá became convinced, against his written resolution, that "God wanted women in Opus Dei." Within the one prelature, women in Opus Dei have separate and parallel operations from the men. They are united in the Prelate and in practising the spirit of Opus Dei.
Writing for Catholics for a Free Choice, G. Urquhart, a former Catholic priest, in his report Conservative Catholic Influence in Europe describes Opus Dei "as one of the most reactionary organisations in the Roman Catholic Church today...for its devotion to promoting, as public policy, the Vatican's inflexibly traditionalist approach to women, sexuality, and reproductive health." Critics, including some ex-Opus Dei members, accused it of "sexist exploitation" of women, who they say were restricted in Opus Dei-run hostels to doing domestic work.
In response, supporters say that men and women are equal in Opus Dei. A writer on women issues, Prof. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Ph. D of Harvard University, says: "Opus Dei has an enviable record of educating the poor and supporting women, whether single or married, in any occupation they choose." [[25]]
Supporters say that there are many women of Opus Dei who, by sanctifying their professional work, have proved themselves to be achievers in their field: business, fashion, learning, journalism, etc. But, they say, these women always consider it a progressive, strategically effective service to society to work in their home and for the family, a chief determinant of the future. All these is what Bishop Echevarría calls "authentic feminism."
Opus Dei and the Catholic Church's first purpose
In Testimonies on Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei, Catholic bishops highlighted some of the contributions of Opus Dei's founder to Catholic teaching: (1) Respect for the laity's autonomy in the secular world. They are not mere agents of priests but full members of the Church, (2) Marriage is a vocation to sanctity, (3) The world is a gift of God, a place where one can --and should!-- become a saint, (4) All Christians are called to a life of sanctity, i.e. of total self-giving to God and to others, and (5) The demands of sanctity are both radical and positive.
Escriva's Christ-centeredness and Catholic theology of sanctity
In Holiness and the World, a theological symposium on Escriva's teachings held in Rome in 1993, theologian Prof. Antonio Aranda ("The Christian, alter Christus, ipse Christus in the thought of Josemaria Escriva") and Prof. William May ("Holiness and ordinary life in the teaching of St. Josemaría Escrivá" [26]), are one with former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who said in the Opening Message of the symposium that St. Josemaria's theology is "Christ-centered." In the life and writings of St. Josemaría, there is "a very vivid sense of the presence of Christ."
The logic behind becoming "another Christ, Christ himself" is rooted in the following premises: Christians believe that (1) they are creatures whose substratum is nothingness, (2) Christ is the living God (their Intelligent Creator, All-comprehensive Sustainer, Sole Satisfier: I AM WHO AM himself who became a human being), (3) He is their loving Savior and "great Friend" ("Christ died for you. You...what should you do for Christ?" Escrivá asks in a key aphorism) (4) as Ratzinger says about Escrivá's thought: "This Christ who is alive is also a Christ who is near, a Christ in whom the power and majesty of God make themselves present through ordinary, simple, human things": through prayer, Christ's sacraments, and even the most material circumstances.
Becoming a saint is shunned, according to Ratzinger (2002), when there is a "mistaken concept of holiness...a thing reserved for some 'greats'...who are completely different from us ordinary sinners. But this is a wrong perception which has been corrected precisely by Josemaría Escrivá." A saint has heroic virtue "because he has been transparent and available for the work of God. In other words, a saint is nothing other than to speak with God as a friend speaks with a friend...the Only One who can really make the world both good and happy." [27]
John Paul II, in a homily on Escrivá who he said is "one of the great witnesses of Christianity," endorsed his Christ-centered teaching on pain, sanctity, and cheerfulness: "Having the Cross is to find happiness. Having the Cross is to identify oneself with Christ, to be Christ, and therefore to be a son of God."
Wanting to be ipse Christus, says Escrivá, means being "eager to be co-redeemers with Christ." Benedict XVI reiterated this: "Anyone who has discovered Christ must lead others to him. A great joy cannot be kept to oneself. It has to be passed on," says Benedict XVI at the World Youth Day of August 2005 in Cologne. [28]
Radical demands of Christianity
One of Escrivá's favourite teachings is the biblical injunction that creatures should love God with their whole heart, soul, might, and mind, a love which does not keep anything back, a kind of love which parents are supposed to transmit all day long to their children (Deut 6:4-9: Shema Yisrael), and which Christ said is the "greatest commandment." (Mt 22:37-40) [29]
"Christian faith and calling affect our whole existence, not just a part of it," he says in one of his published homilies. "Our relations with God necessarily demand giving ourselves, giving ourselves completely." [30] This, for Escrivá is the "good use of freedom, when it finds its true meaning...put in the service of the truth which redeems.... [This] is the 'glorious freedom of the children of God'...to be always young, generous, capable of high ideals and great sacrifices." [31]
According to Catholic officials, Escrivá's teachings are Christ's who demanded it from all his disciples. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 546) says that Jesus "asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything (Mt 13:44-45);" it states that the "Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God." (CCC 775) The Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, "a program for all times" written by John Paul II "at the beginning of the new millennium" (its English title), placed sanctity, "the fullness of the Christian life," as the single most important priority of all pastoral activities in the universal Church. And for this, Catholics should proclaim God's Word "without ever hiding the most radical demands of the Gospel message." These demands, Benedict XVI adds, are "not a burden: (Christianity) is like having wings." [32]
Allegations of being a cult
- For a more detailed discussion, please see Opus Dei and the Cult Issue: Allegations and Responses
Mainly due to the radical demands of Christianity practiced by Opus Dei, it is accused of being a cult inside the Church. Robert Hutchison, author of Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei, says that Opus Dei "possesses many of the characteristics of a dangerous sect." ("The Vatican's Own Cult," The Guardian, September 10, 1997) [33] This view is supported by Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. or ODAN [34], an organization led by Diane DiNicola, the mother of Tammy, a former numerary. ODAN, like its Spanish counterpart Opuslibros [35], provides “support to people who have been adversely affected by Opus Dei" and "challenges" many practices of Opus Dei.
For example, members use aggressive recruitment methods: love bombing and issuing threats of condemnation. New recruits lack "informed consent." Members lose contact with their families, and eventually lose their freedom through mind and emotional conditioning, thus making their lives revolve around proselytism. Numeraries are required to perform highly suspicious practices of mortification of the flesh--the discipline and the cilice. [36]. Also, Opus Dei's founder wrote in The Way, point 208: "Let us bless pain. Love pain. Sanctify pain... Glorify pain!"
Other leading proponents are former high-ranking Opus Dei members. Maria Carmen del Tapia who wrote Beyond the Threshold in 1998, was a member for 18 years. Dr. Alberto Moncada, a doctor in law and a sociologist, says that Opus Dei is an "intraecclesial" sect, because for the Vatican "radical rightist groups and fundamentalisms are tolerated." (See "Catholic Sects: Opus Dei" in Revista Internacional de Sociología, Madrid 1992)
Opus Dei is classified as a sect or a "group of interest" by professional cult research organisations like The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) which was formed by parents who were against the involvement of their children in cults, and The Rick A. Ross Institute (RRI).
Response: Sociology of religion and Christ-centered theology
Sociology of religion. While the instruction of the founder of Opus Dei to members as regards criticisms is to "smile, pray, and forgive," supporters refer to science to understand former members' opposition to their previous religious organisation. Distinguished scholars of sociology like Dr. Bryan Wilson, Reader Emeritus of Sociology of the University of Oxford, say that leavers are in need of self-justification. One type sees himself as a victim who is adversely affected. To regain his self-esteem, he rehearses an atrocity story, "to explain how, by manipulation, coercion or deceit, he was recruited to a group that he now condemns." Later he together with others like him become “redeemed crusaders.” These leavers, whose views are distorted, “cannot be regarded as reliable informants by responsible journalists, scholars, or jurists." [37]
Catholic scholar and sociologist Dr. Massimo Introvigne of CESNUR says that the international anti-cult movement is influenced by (1) relativist and secularist forces who deny that truth exists even in religious matters. Thus, mainline scientists reject as “unscholarly” the reports of anti-cult activists, including their method of labeling organisations, [38] and (2) anti-catholicism. The latter, according to Protestant scholar, Dr. Philip Jenkins, is the “last acceptable prejudice” in the West. Introvigne says that these activists have made Opus Dei their "prime target," for they cannot tolerate "il ritorno del religioso."
Dr. L. Kliever also says that “the overwhelming majority” of leavers of religious organisations “harbour no ill will.” Opus Dei has the same experience, supporters state, since, according to Escriva, "not only does it respect its members' freedom, it helps them to become fully aware of it." Thus, supporters say, many former members continue to have good relations with the prelature.
Christ-centered theology and education. While members of Opus Dei commit mistakes in their work of apostolate, supporters say, it is not right to call a Catholic prelature a cult. The slogan “sects within the Church” is self-contradictory, says Cardinal Schönborn, editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. "A group is a sect when it is not recognized."
One of the roots of the misunderstanding, Catholic officials say, is a miseducation on the Christian calling. The Catechism says: "Parents must remember and teach that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus: 'He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.' (Mt 10:37)"
Opus Dei's Christ-centeredness urges Christians to live like Christ in everything, even if their behaviour "clashes" with a "paganized environment": [39] Jesus Christ single-mindedly focused his entire life on saving all souls to please his Father. While he loved his mother, he left her in favor of his divine mission. For this, he showered affection on people, but also issued many threats out of love for them: against easy-going and fruitless Christians, against infidelity, etc. While he searched for friends and clearly spoke the truth, he allowed them to freely do whatever they wanted--including rejecting him. He also told his disciples, "As the Father has sent me so do I send you." To glorify God and sanctify men, Christ enjoyed pleasures and pleasantries with them, and he also voluntarily practiced mortification of the flesh: fasting, sleeping on the ground, and allowing himself to be tortured and crucified. He taught that his disciple should “renounce himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Six months after he was shot, John Paul II says in his Apostolic Letter on the Salvific Meaning of Suffering, that suffering is positive: "Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption" . [40]. For the Catholic theology on pain and sanctity, please see Mortification of the flesh.
At present, the perception remains that Opus Dei is a Catholic organization with a high mission that is accused of "cult-like practices," as when the press reported on the statue of St. Josemaria which was placed in a niche of the outside wall of St. Peter's Basilica last September 14, 2005. [41]
Canonisation of Opus Dei's founder
- For more information, please see Josemaría Escrivá.
According to Catholic officials, Opus Dei's founder practiced the radical demands of Christianity that he preached. John Paul II's Decree Christifeles omnes on Escrivá's heroic virtues says: "Faithful to the charism he had received, he gave an example of heroism in the most ordinary situations." On 6 October 2002, John Paul II canonised Escrivá, calling him "the Saint of Ordinary Life."
During the canonisation, there were 42 cardinals and 470 bishops from around the world, general superiors of many orders and religious congregations, and representatives of various Catholic groups. According to Catholic officials, one-third of the world's bishops petitioned for the canonisation of Escrivá. This number, and the number of people who attended and who reported miracles were unprecedented.
Critics, however, say that the process of canonisation was lightning fast and plagued with irregularities. Opus Dei allegedly pressured and bought bishops to write glowing reports about Escriva.
On the other hand, Catholics say that this accusation is a slur on their bishops. Catholic officials state that it was the promoters' efficiency, the reforms on the canonisation process, and the importance of Escriva's figure in the Church that made the process move fast, although in terms of materials and number of sessions it was the longest to date. Moreover, there are many other saints who were canonised with more speed than him.
There are other members of Opus Dei whose process of beatification have been opened: Ernesto Cofiño, a father of five and a pioneer in pediatric research in Guatemala, Montse Grases, a teenage Catalan student, Toni Zweifel, a Swiss engineer, and the successor of St. Josemaria as head of Opus Dei, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo.
Opus Dei in society
- For a more detailed discussion, please see Opus Dei in society
Mission in society and general strategy
According to Catholic officials and scholars, Opus Dei is God's Work performing a divine operation in society which mobilises Christians to "put Christ on top of all human activities."
In Opus Dei: Leadership and Vision in Today’s Catholic Church, Messori says that Opus Dei aims to improve humanity --through its members's apostolate of friendhip--by "improving human beings—one by one, and profoundly." The main strategy, according to Escrivá's doctrine, is to become a saint, another Christ redeeming all men, and thus, also an ethical social influence and a responsible citizen. "These world crises," he says, "are crises of saints." [42]
Activities and work
Having received formation on the need to help society, Opus Dei members also undertake many social initiatives, according to the Prelature: youth development centres and clubs, hospitals, farm schools, technical training centres, and inner-city tutoring programs.
For example, in the United States, members operate one college and five secondary schools, and tutoring programs in Chicago, New York City, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.. The U.S. National Headquarters is in 243 Lexington Avenue (Lexington Avenue & E. 34th Street) New York.
For more information regarding corporate works of Opus Dei and apostolic initiatives of members of Opus Dei all over the world, please see Corporate Works of Opus Dei.
Secularity, humility, privacy vs. secrecy to pursue power
In 1989, Michael Walsh, a former Jesuit, adducing conspiracy theories, wrote Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Secret Society Struggling for Power Within the Roman Catholic Church. In 1995, Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit writer, says that Opus Dei continues to be secretive in its operations and has undue influence on the Vatican. Rumors do circulate that Opus Dei is connected with the CIA. Thus, given all the foregoing allegations (cult-like, ultraconservative, secretive, power-hungry), Opus Dei has been depicted by Dan Brown as a sinister organization in his novel The Da Vinci Code.
The book, says Opus Dei, is "a work of fiction" and "not a reliable source of information" on Christian history and theology. [43] Professional journalist John Allen says that the allegation of secrecy and pursuit of power is a misunderstanding of its stress on humility and its novel secular nature: members do not put up official Catholic institutions and act on their own name as private citizens. Opus Dei, he says, puts out so much information that it can't be said to be secretive. Some historians and journalists state that the accusation of secrecy and power-seeking was started by Jesuits in the 1940s. [44]Escrivá says that Opus Dei's influence in society is not socio-economic but ethical: rich and poor work together to build a society which is more human, just, and progressive. He says that the easiest way to understand Opus Dei is to consider the life of the early Christians. They lived their Christian vocation seriously, seeking earnestly the holiness to which they had been called by their Baptism. Externally they did nothing to distinguish themselves from their fellow citizens. (Italics added) [[45]
Despite these statements of Opus Dei ideals--and according to some, precisely because of these ideals, Opus Dei continues to be hounded with accusations that it uses secrecy to gain political and economic power.
Political pluralism vs. involvement in far-right politics
Escriva says, "Respect for its members' freedom is an essential condition for Opus Dei's very existence." V. Messori says he observed that "the faithful of the prelature of Opus Dei consider respect for pluralism in matters not of the faith one way of obeying a central conviction of the founder."
However, Opus Dei's professed political pluralism is contested by its critics. They refer to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 2003 which says: Opus Dei "gained national importance after the Spanish civil war, when it received support from government of Francisco Franco. In the 1950s and 60s it replaced the Falange as the most important conservative political and religious force in Spain." Critics add that Escriva was "sympathetic" to Hitler.
V. Messori, who investigated the "Franco issue" of Opus Dei, says that this is a longstanding "black legend," a "myth" stoked by enemies of Opus Dei. He says that a very small percentage of the total number of Franco's ministers (8 of 116) were Opus Dei members. Historian Prof. Berglar, an Opus Dei member, says that it is a "gross slander" to connect Opus Dei with Franco's regime because he persecuted members of Opus Dei who were pro-democracy leaders. Supporters also say that all these are due to Spaniards's narrow-minded projection of their one-party mentality to Opus Dei, which has a novel teaching on freedom in temporal matters. The connection to Hitler made by a former member is, according to Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, a "patent falsehood." It is one more atrocity story, according to supporters. For a fuller discussion, please see Opus Dei and Allegations of Involvement in Far-right Politics.
Revolutionary or conservative?
The debate about Opus Dei and its role in politics continues. The two diametrically opposed positions can be seen in how they interpret point 353 of Escriva's The Way:
- Nonsectarianism. Neutrality. Those old myths that always try to seem new. Have you ever bothered to think how absurd it is to leave one's Catholicism aside on entering a university, or a professional association, or a scholarly meeting, or Congress, as if you were checking your hat at the door? [46]
Critics say that this type of counsel makes it impossible for Opus Dei members to be free in political matters. [47] This type of teaching, they say, creates an ideology of "National Catholicism." It puts Opus Dei members squarely on the political right: a conservative influence in world affairs, promoting the Vatican's traditionalist policies. [48]
Supporters, on the other hand, say that consistent Christians, who act in their own name in the temporal world, are committed to objective truth. The Catholic Church per se is beyond the power struggle among conservatives, liberals and progressives. It is engaged, they say, in a fundamental struggle for the peace and full satisfaction of each soul: the battle between the powers of evil and the powers of the God-man, who, in union with his descendants, "never loses battles," in the words of Opus Dei's founder. [49]
According to Escrivá, "face-to-face with God," there is no room for "anonymity": either one decides to be his friend or his foe. [50] He also says in a key teaching: "Many great things depend — don't forget it — on whether you and I live our lives as God wants." [51]] His supporters say that it is when Christians all over the world are completely faithful to the Beauty of the Truth (Veritatis Splendor), Jesus Christ, then "the greatest revolution of all time would take place," in what they see as the prophetic vision of Opus Dei's founder. [52].
Many writers, whether they have taken a stand that Opus Dei is God's revolutionary Work or a conservative group of power-seekers, or have decided to take another kind of stand, have presented these varying views about Opus Dei.
History of Opus Dei: A timeline
- 1928: October 2. Founding of Opus Dei
- 1930: February 14. Founding of the Women's branch of Opus Dei
- 1939: The Way, Escrivá's spiritual considerations, is first published.
- 1941: Opus Dei is granted first diocesan approval by the Bishop of Madrid
- 1943: February 14. Founding of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross
- 1946: Escrivá moves to Rome to establish the headquarters of Opus Dei
- 1950: June 16. Opus Dei is given final and complete approval by Pius XII
- 1962: Start of the Second Vatican Council, which proclaims the universal call to holiness
- 1975: June 26. Death of the founder. Alvaro del Portillo, his closest associate, is elected as his successor
- 1982: November 28. Establishment of Opus Dei as personal prelature. John Paul II appoints del Portillo as prelate
- 1992: May 17. Beatification of the founder, a highly criticized event
- 2002: October 6. Canonisation of the founder. John Paul II calls Escrivá "Saint of Ordinary Life"
For a longer timeline, please see Opus Dei: A Historical Timeline
Bibliography and external links
- For an extensive bibliography and list of external links connected to Opus Dei, please see Opus Dei: Bibliography and External Links