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The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, commonly known as Opus Dei (Latin for "The Work of God") or the Work, is an international prelature of the Roman Catholic Church. Opus Dei was founded in 1928 by Roman Catholic priest Josemaría Escrivá. In 1982, Opus Dei was made into a personal prelature by Pope John Paul II through the Apostolic Constitution Ut Sit, and remains the only such prelature in the Catholic Church. Since then its Prelate in Rome has presided over a prelature whose boundaries are defined by Opus membership rather than the usual geographical boundaries. It now coexists with episcopal dioceses as an official part of the Church's institutional structures. Opus Dei originally comprised only celibate numerary members, but now also admits non-celibate supernumerary members, assistant-numerary members, and has numerous co-operators. Currently, Opus Dei has approximately 85,000 members worldwide.
According to the Catholic teaching emphasized by Opus Dei, everyone is called to become a saint and ordinary life is a path to sanctity. Various Popes and Catholic Church leaders strongly support what they see as Opus Dei's innovative teaching on the sanctifying value of work, its loyalty to the Catholic Church, and its enabling individual Catholics to sanctify the secular world.
Since its foundation Opus Dei has been subjected to criticism and opposition from both inside and outside the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits were among its most vehement early critics, the most famous of which was former Jesuit and theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, who later on defended it against attacks. Opus Dei's opponents point to its secrecy, its clandestine financial dealings, its elitism, its ultraconservatism, its support for the extreme right-wing in politics, its misogyny, and its cult-like recruitment regime. In his 2005 research, Catholic VaticanologistJohn L. Allen, Jr. stated that there are two Opus Deis, an Opus Dei of reality and an Opus Dei of myth. According to Allen, most of these myths grew from a misinterpretation of Opus Dei's newness. In 1994, Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a sociologist of religion and conservative Catholic scholar, stated that Opus Dei had been the target of secularists intolerant of what he saw as a "return to religion" in society. In his view, Catholic liberals and certain ex-members had unfairly stigmatized Opus Dei. Many Catholics invoke the sign of contradiction in order to explain Allen's description of Opus Dei as the most controversial force in the Catholic Church. Ultimately Opus Dei remains the subject of much political criticism both inside and outside the Catholic Church.
Foundation, mission, and name
File:Stjosemariayounglad.jpgEscrivá said that as a teenager his "heart was longing for something great," feeling the tug of divine love.
Opus Dei was founded by a Roman Catholic priest, Josemaría Escrivá, on 2 October1928 in Madrid, Spain. According to Escrivá, on that day, he "saw Opus Dei". [1] Throughout his life, Escrivá maintained that the founding of Opus Dei had a "supernatural character."
Escrivá's summarized the Opus Dei's mission by writing:
"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]
Leaders of Opus Dei describe the organization as a Catholic teaching entity.[3] Escrivá gave the organization the name "Opus Dei", which in Latin means "The Work of God". Years later, Escrivá's claim of to have had a vision of Opus Dei was accepted by Pope John Paul II, who stated that Escrivá had founded Opus Dei ductus divina inspiratione, led by divine inspiration.[4]
The official theological views of the Catholic authorities continue to be opposed both inside and outside the Church. In Saints and Schemers: Opus Dei and its Paradoxes, Prof. Joan Estruch, the Research Director of the Department of Sociology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, adopts a sociological position. For Estruch, rather than being the result of divine action, Opus Dei, is the work of Escrivá himself, whose goals and motivations changed according to the society and historical context in which he lived. At one point, he simply sought to modernise Spain.[5]
Filipino painting titled Magpakabanal sa gawain: "Be a saint through your work."
In his Apostolic Constitution Ut Sit,[6] John Paul II declared that "this Institution has in fact striven, not only to illuminate with new lights the mission of the laity in the Church and in society, but also to put it into practice; it has also endeavored to put into practice the teaching of the universal call to holiness, and to promote at all levels of society the sanctification of ordinary work, and by means of ordinary work."
"The message of St Josemaría," says José Cardinal Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, "belongs to the perennial patrimony of the Church." The following are the main features of Escrivá's spiritual teachings, the core message of Opus Dei.[7]
Holiness in 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." Thus they follow Jesus who worked as a carpenter and lived as a son in a Jewish family in a small village for 30 years. [8]
Sanctifying work
Whatever work[9] Christians do is to be done with a spirit of excellence as an effective service for the needs of society, working out of love for God and all men and women. Their work then becomes a fitting offering to God. In his work of service, Jesus Christ "did all things well" (Mk 7:37).[10]
Love for freedom
Christians should love personal freedom, both their own and that of all men and women. God the Son himself, on becoming man took on human freedom, and with his free choices he redeemed us through love: As man, he freely obeyed his Father's will throughout his whole life, even "unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8).[11] "Because he wants to," each person directs his life towards eternal union with God or eternal separation, the two ultimate roads of life.[12]
Prayer and mortification
Love, the essence of sanctity, is nurtured by constant child-like prayer, assisted by norms of piety[13] that include love for the Eucharist, frequent confession,[14] reading Sacred Scripture, and devotion to the Virgin Mary. Mortification, "prayer of the senses," is especially done through a sporting struggle to practice all the human virtues out of love.[15] "'Great' holiness consists in carrying out the 'little duties' of each moment."[16] These actions are co-offered in the Holy Mass, the same redeeming sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and the centre and root of a Christian's life.
Charity and apostolate
Christians are to give the highest importance to the virtue of charity:File:Alzavolaclubopusdei.jpgGirls from an Opus Dei youth club setting up a market stall to raise funds to support an African project. Allen says that the big majority of the undertakings guided by Opus Dei are youth and social development centres. understanding, compassion, courtesy, helping the needy, and fraternal correction. Love is orderly and should start with one's duties. Charity entails apostolate, leading people to God, the source of peace and joy. [17]
Unity of life
A Christian who seeks God not just in church, but also in the most material things 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. Thus, a Christian's work becomes God's redeeming work, opus Dei. Despite all his defects, which with God's help he humbly strives to uproot, he becomes more and more alter Christus, ipse Christus, another Christ, Christ himself.[18]
According to Escrivá, the foundation of the Christian life is one's "divine filiation."[19] Divine filiation is the Christians' fundamental state as "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4), being children of God in Christ, the deep awareness of which brings about immense happiness:[20] "Joy comes from knowing we are children of God."[21] Opus Dei, Escrivá says, is "a smiling asceticism."[22]
Vatican experts say that the founder of Opus Dei "is like a figure from the deepest spiritual sources," possessing "the temper of a Father of the Church." [23] On the other hand, in Opus Dei in the United States, Associate Editor of America Magazine, JesuitFr. James Martin (1995), belittles the maxims found in Escrivá's The Way. He says these range "from traditional Christian pieties...to sayings that could easily have come out of Poor Richard's Almanack." Indeed, Escrivá was a polarizing figure in the Catholic Church.
Institutional structure
Catholic personal prelature
File:JPII+firstprelateofopusdeiadelportillo.jpgJohn Paul II ordaining the first Opus Dei prelate, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo: On creating the prelature, John Paul II said Escrivá founded it ductus divina inspiratione, "led by divine inspiration," an assertion disputed by its critics.
John Paul II established Opus Dei as a personal prelature of the Catholic Church on 28 November1982. This legal framework, the Pope said, is "perfectly suited" to Opus Dei's "true nature and theological characteristics": a unified, secular, international body of priests and lay people, both men and women, sharing the same vocation with no distinctions, under the governance of one head. Being a part of the Church's hierarchical structure, like a diocese, indicates that Opus Dei is an integral part of the Church itself, and not a mere product of voluntary association. [24]
However, critics, like Kenneth Woodward, the longtime religion editor and senior writer for Newsweek, observe that Opus Dei through its juridical status has become independent from Catholic Church authority, a "church within the Church."[25] On the part of the Vatican, Msgr. Marcello Costalunga of the Congregation for Bishops says that there were "abundant replies" of support from the 2000 bishops who were consulted for this decision. Personal prelatures, similar to dioceses and military ordinariates, are under the governance of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops. These 3 types of ecclesiastical structures are composed of lay people served by their own secular clergy and prelate. Unlike dioceses which cover territories, personal prelatures —like military ordinariates— take charge of persons as regards some objectives regardless of where they live. As to "what the law lays down for all the ordinary faithful," the lay members of Opus Dei, being no different from other Catholics, "continue to be ... under the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop," in the words of Ut Sit. [26] As jurisdictional circumscriptions, personal prelatures were set up by the Second Vatican Council to enable the Catholic Church to organize itself better in addressing specific pastoral objectives.
File:PerottetOpusDeisupernumerary.jpgPerrottet family of Sydney. Supernumeraries are inspired by the Catholic teaching that "large families are a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity" (CCC 2373).
In "Vocation to Opus Dei as Vocation in the Church," Fernando Ocariz (Opus Dei in the Church 1994) says that within the baptismal vocation of all Christians to become holy, the Catholic faithful of Opus Dei have a specific vocation of spreading the knowledge of the universal call to holiness while they strive to sanctify their work. Opus Dei members, he says, have "one vocation," because they are called to have the same apostolic aim, practice the same spirit and ascetical means, and receive the same training. Due to this "oneness of vocation," Ocariz says Opus Dei has the atmosphere of a Christian family, where the faithful call the prelate "the Father."
Because the vocation is the same for all the faithful, there are no degrees of membership. There are, however, different ways of living that same Christian vocation, according to the different circumstances of each one: married, single, healthy or sick, etc. Unlike religious or consecrated persons, the members of Opus Dei are incorporated into the prelature by means of private contracts and not vows. To be incorporated into the Opus Dei prelature, one must freely ask to do so, convinced that one has received a vocation.
Currently, Opus Dei has approximately 85,000 members worldwide, which are made up of several different type of membership:
Supernumeraries, the largest type, currently account for about 70% of the total membership. Typically, supernumeraries are married men and women who have conventional careers and lead traditional family lives. Supernumeraries often devote a portion of their day to prayer, in addition to attending regular meetings and taking part in activities such as retreats. Due to their career and family obligations, supernumeraries are not as available to the organization as the other types of members, but they typically contribute financially to Opus Dei, and they lend other types of assistance as their circumstances permit. Unlike other type of members, supernumeraries are not required to be celibate, and they typically do not practice mortification.
Numeraries, the second largest type of members of Opus Dei, comprise about 20% of total membership. Numeraries are celibate members who usually live in special centers run by Opus Dei. Both men and women may become numeraries, although the centers are gender-segregated, with very only minimal contact beween male and female numeraries. Numeraries are required to be celibate, and are encouraged to practice mortification. Numeraries generally have conventional careers and devote the bulk of their income to the organization.
Numerary assistants are unmarried, female members of Opus Dei. Like the nummeraries, they live in special centers run by Opus Dei. Unlike numeraries, the numerary assistants do not have conventional jobs outside of the centers-- instead, their professional life is dedicated to looking after the domestic needs of the centers. Numerary assistants are required to be celibate, and they generally practice mortification.
Associates are unmarried, celibate members who typically have family or professional obligations. Unlike numerares and numerary assistants, the associates do no live inside the special Opus Dei centers.
The Clergy of the Opus Dei Prelature are priests who are members of Opus Dei and are under the jurisdiction of the Prelate of Opus Dei. Typically, they are numeraries or associates who ultimately joined the priesthood.
The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross is the association of priests associated with Opus Dei. Part of the society is made up of the clergy of the Opus Dei prelature-- members of the priesthood who fall under the juridiction of the Opus Dei prelature are automatically members of the Priestly Society. Other members in the society are traditional diocesan priests--- clergymen who remain under the jurisdiction of a geographically-define diocese. Technically speaking, such diocesan priests have not "joined" Opus Dei membership, although they have joined a society that is closely affiliated with Opus Dei.[27]
The Cooperators of Opus Dei are those who, despite not being members of Opus Dei, collaborate in some way with Opus Dei-- usually through praying, charitable contributions, or by providing some other assistance. Cooperators are not required to be celibate or to adhere to any other special requirements. Indeed, cooperators are not even required to be Christian. [28]
Instruction and training
A Christian becomes a saint, according to Opus Dei's founder, through God's grace and mercy, and through the use of some principal means of sanctification: (1) interior life, activities turned into contemplation, which Jesus Christ calls "the one thing necessary" (Lk 10:42), and (2) doctrinal training, a well-reasoned understanding of God and his ordered work as revealed in the Catholic faith, now presented by Benedict XVI as the religion of the Logos (the Word: meaning and reason). Escrivá says one cannot love someone who is not known. Thus Escrivá says Christians should have "the piety of children and the sure doctrine of theologians."[29]
Arnold Hall Conference Center in Massachusetts. Activities such as retreats, workshops, and spiritual direction are held in places like this.
He holds that the "paramount means of formation" is personal coaching through spiritual direction, a practice which has its roots in the early Church. According to Cornelio Fabro, eminent Italian philosopher, Opus Dei's training fosters the human virtues, habits which are developed through the repetition of free decisions in one's activities and professionalwork. These habits of human excellence, including love for the truth, courage, and generosity, are the "foundation," Escrivá says, of the supernatural virtues of faith and love for God. Since he always stressed the importance of "the free and responsible personal action of each member,"[30] Fabro says Escrivá "restored the true concept of Christian freedom...After centuries of Christian spiritualities based on the priority of obedience, he taught that obedience was the consequence and fruit of freedom." It is to be noted though that this Catholic-Thomistic notion of "freedom for excellence" is different from the secular notion of "free choice" as having the highest value.
Benedict XVI: Escrivá's example and teaching lead "to overcoming the great temptation of our time: the pretence that after the 'big bang' God retired from history."
John Paul II said 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. The Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council states:
"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."
The biblical concept that everyone is called to sanctity was already enunciated by Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Sales, and Alphonsus Liguori, but their emphasis was on prayer and liturgical devotions, basically monastic spirituality applied to lay people. "Escrivá is more radical," writes Cardinal Luciani (1977), who later became John Paul I. "For him, it is the material work itself which must be turned into prayer and sanctity," thus providing a lay spirituality for lay people to attain holiness. Thus, Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, states that Escrivá is a "turning point in the history of Christian spirituality. "The "absolute novelty" of Opus Dei, says Franz Cardinal König (1975), the perceived leader of the "progressivists" in Vatican II, lies in teaching that the two separated worlds of religious life and professional life "should in fact walk together." On a deeper level, the "great originality" of Opus Dei's message, states José Cardinal Saraiva Martins (2002), is based on the teaching that all of creation has been sanctified by the God-become-flesh: movies, boardrooms, gardens, sports can and should lead to God. In this Christian materialism, as Escrivá calls it, Christians leading an integral life of prayer and mortification are called to "passionately love the world" and to overcome the "enemies of sanctity": greed, lust and egoism.
In the work of spreading a message that to many seems new, Opus Dei faced challenges, misunderstandings and controversies, leading some Catholic leaders like John Cardinal Heenan to see Opus Dei as a sign of contradiction, a "sign that is spoken against" (Lk 2:34). [31]
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 without public vows and distinctive clothing. Also, these critics were concerned that Opus Dei would take away vocations from the religious orders.
Based on reports from Spain, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Wlodimir Ledochowski (1866–1942), told the Vatican he considered Opus Dei "very dangerous for the Church in Spain." He described it as having a "secretive character" and saw "signs in it of a covert inclination to dominate the world with a form of Christian Masonry." This attack against Opus Dei from within well-regarded ecclesiastical circles ("the opposition by good people," Escrivá called it), which happened time and again in its history, is considered the root of present-day accusations coming from the most varied quarters. This is the conclusion of a number of writers, including John L. Allen, Jr., a Catholic American journalist, in his work Opus Dei: an Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church (2005).
Some time after the end of the Second Vatican Council, Opus Dei critics started to point out though that it has an ultraconservative and reactionary vision of the Roman Catholic faith. Award-winning journalist and controversial antitheistJohann Hari even states: "The group prescribes strict hierarchy and unquestioning obedience. Maxim 941 of The Way demands 'unreserved obedience to whoever is in charge' of the sect.... It has established itself as the praetorian guard of hard-right Catholic doctrines."
Messori and Allen say in contrast that the Opus Dei prelature does not have any doctrine other than what the Catholic Church teaches. Catholic thinkers such as George Weigel say the use of conservative, a political category, on religious, moral, or intellectual matters is "implausible and distorting." [6] These should be categorised, they say, as either faithful or heretical, good or evil, true or false. [32] The "handing on" (traditio) of "living faith," writes Weigel, has the "capacity to inspire innovative thinking." Opus Dei is the perfect storm, says Allen: It has become the center of the debate in the post-Vatican II polarization in Catholic politics.
In his opening message for the theological symposium Holiness and the World, former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stressed that the teachings on sanctity of the founder of Opus Dei are "Christ-centred".
The message Opus Dei is called to proclaim, that all Christians can and should become a saint, is grounded in the following premises: [33] (1) Christ is a Savior who is "madly in love" with us and who is the one most interested in that we live in communion with him in infinite bliss: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be saints and blameless in his sight" (Eph 1:4);
(2) Christ makes himself "totally available" in the sacraments says Escrivá, to nourish the Christian so as to become "one single thing with him." [7] Given the gift of this "divinization" in grace, "a new principle of energy," and with the support of "Christ's family," the Church, Escrivá states that the difficult ideal of becoming a saint, another Christ, is "also easy. It is within our reach." [8]
According to Ratzinger (2002), becoming a saint is shunned when there is a "mistaken concept of holiness...as something 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." Even if he "can be very weak, with many mistakes in his life," 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," according to the theological analysis of the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. [9]
Sanctification is both a gift of God and a task, an effort ot fulfill the biblical injunction that all should love God with their whole heart, soul, might, and mind, a commandment Christ called the "greatest." (Mt 22:37-40). [10] Escrivá also points to Jesus' "new commandment" to love one another "as I have loved you" (Jn 13:34), "greater love" than which "no man has" for he "lays down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). According to the Catechism, this "effective self-offering" is "our model of holiness" (no. 459). [34]
Affirming that the "Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God" (CCC 775), John Paul II, in the Apostolic Letter At the Beginning of the New Millennium, placed sanctity, "this high standard of ordinary Christian living," as the single most important priority of all pastoral activities in the universal Church "for all times." And for this, Catholics are to live a "life distinguished above all in the art of prayer" and should proclaim God's word "without ever hiding the most radical demands of the Gospel message."
However, the late Hans Urs von Balthasar, considered one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, discussed Opus Dei in an article entitled "Fundamentalism," describing it as "a concentration of fundamentalist power in the Church." (article in Wort und Wahrheit, 1963). He based his negative views on his reading of some points of Escriva's main book, The Way, which von Balthasar did not consider of sufficient spiritual depth for its worldwide goals. On the other hand, V. Messori, who studied the von Balthasar issue, says that the theologian later retracted his views after more in-depth study and after meeting members of Opus Dei. He even defended Opus Dei against attacks. [35]
Spiritual practice
After one year of research among members of Opus Dei, Allen said that what impressed him most was the "quality of the people." For the most part, he wrote, despite the errors and sins they commit, he found them to be really striving to practice what they preached. The barbers and bus drivers he met are very hardworking and competent, their life of prayer and evangelization "seamlessly" combining with their work. [11]
As for the founder, John Paul II declared: "Faithful to the charism he had received, he gave an example of heroism in the most ordinary situations." Stating that Escrivá is "counted among the great witnesses of Christianity," [12] John Paul II canonized him on 6 October2002, and called him "the saint of ordinary life." In his Decree of Canonization, the Pope referred to short prayers in which "one can trace the entire life story" of the new saint: Lord, that I might see! Lady, that it might be! All with Peter to Jesus through Mary. We want Christ to reign! All the glory to God!
However, Escrivá's canonization sparked controversy. Critics such as Kenneth Woodward said he was undeserving and that the process of canonization was lightning fast and marred by irregularities. Historian Eamon Duffy of Cambridge University stated: "The canonization of the founder of Opus Dei is the most striking example in modern times of the successful promotion of a cause by a pressure group." On the other hand, Fr. Rafael Perez, an Augustinian priest and an expert on canonizations, states it was the promoters' efficiency, the reforms in the canonization process, and the importance of Escrivá's figure in the Church that enabled the process to move quickly, although in terms of the number of sessions it was the longest to date. Philip Zaleski, a writer on spirituality, said the opposition to saints such as Josemaría Escrivá may even undercut efforts to enhance the role of the laity in the life of the Church. [13] Please also seeJosemaría Escrivá.
There are other members of Opus Dei whose process of beatification has been opened: Ernesto Cofiño, a father of five children and a pioneer in pediatric research in Guatemala; Montserrat Grases, a teenage Catalan student who died of cancer, offering up her life cheerfully; Toni Zweifel, a Swiss engineer, and Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, Escrivá's successor as head of Opus Dei.
Together with these developments, there is also a good number of former members who are highly critical of the organization and have set up websites such as the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN)
and Opus Libros to inform people about the true practices of Opus Dei, characterized as having elements of a cult. Some also report that Opus Dei attempted to suppress information through legal pressure or slandering. Allen says on the other hand that their views are countered by many other ex-members, the present members, and the estimated 900,000 people who attend activities of Opus Dei. Allen says that the interpretation of the facts "seems to depend upon one's basic approach to spirituality, family life, and the implications of a religious vocation." Some of the most prominent sociologists like ReaderEmeritus of Sociology of the University of Oxford, Bryan R. Wilson, put in doubt the testimonies of a type of critical former members. Wilson goes so far as to say, for example, that some of these adult members who are "prone to bias" sometimes "learn to rehearse an atrocity story" so as "to regain their self-esteem." [36]
The Calling of Saint Matthew, a professional tax-collector: While parents complain of separation from their children, the Catechism 2253 states: "Parents must teach that the first calling of the Christian is to follow Jesus."
Ex-members also report of aggressive recruitment whereby members initially hide their links to Opus Dei, persuade recruits not to tell their families, or maintain contact with their families, forbiding phone calls, and use threats of condemnation. While there were indeed mistakes committed during the early years of Opus Dei, Allen says "Opus Dei is not the voracious recruiting machine of myth." [37] Regarding complaints on separation from parents and friends, Richard John Neuhaus writes that this is about an "intergenerational conflict that has been around from the beginning of time," a conflict that involves "innumerable young people, including recognized saints." The Catechism teaches: "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)"[14]
Opus Dei is also accused of high control of members through tight schedules and internal confessors. Allen states: "The vast majority of members I met seemed healthy, well-adjusted, intelligent, running their own lives, and posing no threat to themselves or to others. I never had the impression that anyone was being subjected to this regime by coercion or 'mind control.' For the most part, members seem to experience this structure as liberating rather than confining, helping them become the kind of person they wish to be." He also reported on Opus Dei's policy of "delicate respect" for each person's freedom that Escrivá practised and preached. Ex-members and many secular writers cite the corporal mortification practised by the celibate members as "mediaeval" in which devices are employed for the purpose of causing pain and even breaking the skin. John Allen reports that this is a well-regulated, marginal practice within Opus Dei. Its practice in the Catholic Church, he reports, is both fairly widespread, having been used by modern saints such as Mother Teresa and Padre Pio, and also continual throughout its history as a way of pursuing Christ's penitential purpose, following his advice: renounce yourself, take up the cross daily, and follow me." [38] Unlike other issues about Opus Dei, says Allen, the issue of corporal mortification cannot be easily resolved even after long investigation and reflection, for it deliberately goes against the tide in the contemporary world. Please also see Mortification of the flesh.
File:Romanaopusdei.jpgRomana, the official bulletin of the Opus Dei prelature which contains information on its members, their activities, the prelate and directors.
Popes and many Catholic leaders see Opus Dei as one among many ecclesial charisms whose task is to enable lay Catholics to sanctify society. In Opus Dei: Leadership and Vision in Today's Catholic Church, Messori states that Opus Dei aims to improve humanity —through its members' apostolate of friendship—by "improving human beings—one by one, and profoundly."[39] The main strategy, according to Escrivá's teaching, is that each Christian must strive to become a "canonizable saint," another Christ redeeming all men and women, and thus also a responsible citizen who works for the common good. Because if Christians are not well-ordered from within, he clarifies, if they do not put God first through a life of contemplation, they will be merely spreading their disorder to other people. "These world crises," he says, "are crises of saints."[40]
"The easiest way to understand Opus Dei," Escrivá told Time Magazine, "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."[41] From the point of view of Hans Küng, in his The Catholic Church: A Short History (2002), Opus Dei is a "reactionary secret political and theological organisation." Küng is the President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic and a prolific Swiss theologian whose license as a Catholic theologian was withdrawn in 1979. Opus Dei is secretive, says Fr. James Martin S.J., in its recruitment, internal affairs, and finances.
On the other hand, Allen states, with the abundant information it provides, Opus Dei cannot be called secretive. This allegation, he says, is a misunderstanding of Opus Dei's charism, its "avoidance of self-aggrandizement," its respect for the right to privacy and intimacy of its members, and its novel secular nature. In the same way that Catholic professionals are not official representatives of their parishes or alma maters, the faithful of the prelature do not set up official Catholic institutions but rather act in their own name as private citizens. Allen claims that the "myths" regarding secrecy, conspiracies, and power-seeking are very out-dated, having been started by certain Jesuits in the 1940s who failed to grasp Opus Dei's newness. [42] There are two Opus Deis, he says: an Opus Dei of myth and an Opus Dei of reality.
Profile of members and their activities
Opus Dei's central headquarters is on Viale Bruno Buozzi 75, Rome. The Vatican Yearbook of 2004 states that it has around 85,000 members, about 1,900 of whom are priests. Members are distributed as follows: Africa 1600; Asia and the Pacific 4700; North and South America 29,000; Europe 48,700. Opus Dei members, says Messori, are mostly from the middle and lower classes. Their social composition usually corresponds with the local situation, he says, since all honest trades can be sanctified. He also says there are more teachers and professors among its ranks than the normal social composition because of Opus Dei's emphasis on the cultural apostolate.
File:Condorayperuopusdeimembers.jpgMembers of Opus Dei and their friends in Condoray Centre, Peru: Opus Dei is very popular among the campesinos of Latin America.
Meanwhile, critics accuse Opus Dei of elitism. "Opus Dei has consistently sided with the powerful against the weak, theologically and politically," says Johann Hari. "Opus Dei has been a major force on the Catholic right opposing social change."[43] Robert Hutchinson (1999) stated that it has become very powerful and is "the Catholic Church's paramount financial power." Opus Dei has been called the "Holy Mafia" or the "Octopus Dei."
As a result of his research, Allen says on the other hand that while the main apostolate and social work of the members takes place through their daily relationships, they also cooperate with other people in setting up many social initiatives. According to his 2005 study, there are at least 608 such projects in different countries guided by Opus Dei laity and priests: 41% of these are primary and secondary schools, 26% vocational-technical or agricultural training schools, 27% university residences, and the remaining 6% are 17 universities, 12 business schools and 8 hospitals. [44]
He also reports that the worldwide revenue of Opus Dei is only that of a mid-sized American diocese. He says Opus Dei has only 39 bishops out of the 4,564 in the world. And there are only 20 members working in the Vatican, out of 3920 people in total who work there. John Cardinal O'Connor said: "I believe it critical to dispel the notion which borders on calumny that Opus Dei is concerned only about the wealthy and the well educated." [45] Scott Appleby, a Catholic history expert at Notre Dame, estimates that through programs for nonmembers and the articulate piety of its members, Opus Dei informs "about a million conservative Catholics" in the U.S.
Opus Dei and women
On 14 February1930, Escrivá became convinced, against his written resolution, that "God wanted women in Opus Dei." Within the one prelature, women in Opus Dei carry out their activities separate from the men. They are united in the Prelate and in practising the spirit of Opus Dei.
The founding director of the Institute for Women's Studies and a convert to Catholicism in 1995, Prof. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, who received her Ph. D from Harvard University and serves as Professor of History at Emory University, states: "Opus Dei has an enviable record of educating the poor and supporting women, whether single or married, in any occupation they choose." Allen states that half of the leadership positions in the organization are held by women and they supervise the work of men. He also says that there are many women members who, by sanctifying their work, have proved themselves to be respected professionals in their own field: business, fashion, learning, journalism, etc. He also refers to Marta Brancatisano, a supernumerary, who wrote Approach to an Anthropology of Difference in 2004. She states that women should not enter the workforce as "one more" but as a "different one," given that "the only ontological difference among human beings is determined by the sexes," and that care for the family and the home are "eminently feminine."
Sharply differing from this view is the work of Gordon Urquhart. Writing for Catholics for a Free Choice, a non-Catholic organization, [46] Urquhart, a journalist and 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, and reproductive health."[47] Nevertheless, whatever is the reality in its relationship with women, "the defects and virtues of Opus Dei tend to become wildly exaggerated," says Allen.
John Allen observed that while Opus Dei members adhere to Catholic teachings, they have different and even contrary approaches on economic, philosophical and political questions. He told Newsweek: "There's a cardinal principle behind Opus Dei that it can never take political positions corporately. It would compromise the notion of secularity—that political thinking is something for lay people to do, not for a church organization to do. Therefore, on questions that don't deal with faith and morals, there's great pluralism."
Antonio Fontan: Persecuted by Franco, he later became the first Senate President of Spain's democracy
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 2003 states that Opus Dei in Spain "gained national importance after the civil war, when it received support from the government of Francisco Franco. In the 1950s and 60s it replaced the Falange as the most important conservative political and religious force in Spain." Sir Raymond Carr, one of the leading authorities on Spanish history, and Juan Pablo Fusi wrote in 1979: It was the Opus which emerged as the ‘organised’ Catholic support to Francoism, backed, as its members were, by the most trusted of Franco’s ministers."
Messori, who investigated the claim that Opus Dei is a kind of political party which supported Franco, says this is a longstanding "black legend" spread by the Falange and some clerical sectors. He and Allen state that of the 116 ministers of Franco, only 8 were members. According to English historian Paul Preston (1993), these belong to different political persuasions and Franco appointed them for their technical competence and not for their membership in Opus Dei.[48] Another historian, Brian Crozier, states that Opus Dei "is not, as its enemies either think or want others to think, a political party; nor is it a political pressure group...Opus Dei was not a group to be conciliated by being given a share in power, as the Monarchists were, or the Falange, or the Army."[49] German historian Peter Berglar, an Opus Dei member, says that it is a "gross slander" to connect Opus Dei with Franco's regime, since the latter prosecuted some prominent members of Opus Dei, including Rafael Calvo Serer,[50] and Antonio Fontan who fought for press freedom and democracy, and later became the first Senate President of Spain's democracy. [51] Allen states: Although Escrivá was staunchly nonpolitical and "two of the most visible Opus Dei politicians in the world -- (Paula) Binetti, (a senator-elect) in Italy, and Ruth Kelly, the Local Government Minister in England -- are now women who belong to center-left parties," [52] "still there is a sociological reality that the kind of people attracted to Opus Dei tend to be conservative, theologically and politically."
The response of society to Opus Dei has been mixed. Lech Wałęsa of Poland, Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, Thomas Murphy of General Motors, Raymond Barre of France are some of the world leaders who see a positive influence of Opus Dei on society. "Opus Dei," said Charles Malik, former President of the United Nations General Assembly and an Eastern Orthodox Christian, "seeks to open the eyes of the whole humanity to the nature of holiness; it is precisely the spirituality needed by our times." Allen, who has travelled around the world, said that "Escrivá is reviled by some and venerated by millions." One-third of the world's bishops sent letters petitioning for the canonization of Escrivá, the Vatican stated. This number and the number of people who attended the canonization were unprecedented, says Messori. Julian Cardinal Herranz, a member of Opus Dei in the Roman Curia, says that "Opus Dei has become a victim of Christianophobia." Nevertheless, he went on to say, "more people today love Opus Dei than don't."
File:Enciclopediareligioni.jpgMassimo Introvigne, a prolific scholar whose most reviewed work is the Enciclopedia delle Religioni in Italia, says that secularists and liberals attach a social stigma on their "prime target," Opus Dei, since they "cannot tolerate the 'return to religion'" of the secularized society.
Another view is proffered by Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a prolific sociologist whose works appear in 12 scientific journals and is a member of the Alleanza Catolica.[54] He said that these texts are "of very poor scientific quality." In 1994, he stated that secularists, liberal Catholics and anti-Catholics use the term "cult" in order to attach a social stigma against Opus Dei which has been their "prime target for years." Secularist groups fight Opus Dei, he says, because "they cannot tolerate 'the return to religion'" of the secularized society. Forming a strange relationship of believers and non-believers, he states in "Opus Dei and the Anti-cult Movement",[55] liberal Catholics, ex-members, and parents of people involved with Opus Dei have joined forces with these ";powerful and wealthy" groups to bolster their fight "against Opus Dei and other Catholic entities who wish to remain faithful to the Magisterium." Since secularists deny truth exists, even in religious matters, he says, mainline scientists reject the reports of anti-cult activists as "unscholarly," including their method of labelling organisations.[56]Anti-catholicism, which Protestant scholar Philip Jenkins calls the "last acceptable prejudice" in the West, is another factor in this fight.
As they apologize for mistakes committed in their work of apostolate, members say it is not right to call a Catholic prelature a cult. Introvigne also states: As a prelature, Opus Dei is "at the very heart of the socio-administrative organisation of the Catholic Church." To label a prelature a "sect";; either comes from (1) the use of "quantitative criteria" which does not examine beliefs but behavior and practices, or (2) a political desire of using a stigma against an enemy. Echoing the view of many sociologists, he says: if one uses quantitative elements or if one stigmatizes groups one does not like, one can find "sects" everywhere, including the Catholic Church as a whole. [57] Several Catholic religious orders, Amway, Multi-level marketing, Charismatics and YWCA are also in the list of cult observer groups.
Since 2003, Opus Dei has received world attention as a result of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code. In the novel, Opus Dei is portrayed as a villainous organization that is involved in a sinister international conspiracy. The depiction of Opus Dei in the recently released Da Vinci Code movie is scaled back and significantly less ominous than its depiction in the novel.
Brown says that his portrayal of Opus Dei was based on interviews with members and ex-members, and books about Opus Dei. However, many academics haved point out a number of innacuracies in the novel. For example, the major villain in The Da Vinci Code is a monk who is member of Opus Dei-- but there are no monks in Opus Dei. The Da Vinci Code implies that Opus Dei is the pope's personal prelature-- in truth, the term "personal prelature" does not refer to a special relationship to the Pope; it means an institution in which the jurisdiction of the prelate is not linked to a geographic territory but over persons, wherever they be. In general, few scholars give much creedence The Da Vinci Code's allegations of a global conspiracy involving Opus Dei.
Revolutionary or conservative?
Opus Dei's influence in society, said Escrivá, is not socio-economic but ethical: rich and poor work together to build a society that is more human, just, and progressive.
In contrast, Benedict XVI praises the catechetical work of these lay organizations and commented on the profile of Opus Dei as "this surprising link between absolute fidelity to the great tradition of the Church and to her faith, with a disarming simplicity and unconditional openness to all the challenges of this world, in the academic world, in the world of work, in the world of economics, etc." There are also modern historians, many of whom are non-Catholics, who are now stating that the Catholic Church supports reason and progress, putting it "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization," in the words of Paul Legutko of Stanford University in his review of Thomas Woods' book How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. [59]
The debate about Opus Dei and its role in society continues. The two diametrically opposed positions are reflected in how one interprets point 353 of Escrivá'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?[60]
Opus Dei's prelatic church, Our Lady of Peace, located in the central headquarters in Rome. Below the altar lie the mortal remains of St. Josemaría.
Critics say this type of counsel makes it impossible for Opus Dei members to be free in political matters, since it creates ideologies such as "National Catholicism," says Alberto Moncada, or "Catholic Totalitarianism," says Argentine Marxist historian Emilio Corbiere, or "Catholofascism," as self-described "militant anti-theist" Johann Hari describes Opus Dei. Thus, Opus Dei members are placed squarely on the political right, becoming a conservative influence in world affairs, promoting the Vatican's traditionalist policies against divorce, abortion, euthanasia, gay marriages, contraception, etc. [15]. It serves as the Vatican's instrument to oppose the liberal and secular thought expressed by John Stuart Mill's classic statement: "The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way," and lately put into American jurisprudence in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey 1992, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life."
On the other hand, while espousing respect for each person's freedom of religion and search for truth, Ratzinger says that when there is rebellion against the light of truth revealed by Christ on man's origin and purpose, man is imprisoned in a meaningless existence. [61] The "attempt to be our own god, creator and judge," he stated in The Way of the Cross (2005), leads to self-destruction. The "choice of error does not liberate," says Escrivá, and brings instead the "slavery of sin." His supporters say that the Catholic Church per se is beyond earthly power struggles and is engaged in a fundamental struggle for the peace and happiness of each soul: the battle between the powers of evil and the God-man Jesus Christ who, in the words of Opus Dei's founder, "never loses battles." [16]
According to Escrivá, "face-to-face with God, there is no room for anonymity: either one decides to be his friend or his foe." [17] He also states in a key teaching: "Many great things depend — don't forget it — on whether you and I live our lives as God wants." [18] His supporters say that if Christians throughout the world are completely faithful to the Beauty of Truth, Jesus Christ, then "the greatest revolution of all time would take place," according to what they see as the prophetic vision of Opus Dei's founder, a vision altogether dismissed by its many critics.
File:Stjosemariaprayercard.jpgImage seen on the Official Prayer Card to St. Josemaria Escrivá upon his canonization on 6 October2002. On that day, Pope John Paul II called Opus Dei's founder "the saint of ordinary life."
^Escrivá says it is a "great catechesis." See also "Ways of Opus Dei" Time Magazine.
^"Actual Grace". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2006-05-16.. In the view of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) given in 2002, that name was chosen by Escrivá so as to underscore the belief that the organisation was not Escriva's work but God's Work, Opus Dei, and further, that "Escriva was only an instrument with which God had acted." [1]
^Thus, according to Estruch, Opus Dei became both conservative in doctrine and modern in its work ethic. On the other hand, Jesuit scholar, Fr. James V. Schall, Professor of Political Science at Georgetown University, says that Estruch's work is subjective, arbitrary and unscientific. Schall gives as an example Estruch's claim that priests enter the seminary only to improve their lot. [2]
^The quotes are from two unnamed periti or official Vatican theological experts who analyzed Escrivá's work in connection with the process of his beatification (Documentation Service 5, 3, March 1992). See also Fabro, Cornelio, Temple de un Padre de la Iglesia, Rialp 2002.
^See Fuenmayor, Amadeo; Gomez-Iglesias, Valentin; & Illanes, Jose Luis. The Canonical Path of Opus Dei. Four Courts Press 1996. This source is the basis of the canonical analysis in this section on Opus Dei's prelatic status.
^These secular structures are very different from religious orders, which are under the Congregation for the Religious, and which take charge of nuns, monks, friars, religious priests, and lay orders that follow religious practices.
^The allegations regarding recruitment come mainly from concerned family members and have resulted for example in the recommendations for Opus Dei by Basil Cardinal Hume. Hume said that Escrivá "anticipated the Vatican Council" and clarified that his recommendations "must not be seen as a criticism" of Opus Dei but "in the light of local customs."
^John Paul II states in his Letter on the Salvific Meaning of Suffering : "Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption."
^To improve its image, Allen recommended that Opus Dei should be more transparent, collaborate with religious orders, and its members should air out in public their criticism of the institution. However, in his review of Allen's work, "Let There be Light" (Baumann, Paul (October/November 2005). "Let There Be Light - A look inside the hidden world of Opus Dei". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2006-05-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)) Paul Baumann says that Allen's recommendations, which are based on a liberal and Anglosaxon cultural prism, still constitute a misinterpretation of Opus Dei's identity.
^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.
^Allen says Opus Dei's assets in the United States are estimated to be at $344 million, compared with an annual revenue for the Catholic Church in the US of $102 billion. By comparison, General Motors has assets of $455 billion. As to real estate, Opus Dei has not much need for it, Messori states, since "the great majority of Opus Dei members continue to live their everyday lives in their own homes." For more information on the financial matters of Opus Dei, please see Information Handbook on the Opus Dei Prelature.
^Urquhart, Gordon (1997). "Opus Dei: The Pope's Right Arm in Europe". Conservative atholic Influence in Europe an Investigative Series. Catholics for a Free Choice. Retrieved 2006-05-16..
^Preston, Paul, Franco. A Biography, London: HarperCollins, 1993, p. 669.
^Crozier, Brian, Franco, A Biographical History, Little, Brown and Company 1967.
^Fr. V. Felzmann, a former member, goes so far as to claim that Escrivá had a certain admiration for Hitler. Dozens of witnesses, meanwhile, including non-members, contradict Felzmann. They say Escrivá boldly condemned Hitler's pagan, racist totalitarianism.
Belda, M.; Escudero J.; Illanes, J.L.; & O'Callaghan, P. (Eds.) (1997). Holiness and the World: Studies in the Teachings of Blessed Josemariá Escrivá. Scepter Publications.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)— collection of contributions to a theological symposium; contributors include Ratzinger, del Portillo, Cottier, dalla Torre, Ocariz, Illanes, Aranda, Burggraf and an address by John Paul II ISBN 1890177040
Rodríguez, Pedro; Alves de Sousa, Pío Gonçalo; Zumaquero, José Manuel. (1985) Mons. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y el Opus Dei: en el 50 aniversario de su fundación. Pamplona. — collection of different articles
Fuenmayor, Amadeo; Gomez-Iglesias, Valentin; & Illanes, Jose Luis (1996). The Canonical Path of Opus Dei. Four Courts Press. ISBN 1851822216.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) — in-depth juridical study
Le Tourneau, Dominique (2002). What Is Opus Dei?. Gracewing. ISBN 0852441363. — a basic text; a French scholar's synthesis
Rodriguez, Pedro; Ocariz, Fernando; & Illanes, José Luis (1994). Opus Dei in the Church. Four Courts Press. ISBN 1851821708.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) — in-depth ecclesiological study
Romano, Giuseppe (1995). Opus Dei: Who? How? Why?. Alba House. ISBN 0818907398.
Pakaluk, Michael (June 1978). "Opus Dei In Everyday Life". The Family. — a typical day in the life of a member of Opus Dei
Messori, Vittorio (1997). Opus Dei, Leadership and Vision in Today's Catholic Church. Regnery Publishing. ISBN 0895264501. — an investigation (Un' indagine, the original Italian title) done by the journalist behind Crossing the Threshold of Hope and the Ratzinger Report
Neuhaus, Richard John (November 1995). "The Work of God". First Things, 57, p.71-87.
Thierry, Jean-Jacques (1975). Opus Dei: A Close Up. Scepter. ISBN 0933932324. — the first serious study on Opus Dei to be published, written by a French journalist
