Opus Dei
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- For other uses, see Opus Dei (disambiguation).
The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, commonly known as Opus Dei (Latin for "Work of God"), is a prelature created by the Roman Catholic Church, composed of a prelate, secular priests, and lay people, whose mission is to spread the Catholic teaching that everyone is called to become a saint by means of their daily work and social relations. The Opus Dei Prelature "encourages Christians of all social classes to live consistently with their faith in the middle of the ordinary circumstances of their lives." [1]
Opus Dei was founded on October 2, 1928 by a Roman Catholic priest Josemaría Escrivá who was canonized in 2002. Granted its first official Catholic approval in 1941, Opus Dei was established as a personal prelature by Pope John Paul II in 1982, making it a part of the pastoral structure of the Roman Catholic Church under the Congregation for Bishops.
While many Catholic leaders strongly support what they see as Opus Dei's innovative teaching on the sanctifying value of ordinary work and have stated that it is completely faithful to the faith and traditions of the Church, Opus Dei's critics accuse it of ultraconservative beliefs, cult-like methods, secrecy, and a right-wing political agenda. Thus, Opus Dei is described by some observers as one of the most controversial organizations in the Catholic Church, leading some Catholic leaders to view it as a sign of contradiction.
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Foundation and mission
Opus Dei was founded by a Roman Catholic priest, Josemaria Escrivá, on 2 October 1928 in Madrid, Spain. According to his personal account, the founding of Opus Dei had a "supernatural character." On that day he "saw Opus Dei."
In his own words, the mission of Opus Dei 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 Opus Dei's role as "a great catechesis."
One of the aims of the Opus Dei prelature, according to John Paul II, is to offer spiritual training for ordinary citizens who want to use their daily work and activities as occasions for spiritual growth and for improving society.
From its early years, Opus Dei faced criticism and opposition from some people within and without the Catholic Church, but also enjoyed the support of Catholic officials, starting with the Bishop of Madrid, Leopoldo Eijo y Garay. Years later, Escrivá's vision of Opus Dei would be confirmed by Pope John Paul II, who stated that Escrivá had founded Opus Dei ductus divina inspiratione, having been led by divine inspiration.
Message and Teachings
In Opus Dei in the Church, Prof. Pedro Rodriguez, a scholar on Catholic church studies says that Opus Dei is about a message and a church institution bearing that message. The institution is the Prelature of Opus Dei, and its basic message is that everyone is called to be a saint and an apostle, an idea now known as the universal call to holiness and apostolate. This teaching, which echoes the Bible and other Christian writings, was made a central doctrine of the Second Vatican Council, the biggest meeting of Catholic leaders and theologians in the 20th Century: [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 Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, "the message of St Josemaría belongs to the perennial patrimony of the Church." [5] The following are the main features of Escrivá 's spiritual teachings, the core message of Opus Dei. [6]
- 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.
- Sanctifying work. Whatever work Christians 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 their personal freedom and that of others, because God the Son himself, on becoming man, took on human freedom, sanctifying men through love: freely 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. [7]
- 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 sporting struggle to practice all the human virtues. [8] "'Great' holiness consists in carrying out the 'little duties' of each moment." [9] 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:
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.
Girls from an Opus Dei youth club setting up a market stall to raise funds to support an African project. The majority of the undertakings guided by Opus Dei are youth and social development centres. - 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. Thus, a true Christian's work is God's work, opus Dei. This Christian, despite all his defects, which he humbly tries to remove, is alter Christus, ipse Christus, another Christ, Christ himself. [10]
According to Escrivá, the foundation of Opus Dei's spirit is a personal awareness of the Christian's "divine filiation". [11] Divine filiation is the Christian's fundamental state as a daughter or son of God in Christ, a deep awareness of which brings about immense happiness. [12] Escrivá states: "Joy comes from knowing we are children of God." [13] Opus Dei, he says, is "a smiling asceticism." (See [14])
While Escrivá's teachings are viewed as important by many Catholic theologians, and some have even said that he "possesses the force of the classic writers, the temper of a Father of the Church," not all Catholic scholars have been impressed by them. In Opus Dei in the United States, Associate Editor of America Magazine, Jesuit Fr. James Martin (1995), says the maxims found in Escrivá's The Way range "from traditional Christian pieties...to sayings that could easily have come out of Poor Richard’s Almanack." For a fuller discussion, please see Teachings of Opus Dei.
Structure: Catholic personal prelature
Catholic Church officials consider those who practice Opus Dei teachings and feel called to a special vocation as forming a "spiritual family", of which Escrivá was the first head. On 28 November 1982, John Paul II granted the organisation a status intended to reflect this concept, that of a personal prelature. He described this legal framework as being "perfectly suited to Opus Dei" [15] (Fuenmayor et al, The Canonical Path of Opus Dei 1996) and as consistent with its specific characteristics of being international in scope and under one head, of including both clergy and laity working as one with no distinctions, and of being for both men and women. 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.
Critics, like Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek, say that Opus Dei through this juridical status has become independent from Catholic Church authority, a "church within the Church." [16] Catholic officials, on the other hand, say that personal prelature is an ordinary ecclesiastical structure. Like dioceses and military ordinariates, personal prelatures are under the governance of the Vatican's 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, and which take charge of nuns, monks, friars, religious priests, and lay orders which follow religious practices. Like military ordinariates, personal prelatures take charge of persons with some particular objectives, regardless of diocesan geographical boundaries. As Catholic faithful, 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." [17]
Vocation and membership types
In "Vocation to Opus Dei as Vocation in the Church," F. Ocariz (Opus Dei in the Church 1994) says that within the common vocation of all Christians to become holy, the faithful of Opus Dei have a specific vocation of spreading the knowledge of the universal call to holiness. Opus Dei members, Ocariz says, have "one vocation", because they are called to have the same apostolic aim, to practice the same spirit and ascetical means, and receive the same formation. Due to this "oneness of vocation," Ocariz says that Opus Dei has the atmosphere of a Christian family, where the members call the prelate "the Father."
Unlike religious nor 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 he has received a vocation. While there is only one vocation, members are differentiated according the degree of their availability to 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 Escrivá. They are inspired by Catholic teaching that "large families are a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity." (CCC 2373) Supernumeraries are the least available for the formational tasks but assist in them as their circumstances permit.
According to Vittorio 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
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.
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.
Numerary Assistants
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 Opus Dei gives importance to material things, a Christian materialism Escrivá calls it, he used to call the work of the numerary assistants as "the apostolate of apostolates."
Associates
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.
Priests
The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross is an association of clergy intrinsically united to Opus Dei which they say promotes personal sanctification, brotherhood among priests and unity with their own bishop.
Cooperators
Cooperators of Opus Dei are non-members who collaborate with the faithful of the Opus Dei by praying, giving alms or spend time helping out in an Opus Dei activity.
Doctrine, instruction and training
A Christian becomes a saint, according to Opus Dei's founder, with God's grace and mercy and through the Christian's use of some principal means of sanctification: (1) interior life, a life of uninterrupted prayer which Jesus Christ calls "the one thing necessary," (Lk 10:42) and (2) doctrinal formation, a well-reasoned understanding of the Catholic religion which views itself as the religion of the Logos (the Word: logic, intelligence, reason, meaning). [18] Thus Escrivá says that Christians whose vocation is to love God should have "the piety of children and the sure doctrine of theologians," since continuous contact and deep knowledge are both necessary for loving someone. [19] The Vatican's Code of Particular Law for Opus Dei, known as its Statutes, states that the instruction of its members should be in complete conformity with the Teaching Office of the Church.
Critics say that Opus Dei's training is overly rigid and strict. Others even say it is manipulative and controlling. On the other hand, according to G. Romano (1995) in Opus Dei: Who? How? Why?, spiritual and ascetical training in Opus Dei is intended to develop the members' life of piety and foster their practice of the human virtues, habits which are developed through the repetition of free decisions, like love for the truth, self-discipline, and generosity. These habits of human excellence, according to Escrivá, are 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," Escrivá says, "the free and responsible personal action of each member." [20]
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 Escrivá'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. [21]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.
Controversies and their sources
In the work of spreading this message marked by novelty, Opus Dei 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." (Lk 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." [22] Cardinal Julian Herranz, a member of Opus Dei in the Roman Curia, says, "Opus Dei has become a victim of Christianophobia," 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). [23]
Some critics however say that Opus Dei is controversial 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, 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 that for Estruch priests go to seminary only to improve their lot. [24]
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. [25]
Catholic analysts, in contrast, say that conservative is mainly and originally a political category which is perverted when used for religious, moral, or intellectual matters. These should be categorised as either faithful or heretical, good or evil, true or false. And as regards these matters, the Catholic Church, say these analysts, is "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 lead their operations separate 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.
On the other hand, the founding director of the Institute for Women's Studies, 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." [26] Allen says that there are many women of Opus Dei who, by sanctifying their work, have proved themselves to be respected professionals in their 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."
Opus Dei and Catholic demands
Radical demands of Christian sanctity
In Holiness and the World, a theological symposium on Escrivá's teachings held in Rome in 1993, Spanish theologian Antonio Aranda ("The Christian, alter Christus, ipse Christus in the thought of Josemaria Escrivá") and American theologian William May ("Holiness and ordinary life in the teaching of St. Josemaría Escrivá" [27]), are one with former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who said in the Opening Message of the symposium that the Escrivá teachings on sanctity is "Christ-centred." In the life and writings of Escrivá, there is "a very vivid sense of the presence of Christ."
According to theologians, the Catholic message which Opus Dei is tasked to proclaim, that all Christians can and should become a saint is rooted in the following premises: Christians believe that (1) they are sinful 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 man making friends with other men, (3) Christ is their loving Savior, the new head of the human race who shares his divine sonship with his followers: "the race of the children of God," [28] (4) "This Christ who is alive is also a Christ who is near," says Ratzinger of Escrivá's thought, "a Christ in whom the power and majesty of God make themselves present through ordinary, simple, human things." Present as a merciful father in Confession and personally present in the Eucharistic bread, Christ makes himself "totally available" to nourish the Christian in order to become "one single thing with him." [29] Given this union with God and his grace, a new principle of energy, and given the support of the Christ's family, the Church, with Holy Mary, St. Joseph, the Pope, and other Christians, the difficult ideal of becoming a saint, another Christ, is "also easy. It is within reach," Escrivá states. [30]
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." [31]
With the Holy Spirit (Love Himself) present in a Christian who is willing to be taught, preached Escrivá, the human spirit which was created to love is led through an "inclined plane" so as to give himself as a loving gift to God in all ordinary circumstances. Thus, one of his favourite teachings is the biblical injunction that human beings 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) [32] Escrivá also points to Jesus' "new commandment" to love one another "as I have loved you" (Jn 13:34), a love he has shown by "laying his life for his friend." (Jn 15:13) For Escrivá, this is the standard of what can be demanded of Christians. [33]
This, for Escrivá is the "good use of freedom, when it finds its true meaning...put in the service of the truth which redeems, when it is spent in seeking God's infinite Love... [This] is the 'glorious freedom of the children of God'...to be always young, generous, capable of high ideals and great sacrifices." [34] Wanting to be ipse Christus, says Opus Dei's founder, 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. [35]
According to Catholic officials, Escrivá's teachings are biblical and traditional demands for all Christians, rooted in Jesus who "asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything (Mt 13:44-45)," (CCC 546) a choice which martyrs and saints have taken throughout Church history. The Catechism also 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 At the Beginning of the New Millennium, "a program for all times" written by John Paul II, 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," [36] a traditional metaphor on the spiritual life that Escrivá also used. (e.g. [37] and [38])
Allegations of being a cult
- For a more detailed discussion, please see Opposition to Opus Dei
Opus Dei is sometimes said to have similarities to a cult. Reasons given for this are:
- aggressive recruitment, whereby members are reported to initially hide their links to Opus Dei, to persuade recruits not to tell their families, and to use threats of condemnation. The allegations regarding recruitment come mainly from concerned family members and have resulted for example in the restrictions for Opus Dei by Basil Cardinal Hume,
- high control of the members through tight schedules, internal confessors and control of access to information. Testimonies regarding the restriction of members' freedom is reported by former members, e.g. on the webpage of Opus Dei Awareness Network or in Beyond the Threshold written by ex-numerary Maria Carmen del Tapia in 1998,
- separation of members from their families and friends,
- attempts to suppress information by legal pressure or slandering. Alberto Moncada and Maria Angustias Moreno in La otra cara del Opus Dei report reactions of Opus Dei to criticisms and attempts of Opus Dei to suppress criticism which they say is comparable to practices of cults.
Detailed reasoning on the subject is given by sociologist Alberto Moncada in Catholic Sects: Opus Dei and by J. Garvey who in "Parent's Guide to Opus Dei" compares Opus Dei practices to the practices of sects outlined in the Vatican Report: Sects or New Religious Movements: A Pastoral Challenge.
Opus Dei is listed on several sites of cult research organizations and cult observer groups. These groups say though, that such a listing does not mean that a group is a cult but that they often receive questions regarding it.
Some supporters see the reason for such allegations in secularism, "liberal" Catholicism, and anti-Catholicism. Catholic scholar and sociologist Dr. Massimo Introvigne of CESNUR, states in Opus Dei and the Anti-cult movement, that the attack on Opus Dei proceeds from two groups which have joined forces: (1) Catholic "progressive" groups which are "eager to find powerful and wealthy allies, of similar ideologies, in their polemics against Opus Dei and other Catholic entities who wish to remain orthodox and faithful to the Magisterium," and (2) secularist forces who deny that truth exists even in religious matters. Thus, he says, mainline scientists reject as “unscholarly” the reports of anti-cult activists, including their method of labelling organisations [39]. Introvigne says that these activists have made Opus Dei their "prime target," for they cannot tolerate "the return to religion." Messori also says that anti-cult groups in the US flourish in rabidly anti-Catholic environments. And anti-catholicism is the "last acceptable prejudice" in the West, says Protestant scholar P. Jenkins.
While admitting that 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 Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in Are there sects in the Catholic Church? "From a theological and ecclesiastical point of view, a group is considered a sect when it is not recognized by the relevant Church authority. Sects are outside the Church (and outside ecumenical movements). It is therefore wrong if communities which are approved by the Church are called sects. Introvigne also states: "In the case of Opus Dei the structure of personal prelature places it at the very heart of the socio-administrative organisation of the Catholic Church...The application of the label "sect" comes then either from usage pure and simple of quantitative criteria, or from the purely political desire to use a particularly derogatory classification against an adversary considered as dangerous. But it is obvious that - if one uses quantitative elements or if one labels as "sects" groups whose spirituality one does not like - one can find '"sects" basically everywhere (and one could include among them the Catholic Church in its totality...) (The stigmatization of certain movements and groups as sects within the Catholic Church}
As regards former members, Cardinal Schönborn states: "Some ex-members cannot come to terms with their negative experiences and make them known from the platform of the media. People living together will experience their limitations and weaknesses. It is, however, unjustified, to present personal difficulties within a community as if they were a general experience. On the whole, negative experiences of individuals are painful for the whole Church community."
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)"[40]
At present, the perception remains that Opus Dei is a Catholic organization whose mission is approved and encouraged by the Church but which is also 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.
Kenneth Woodward, however, says that the process of canonisation was lightning fast and plagued with irregularities. Opus Dei allegedly pressured and bought bishops to write glowing reports about Escrivá.
On the other hand, Fr. Rafael Perez, an Augustinian priest and an expert on canonisation, states that it was the promoters' efficiency, the reforms on the canonisation process, and the importance of Escrivá'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 and general strategy
While critics say that Opus Dei is a secretive, right-wing group interested in spreading a conservative ideology, Catholic officials say that Opus Dei is God's Work performing a divine operation in society. They say that the prelature of Opus Dei 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' apostolate of friendship--by "improving human beings—one by one, and profoundly." The main strategy, according to Escrivá's doctrine, is to become an authentic saint, another Christ redeeming all men, and thus, also an ethical influence and a responsible citizen who works for the common good. "These world crises," he says, "are crises of saints." [42]
Membership profile
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 terms of educational level, income and social status, V. Messori says that there is a predominance of middle-to-low levels among the members of Opus Dei. In Spain and Latin America, for example, Opus Dei is predominantly popular among labourers and campesinos. (1997, p. 84) Gomez Perez, in Opus Dei: Una Explicación, says that Opus Dei's social composition shows a correspondence with the local situation, because, he says, all honest trades can be sanctified. He also says that there are more teachers and professors among its ranks than the normal social composition because of Opus Dei's emphasis on the intellectual apostolate.
Critics, however, accuse Opus Dei of elitism. They say that Opus Dei has amassed both power and wealth. On the other hand, John Allen in Opus Dei: Secrets and Power in the Catholic Church, says that 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. The worldwide revenue of Opus Dei is that of a mid-sized American diocese. He also says that Opus Dei has only 39 bishops out of the 4,564 in the world. And there are only 20 members out of 3920 working in the Vatican. [43] As to real estate holdings, Opus Dei's holdings are notably inferior to those of the religious orders, says V. Messori. "Monks live in communities that require houses, while 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.
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, schools, hospitals, technical training centres, farm schools, 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.
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. Rumours 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.
In The Da Vinci Hoax, Carl E. Olson, a theologian, and Sandra Miesel, a medievalist, state that "the misrepresentation of Christian beliefs in The Da Vinci Code is so aggressive and continual that we can only conclude that it is a result of willful ignorance or purposeful malice." [44] Professional journalist John Allen says that the allegation of secrecy and pursuit of power is a misunderstanding of its stress on "non self-aggrandizement" 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. [45]
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) [46]
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.
Freedom and pluralism vs. far-right politics
Cornelio Fabro, eminent Italian philosopher and founder of the Institute for Higher Studies on Unbelief, Religion and Cultures, said of Escrivá: "A new man for the new times of the Church of the future, Josemaria Escrivá ... has 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.” [47] John Allen says: "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."
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." Fr. V. Felzmann, a former member, also says that Escrivá was sympathetic to Hitler.
V. Messori, who investigated the "Spanish issue" of Opus Dei, says that this is a longstanding "black legend," a "myth" stoked by enemies of Opus Dei. He and Allen state that of the 116 ministers of Franco, only 8 were members, basically technocrats who were labelled "the liberal wing" of the Franco regime. 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, like Antonio Fontan. Messori states that the accusations are due to Falange's projection of their one-party mentality to Opus Dei which rejected such a mentality. Felzmann's statement, the prelature says, contradicts his own written testimony that Escrivá is "a saint for today." 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 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? [48]
Critics say that this type of counsel makes it impossible for Opus Dei members to be free in political matters. [49] 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. [50]
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. [51]
According to Escrivá, "face-to-face with God," there is no room for "anonymity": either one decides to be his friend or his foe. [52] 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." [53] His supporters say that it is when Christians all over 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. [54].
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
For an extensive bibliography and list of external links connected to Opus Dei, please see Opus Dei: Bibliography
External links
Official Catholic Church documents
- Papal Bull Ut Sit Establishing the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei and the Vatican Declaration on Opus Dei
- Christifideles Omnes, Papal Decree on Escriva's Heroic Virtues
- St. Josemaria: God's Instrument for Opus Dei by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints - statement of the Vatican on St. Josemaria and Opus Dei's message of sanctity
Sites on the Prelature of Opus Dei
- Opus Dei Official Site
- Romana, the Opus Dei Prelature's Bulletin
- Opus Members - members testimonies
- Holiness in Daily Life
- Opus Dei Corporate Works
- McCloskey's Perspectives - website of writer Fr. McCloskey, priest of Opus Dei
- Russell Shaw, Ordinary Christians in the World
- Russell Shaw, Opus Dei In Everyday Life
For links about Josemaría Escrivá, see Josemaría Escrivá#External Links
Sites supporting Opus Dei:
- Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), Opus Dei, and St. Josemaria
- Opus Dei: Catholic Sources
- Catholic Hierarchy: Data about the Prelature
- Index on Opus Dei Files by RJ Tatz
- Opus Dei: Fact and Fiction, a publication of the Catholic League
- Ideas rapidas: Opus Dei: Quick Facts
- Opus Dei Information Handbook
- Cardinal Schönborn: "Are there sects in the Catholic Church?
- Opus Dei...Tutta la verità - Italian website on "Opus Dei...The Whole Truth"
- L'Opus Dei e il movimento anti-sette - Opus Dei and the anti-cult movement (in Italian)
- Opus Dei: Verdades, criticas y secretos - Spanish website on "Opus Dei: Truths, criticisms and secrets"
- Opus Dei: documentos, artículos y testimonios sobre el Opus Dei y su fundador
Critical sites
- Opus Dei Awareness Network
- The Unofficial Opus Dei FAQ
- Opus Dei in the United States by Jesuit Fr. James Martin
- The Rising Spectre - Ian Paisley's European Institute for Protestant Studies
- Opus Libros, created by former Opus Dei numeraries (in Spanish)
- Opus Dei: links, press reports, critical witnesses (in French)
- Opus Dei in Brazil (in Portuguese)
