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The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, commonly known as Opus Dei (Latin for "Work of God") or the Work, is an international organization of the Roman Catholic Church whose mission is to spread the Christian message that God calls everyone to become a saint and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The Opus Dei prelature comprises ordinary lay people and secular priests governed by a prelate.
Founded in 1928 by a Catholic priest, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, Opus Dei was established as a personal prelature by Pope John Paul II in 1982. The first, and so far the only one, this prelature now coexists with episcopal dioceses as an official part of the Church's institutional structures. According to the Vatican Yearbook of 2004, Opus Dei has more than 85,000 members.
Various Popes and Catholic Church leaders strongly support what they see as Opus Dei's innovative teaching on the sanctifying value of work in the secular world and its loyalty to the Church. Still, since its foundation Opus Dei has been subjected to criticism and opposition. Liberals and secularists accuse it of secrecy, elitism, ultraconservatism, and support for the extreme right-wing in politics. Some ex-members accuse it of cult-like recruitment and of violating their rights.
CNN's Vatican analyst, John L. Allen, Jr., and Dr. Vittorio Messori, respected journalists and Catholics, stated that these accusations are mere myths, a far cry from Opus Dei's reality. In 1994, Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a prolific sociologist 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, its opponents unfairly stigmatize Opus Dei. Allen describes Opus Dei as "the most controversial force in the Catholic Church", receiving both support and opposition. Due to this, many Catholics see Opus Dei as a sign of contradiction.
History, mission, and name
Further information: Timeline of Opus DeiFile:Stjosemariaprayercard.jpgImage seen on the Official Prayer Card to St. Josemaría Escrivá upon his canonization on 6 October2002. On that day, Pope John Paul II called Opus Dei's founder "the saint of ordinary life."
Opus Dei was founded by a Catholic priest, Josemaría Escrivá, on 2 October1928 in Madrid, Spain. Escrivá said that the founding of Opus Dei had a "supernatural character." On that day he "saw Opus Dei." Described as a Catholic teaching entity, Opus Dei's mission 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 evangelization. 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."
Escrivá gave the organization the name "Opus Dei", which, in Latin, means "Work of God." Pope John Paul II stated that Escrivá had founded it led by divine inspiration. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) said that it was not Escriva's work but God's Work, Opus Dei. "The Lord simply made use of him who allowed God to work."
Initially, Opus Dei was open only to men, but in 1930, Escrivá created the women's branch. In 1936, Opus Dei suffered a temporary setback when the events of the Spanish Civil War forced Escrivá to go into hiding. After the civil war was won by General Francisco Franco's Nationalists, he was able to return to Madrid. In 1939, Escrivá published The Way, a collection of 999 maxims concerning spirituality. In 1946, he moved its headquarters to Rome. In 1950 with the first constitutions, Pope Pius XII granted it the definitive approval, thereby allowing married people to join the organization. In 1982, John Paul II made Opus Dei into a personal prelature with new statutes, and in 2002, canonized its founder.
Catholic Church and Opus Dei
Filipino painting titled Magpakabanal sa gawain: "Be a saint through your work."
As an organisation within the Catholic Church, Opus Dei shares its doctrines, while emphasising certain Catholic spiritual teachings:
Universal call to holiness
Opus Dei lays stress on the universal call to holiness that is embodied in Jesus’ command: Love God with all your heart. Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Sanctity is not just for monks and priests, says Escrivá; it is also easily accessible for ordinary Christians. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (2002) explained his teaching: there is a mistaken idea of holiness as being reserved to some extraordinary people who are completely different from us ordinary sinners. Even if he can be very weak, with many mistakes in his life, a saint is nothing other than to speak with God as a friend speaks with a friend, allowing God to work, the Only One who can really make the world both good and happy, states Ratzinger.
Holiness in ordinary life
Escrivá —a "Christ-centred" saint, says Ratzinger— emphasised that ordinary Christians follow Jesus, God the Son, who worked as a carpenter and lived as a son in a Jewish family in a small village for 30 years.
Sanctifying work
Since the Bible stated that man was created "to work" (Gen 2:15) and that Jesus "did all things well" (Mk 7:37), Escrivá encouraged Christians to work excellently out of love. By doing so, their work is a service to society and a fitting offering to God. "'Great' holiness consists in carrying out the 'little duties' of each moment", says Escrivá.
Secularity and freedom
Each person is free —in control of his actions— and thus responsible for his spiritual and social life. Jesus redeemed us with the free choice of love: As man, he obeyed his Father's will throughout his life of work, "unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8). Each one then directs himself with autonomy in earthly affairs towards eternal union with or separation from God, the two ultimate ends of life.
Contemplatives in the middle of the world
All of creation is sanctified by the God-made-flesh: movies, boardrooms, gardens, sports are meeting points with the Father God who is near. This message, says Franz Cardinal König (1975), the perceived leader of the "progressivists" in Vatican II, shows that the two separated worlds of religious life and professional life "should in fact walk together." File:Ratzinger Szczepanow 2003 10.JPGCardinal Joseph Ratzinger now Benedict XVI: This message "leads to overcoming the great temptation of our time: the pretence that after the 'big bang' God retired from history."
Charity and daily evangelization
Holiness, according to Catholic theology, is a response of love to God's self-sacrificing love. And love is nurtured by regular acts of prayer ("norms of piety") which are centred on Christ in the Eucharist. Charity consists of understanding, compassion, courtesy, helping the needy, fraternal correction, and cheer, Escrivá says. Love is orderly and should start with one's duties. Charity entails apostolate, leading people to God.
Unity of life
By practicing these teachings, a Christian has no double life; he has a unity of life. This, according to Escrivá, is a profound union with Jesus Christ, both fully God and fully man, one person in whom divine power is fused with ordinary human activity. With this, a Christian's work becomes God's redeeming work, opus Dei. It is thus that a Christian is alter Christus, ipse Christus, another Christ, Christ himself in whatever role he plays.
Divine filiation and joy
According to Escrivá, the foundation of the Christian life is one's "divine filiation": being children of God, "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4), the deep awareness of which brings about immense happiness: "Joy comes from knowing we are children of God." Opus Dei, Escrivá says, is "a smiling asceticism."
That everyone is called to sanctity was already taught 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 Pope John Paul I. "For him, it is the material work itself which must be turned into prayer and sanctity", thus providing a lay spirituality.
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.
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 John Paul II's Ut Sit.
While 2000 bishops who were consulted supported this decision according to the Vatican, critics like Kenneth Woodward, the longtime religion editor and senior writer for Newsweek, consider that Opus Dei, through its juridical status has become a "church within the Church."
File:PerottetOpusDeisupernumerary.jpgPerrottet family of Sydney. Members are inspired by Catholic teaching that "large families are a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity" (CCC 2373).
According to Catholic officials, while everyone is called to holiness, not all are called to Opus Dei. Being ordinary Catholics, and not nuns or priests, Opus Dei members are incorporated into the prelature not by means of vows, but by private contracts. They have to freely ask to be incorporated, convinced they have received a vocation. Members are committed to attend regular meetings, practice its teachings, and spread its message in the midst of their work. Since there is one vocation to Opus Dei, there are no degrees of membership. The terminology for the types of members refer to the different circumstances in which they live their vocation:
Supernumeraries account for about 70% of the total membership. Typically, supernumeraries are married men and women who have normal careers and lead traditional family lives. Due to these obligations, supernumeraries are not as available to assist in organisational matters as the other types of members. They contribute financially to Opus Dei.
Numeraries, who comprise about 20% of total membership, are celibate members who usually live in special centres run by Opus Dei. These centres are gender-segregated, with only very minimal contact between male and female numeraries. Numeraries generally have normal careers and devote the bulk of their income to the organisation.
Numerary assistants are unmarried, female members. Their professional life is dedicated to looking after the domestic needs of the centres.
Associates are unmarried, celibate members who typically have family or professional obligations. Unlike numeraries and numerary assistants, the associates do not live in the special Opus Dei centres.
The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross is the association of priests united with the prelature. Part of the society is made up of the clergy of the Opus Dei prelature: numeraries and associates who were called to the priesthood are automatically members of the Priestly Society. Other members are normal diocesan priests.
The Cooperators of Opus Dei are non-members, including non-Christians, who collaborate in some way with Opus Dei, usually through praying, charitable contributions, or by providing some other assistance.
Instruction and training
The Opus Dei prelature's main office in New York City. It has rooms for retreats, workshops, conferences, and spiritual direction.
A Christian becomes a saint, according to Opus Dei's founder, principally through God's mercy, and thus he emphasised frequent confession and other 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 he says Christians should have "the piety of children and the sure doctrine of theologians."
He holds that the "paramount means" of training is one-on-one 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. Training in Opus Dei is based on the single-sex education model.
Actual practice
After one year of research among members of Opus Dei, John Allen, Jr. of CNN said that for the most part, 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 evangelisation "seamlessly" combining with their work.
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," John Paul II canonized him on 6 October2002, and called him "the saint of ordinary life." In his Decree of Canonisation, 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, Josemaría Escrivá's canonisation sparked controversy. Critics such as Kenneth Woodward said he was undeserving and that the process of canonisation was lightning fast and marred by irregularities. Historian Eamon Duffy of Cambridge University stated: "The canonisation 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 canonisations, states it was the promoters' efficiency, the reforms in the canonisation 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 St. Josemaría may even undercut efforts to enhance the role of the laity in the life of the Church.
There are other members 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.
Some former members are highly critical of Opus Dei and have set up websites such as the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN) and Opus Libros to inform people of their allegations of cult-like behaviour in Opus Dei. On the other hand Allen says their views are countered by many other ex-members, the present members, and the estimated 900,000 people who attend activities of Opus Dei. He 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" to meet their "need for self-justification."
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 report of aggressive recruitment whereby members initially hide their links to Opus Dei; persuade recruits not to tell their families, or maintain contact with them; forbidding 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." 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 recognised 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)"
Opus Dei is also accused of high control of members through tight schedules and internal confessors. In fact, Allen reports that "there's a degree of structure for members, especially numeraries that many people would find suffocating. Numeraries generally do not go to movies or sporting events, they are expected to consult an Opus Dei 'data base' before reading certain books, they make interventions in one another's lives called 'fraternal corrections,' and so on." He also 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, however, 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.
Mortification and self-denial
Main article: MortificationCloseup of a cilice-- a small metal chain with inwardly-pointing spikes: a modern version of traditional penance such as the sackcloth and the hairshirt.
Much public attention has focused on Opus Dei's practice of mortification-- the voluntary offering up of discomfort or pain to God. Mortification has a long history in many world religions, and has been practiced continually throughout Catholic history as a way of following Christ's advice: "renounce yourself, take up the cross daily, and follow me."
Members of Opus Dei, like many Catholics, perform ordinary day to day sacrifices. 20% of members, the numeraries, have additionally some "corporal mortifications", such as sleeping on the floor once a week and briefly flailing themselves with a "discipline", a rope small enough to fit in one hand. They also wear a cilice for two hours each day-- a small metal chain with inwardly-pointing spikes that is worn around the upper thigh. The spikes cause discomfort, but are too small to cause injury, members say. John Allen reports that its practice in the Catholic Church is fairly widespread, having been used by modern saintly persons such as Blessed Mother Teresa, Saint Padre Pio and slain archbishop Óscar Romero. 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.
Supporters say that corporal mortification plays an incidental role in the lives of its members, in view of all the other typical activities they partake in. Escriva's statement: "Let us bless pain. Love pain. Sanctify pain... Glorify pain!" is viewed by some in a negative light while supporters say it is better viewed as a statement of union with the saving pains of Jesus Christ. Supporters state that Escriva prohibited members of Opus Dei from practicing the same types of physical mortification he undertook, and that he prescribed a more benign form of mortification for their use.
File:Romanaopusdei.jpgRomana, official bulletin of the Opus Dei prelature, provides information on its directors, members, and their activities.
Catholic leaders see Opus Dei as one among many lay organizations whose task is to enable lay Catholics to take the initiative in their specific church mission "to illuminate and order all temporal things... permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life." (CCC 898-9) 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 says, 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." Thus, evangelization in Opus Dei is done one-on-one through its "apostolate of friendship and confidence."
"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." From the point of view of Fr. James Martin S.J., however, Opus Dei's strategy involves secrecy in its recruitment, internal affairs, and finances. And so, Hans Küng, the President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic and a prolific Swiss liberal theologian whose license as a Roman Catholic theologian was withdrawn in 1979, concludes that Opus Dei is a "reactionary secret political and theological organisation." (Küng, The Catholic Church: A Short History, 2002)
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 foundational grace, 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 normal professionals are not official representatives of their alma maters or parishes, the faithful of the prelature do not set up official Catholic institutions but rather act in their own name as private citizens. Allen states 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 difference from religious orders.
Members and their activities
File:Condorayperuopusdeimembers.jpgPeruvian members of Opus Dei and their friends: Members, says Messori, are mostly from the middle and lower classes.
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: 1,600 in Africa; 4,700 in Asia and the Pacific; 29,000 in North and South America; and 48,700 Europe. 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 among its ranks than what is normal because of its emphasis on the evangelization of culture.
Critics accuse Opus Dei of elitism, of siding with the powerful against the weak (Johann Hari 2004), and of excessive power and wealth (Robert Hutchinson 1999). On the other hand, Allen says: the social work of the members takes place through their daily relationships and in the year 2005 they have cooperated with other people in setting up 608 social initiatives: schools and university residences (68%), technical or agricultural training (26%), universities, business schools and hospitals (6%). Worldwide revenue of Opus Dei is that of a mid-sized American diocese. And its numbers among bishops do not make it a potent force in the Church. John Cardinal O'Connor says the accusations border on calumny. Still, Scott Appleby, a Catholic history expert at the University of Notre Dame, estimates that Opus Dei informs "about a million conservative Catholics" in the U.S.
Escrivá, said John Allen, was staunchly non-political. Allen 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
However, 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 (1997), 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. These 8 ministers were technocrats appointed to be part in leading the economic progress later known as the Spanish Miracle. 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." 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. These include Rafael Calvo Serer, and Antonio Fontan who fought for press freedom and democracy, and later became the first Senate President of Spain's democracy.
Allen states: While 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, there is a sociological reality that the kind of people attracted to Opus Dei tend to be conservative, theologically and politically.
Some Catholics believe Opus Dei is a sign of contradiction, a "sign that is spoken against", a term denied by liberal Catholics and secularists.
Various Popes and Catholic Church leaders strongly support what they see as Opus Dei's innovative teachings. For John Paul II, Opus Dei anticipated the theology of the laity of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). When Escrivá begun to spread Opus Dei's message, he faced challenges, misunderstandings and controversies, leading some Catholic leaders like Cardinal Heenan to see Opus Dei as a sign of contradiction, a "sign that is spoken against" (Lk 2:34).
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. These critics were additionally 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., CNN's Vatican analyst and a Catholic American journalist.
In 1963, Hans Urs von Balthasar, a prominent theologian and former Jesuit, described Opus Dei as "a concentration of fundamentalist power in the Church." (Wort und Wahrheit). On the other hand, V. Messori says that Von Balthasar retracted his views after more study and meeting members of Opus Dei, and even defended Opus Dei against attacks.
Some time after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Opus Dei critics, mostly liberals, pointed out that it has an ultraconservative and reactionary vision of Catholicism. Journalist and 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 the Catholic faith. Thinkers such as George Weigel say the use of conservative, a political category, on religious, moral, or intellectual matters is "implausible and distorting." These should be categorised, they say, as either faithful or heretical, good or evil, true or false. 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 a center of the debate in the post-Vatican II polarization in Catholic politics.
In society
After Escrivá's death in 1975, many people petitioned for his canonization, including one-third of the world's bishops. According to Messori, this number and the number of people who attended his canonization in 2002 were unprecedented. Thus, Allen says "Escrivá is reviled by some and venerated by millions more."
File:DaVinciCode US.pngThe Da Vinci Code and critics claim Opus Dei is cult-like. Conservative Catholic sociologist M. Introvigne says that Opus Dei is stigmatized by those who cannot tolerate a return to religion.
In 1995, Joan Estruch, director of the Centre d’Investigacions en Sociologia at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, wrote Saints and Schemers: Opus Dei and its Paradoxes. He argued that Opus Dei is but the work of Escrivá, whose motivations evolved over time. According to him, priests like Escriva enter the seminary only to improve their lot, and, at one point, Escrivá simply sought to modernise Spain. 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.
For its part, ODAN reports that wherever Opus Dei is, there is controversy. Opus Dei received world attention with the publication of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in 2003. He said that he based his book on sources such as Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Secret Society Struggling for Power Within the Roman Catholic Church, by former Jesuit and ex-priest Michael Walsh, who mentions a number of conspiracy theories and scandals; People of God by Penny Lernoux, a journalist who supports liberation theology, which the Vatican says is Marxist-inspired; and "Catholic Sects: Opus Dei" by sociologist Alberto Moncada, an ex-numerary. There are other such writings found on the webpage of ODAN. Opus Dei is also listed on some sites of cult observer groups. Some ex-members, liberal Catholics and secularists have come together to criticize what they perceive as its power and wealth, its secrecy, its "being a church within the Church", its supposed ties to right-wing politics, "aggressive" recruitment and high control of its members. They also question the practice of corporal mortification.
Massimo Introvigne, a prolific Catholic sociologist whose works appear in twelve scientific journals, says that these critics' texts are "of very poor scientific quality." A member of the Alleanza Cattolica, he is called by secular anti-cult activists such as Stephen A. Kent and Thomas Gandow "a cult apologist." In 1994, Introvigne stated that Opus Dei critics use the term "cult" in order to attach a 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. Anti-Catholicism, which Protestant scholar Philip Jenkins calls the "last acceptable prejudice" in the West, is another factor in this fight.
Since secularists deny truth exists even in religious matters, mainline scientists, Introvigne says, reject the reports of anti-cult activists as unscholarly, including their method of labelling organisations. Introvigne (1999) 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. For example, several Catholic religious orders, Amway, multi-level marketing, Charismatics and YWCA are also in the list of cult observer groups.
In "Preserving Power and Privilege: The Vatican's Agenda in the European Union", Catholics for a Free Choice, a pro-choice lobby group which promotes liberal views, criticizes Opus Dei and other lay Catholics groups. The CFFC categorises these Catholic lay organisations as groups which promote "neoconservative or fundamentalist moral and political beliefs", "extremely traditionalist", and "pre-enlightenment" messages in society. Liberals and secularists argue that Opus Dei and these groups are opposing progressivist concepts such as gay marriages, divorce, contraception, euthanasia, abortion, stem cell research, and human cloning.
In contrast, Benedict XVI supports the religious instruction provided by these lay organizations and commented that Opus Dei unites "absolute fidelity" to the Church's faith 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. They put the Church "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.
See works of Escrivá and commentaries such as 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 1-890177-04-0
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.
Kenneth Woodward (2002-10-02). "Opus Dei in the open". (citing from:) Newsweek. The Bulletin. Retrieved 2006-05-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
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."
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 "Let There Be Light - A look inside the hidden world of Opus Dei" (Washington Monthly October/November 2005), Paul Baumann says that Allen's recommendations, which are based on a liberal and Anglo-Saxon cultural prism, still constitute a misinterpretation of Opus Dei's identity.
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.
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.
Le Tourneau, Dominique (2002). What Is Opus Dei?. Gracewing. ISBN 0-85244-136-3. — 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 1-85182-170-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) — in-depth ecclesiological study
O'Connor, William (1991). Opus Dei: An Open Book. A Reply to the Secret World of Opus Dei by Michael Walsh. Mercier.
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 0-89526-450-1. — 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 0-933932-32-4. — the first serious study on Opus Dei to be published, written by a French journalist
Urquhart, Gordon (1995). The Pope's Armada: Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious and Powerful New Sects in the Church.
