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Profile:
Name: Opus Dei
Founded: 1928
Women Admitted: 1930
Priestly Society of the Holy Cross founded: 1943
Declared a Personal Prelature: 1982
Founder:
Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer
Born: January 9, 1902 in Barbastro, Spain
Died: June 26, 1975 in Rome, Italy
Ordained: 1925
Beatified: May 17, 1992
Canonized: October 6, 2002
Profile:
Opus Dei was founded in Spain in 1928 by Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer, a Roman
Catholic priest. According to tradition, Escriva received a vision in which he learned
that God wants ordinary Christians "to be saints and apostles in the very midst
of our professional work; that is, sanctifying our job in life, sanctifying
ourselves in it and, through it, helping others to sanctify themselves as well."
Members of Opus Dei include both priests and lay followers; the latter continue to work in their normal occupations but remain under the spiritual guidance of Opus Dei leaders. Priests are members of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross and work primarily with members of Opus Dei. Both lay members and priests are organized into different classes of membership.
Numeraries:
Numeraries make a pledge of celibacy, live in Opus Dei houses, and commit their
entire salaries to the organization. All of their mail is submitted to Opus Dei
scrutiny and they engage in various forms of corporal mortification, like wearing
a spiked chain around the thigh (cilice) or whipping themselves with a knotted
rope. Numeraries make up about 20% to 33% of membership and follow a "plan of
life," a daily order that includes Mass, devotional reading, private prayer. Both
men and women are strictly segregated and men are encouraged to become priests.
Supernumeraires:
Supernumeraires, one level down, are allowed to be married and live with their
families. Although they follow the same general "plan of life" as numeraries,
they do not engage in practices like corporal mortification. They do contribute
much of their income to Opus Dei, even at the expense of their local parish.
Both numeraries and supernumeraries are expected to have or obtain advanced university degrees - education is highly valued in the organization. Those without the education or the prospect of getting an advanced education remain associate members who do not live in Opus Dei houses. Priests who are part of Opus Dei are also part of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, an association of priests who remain part of their diocese but who also receive spiritual help from Opus Dei.
Criticism:
Why is Opus Dei criticized? Aside from some of the odd practices described above,
the group receives attention largely because of how it engages with the rest of
the world. Many of the activities which characterize it also tend to characterize
new religious movements which are usually labeled "cults."
For example, one problem is with the fact that this Opus Dei supposed to be a "lay" organization, not a clerical one. However, the organization and lives of numeraries is anything but "lay." It obviously replicates the standard pattern of religious life, with an emphasis on "commitments" (the group does not use the word "vows," although the two in practice look identical), common living arrangements, a daily order, and eventual ordination for many of the men.
Role of Women
The treatment of women is another common criticism: whereas the men are encouraged to join
the priesthood, the women are merely encouraged to keep the Opus Dei centers clean. Whereas
the men are enjoined to continue improving their education, the women are not. Interaction
between the sexes is almost nonexistent at the centers, even between married
supernumeraries who are only visiting. Escriva doesn't give women much credit for being
able to learn like men and himself wrote: "Women needn't be scholars: it's enough for them
to be prudent."
Recruitment Tactics
Opus Dei's methods of recruitment are also viewed with great suspicion. A common practice
is evidently for a member to befriend someone for the purpose of gradually drawing them
into the group. If recruitment is unsuccessful, all contact and "friendship" is cut off
immediately and permanently. For those who do become members, social ties eventually become
limited just to those within the organization - strangling personal and social development
and making it very difficult for someone to find the emotional and psychological strength
to break free. Quite often, even contact with family members is cut off, especially for
young women who join.
The emphasis on recruitment and proselytization was stressed even by Escrivera, the founder, who wrote in 1971: "This holy coercion is necessary, compelle intrare the Lord tells us" and, "You must kill yourselves for proselytism."
Secrecy & Independence
One problematic aspect of the group is its secrecy. They deny that they are secretive, and
claim that it is easy to contact them wherever they have a presence. Also, some level of
secrecy should not cause concern - just because a group wishes to be private does not mean
that it is a threat. But it is the nature of Opus Dei's secrecy - which does exist,
despite their protests - which should cause concern.
Most organizations which are associated with Opus Dei - universities, publishers, etc. - are not clearly identified as such. For the longest time, even their own constitution was keep secret, not only from outsiders, but even from bishops and from the local Opus Dei directors given the task of enforcing that Constitution! When members or leaders are interviewed to learn more about Opus Dei's dealings with the outside world, the normal practice is to get unhelpful answers. No information is freely offered, and only the simplest, most literal answers are given. Even members have had to get permission just to read Opus Dei's own catechism.
One matter of controversy which has exacerbated the other problems is the fact that Opus Dei was declared a "personal prelature" in 1982. This is a special sort of entity in the Catholic Church which is lead by a "prelate" (currently Javier Echevarria). Unlike a diocese or parish, which is defined by geographic area and led by a bishop or priest, a personal prelate is defined simply by persons. As a consequence, Opus Dei essentially stands outside the Roman Catholic hierarchy and answers to no local priest or bishop - it answers only to the pope.
Thus Opus Dei is essentially an independent organization, and local bishops have little control over them and little say in what happens within their sphere of influence. Such a conflict would normally be regarded as strange because the organization places such a high value on tradition and obedience to Church hierarchy, even more than the Church itself does. In Escriva's 999 Maxims, he wrote:
"Who are you to pass judgment on the decisions of a superior? Don't you see that he is better fitted to judge than you? He has more experience; he has more capable, impartial and trustworthy advisers; and, above all, he has more grace" (Maxim 457)
This paradox is resolved by the fact that Opus Dei regards itself as the true guarantors of church tradition and values. The regular hierarchy, except for those with ties or allegiances to Opus Dei, is looked down upon.
Not all bishops are willing to go along with this, however. British Cardinal Basil Hume issued guidelines for his diocese in 1981 which required Opus Dei not to recruit anyone under the age of eighteen, not to exert pressure on people to join, and to respect the freedom of members to leave if they wish. Not everyone who has left the organization has done so under good circumstances. Michael Walsh wrote in Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Secret Society Struggling for Power Within the Roman Catholic Church:
While the head of the female section in Venezuela, [Maria del Carmen] Tapia had been one of the most liberal of Opus Dei superiors, battling for equality of opportunity with the men for the women under her charge, giving permission to them to go to confession to the priest (of Opus) of their choice, something of which Opus disapproves, and complaining at the amount of direction they used to receive from Rome. Because of these alleged "crimes" she was accused of damaging the unity of the organization. When she failed to admit her guilt or evince remorse, she was required by the founder to resign, but warned never to mention what had happened in Rome [where she was kept under virtual house arrest and denied communication with the outside world for eight months]. Apart from her passport, Opus kept hold of all her personal documents. As she left she was forced into a confessional. An Opus Dei priest warned her that no matter how much penance she did for various "crimes," she was unlikely to be saved.
Because this woman allowed, among other things, other women to choose which priest they would see, an Opus Dei priest made a declaration that even the pope would hesitate before giving, namely that salvation would likely be beyond her. And such arrogance, putting Opus Dei above Christianity, is not atypical. In 1986, members in Great Britain were allowed to ignore the fast of Good Friday because that happened to be the same date as their founder's birthday, normally a feast day. Thus, a feast to commemorate their founder took precedence over a fast to commemorate the death of the founder of Christianity itself.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul has long been a big supporter of Opus Dei. His naming of the group as a
personal prelature caused no small amount of controversy. When he was first named as pope,
the first thing he did was pray at Escriva's tomb - only after that did he go to address
the cardinals who elected him.
John Paul not only shares the vehement anti-communism which marked Opus Dei's founder, Escriva, but he also appreciates their extreme devotion to tradition and opposition to anything which comes too close to being progressive. Curiously, the canonization of Escriva is based in part upon updated procedures and more contemporary models of what constitutes "holiness".
Pope John Paul has made a concerted effort to create more and more "modern" saints, which has required shortening the time needed and lowering the number of miracles verified or observed. According to Msgr. Frederick Dolan, a member of Opus Dei, "For us, 'canonization' must be synonymous with 'conversion', that is, a personal choice to come closer to the ideal of Christian maturity."
This canonization is likely to help the organization's power and influence grow even further.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
What is Christianity?
What are the various Christian groups, denominations, sects and heresies? What are some key concepts in Christian theology? What are some of the most important events in Christian history? All of this and more are covered in the Christianity FAQ.What is the Philosophy of Religion?
Sometimes confused with theology, the Philosophy of Religion is the philosophical study of religious beliefs, religious doctrines, religious arguments and religious history. The line between theology and the philosophy of religion isn't always sharp, but the primary difference is that theology tends to be apologetical in nature, committed to the defense of particular religious positions, whereas Philosophy of Religion is committed to the investigation of religion itself, rather than the truth of any particular religion.What is Theism?
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A system of human beliefs, ideals and practices which is harder to define than it may at first appear. Read more about how dictionaries, scholars and others have tried to define and explain religion.
