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What is Opus Dei?

Opus Dei is a personal Prelature of the Catholic Church that helps ordinary lay people seek holiness in and through their everyday activities, especially through work.
It was founded in 1928 by a 26-year-old Catholic priest, Josemaria Escriva, who died in 1975, and was canonied by Pope John Paul II on 6 October 2002.

What is new about Opus Dei?

St. Josemaria was once told by a Vatican official that Opus Dei had come "a century too soon." New aspects of the spirit of Opus Dei include:
● an active following of the universal call to holiness among ordinary lay people;
a spirit based on the sanctifying value of ordinary work;
an organization in the Church dedicated to these ideals, comprising men and women, married, single and widowed, priests and laity, of all races, ages and social backgrounds, all trying to follow this same spirit;
● the spreading of this ideal across Europe, America, Asia and Africa in the relatively few years since its foundation;
● a deep respect for the autonomy of lay people in the laity's proper environment (the vast panorama of secular society), seeing them not as some kind of agents of the clergy, but as full members of the Church, acting in response to a call received at Baptism. They act in the secular world with full freedom and personal responsibility, as they apply their different intellectual or manual skills, their arts or sciences, their professional training and expertise, to their work and other roles and duties in society.

When it was founded, many aspects of Opus Dei's spirit, though based on the Gospel, were considered revolutionary for the time, to the point where some called them heretical: aspects such as the radical vision of the role of the laity in the Church and in the world; the role of women; the view of marriage as a way to become a saint; the idea of the world as a place where one can pursue holiness; and that the demands and joys of ordinary, everyday life could be a path or means to holiness. Many of these ideas later became part of the Church's official teaching, especially during the Second Vatican Council.

What does Opus Dei - as an organization - do?

It helps ordinary people live up to their Christian calling in their day-to-day affairs by giving them the spiritual support and formation they need to achieve this. It promotes an awareness of the universal call to holiness - the radical idea that every person is called by God to be a saint - especially holiness in and by means of one's ordinary work and daily routine. This goal is pursued through retreats, mornings/evenings of recollection, courses in philosophy and theology, personal spiritual guidance, for members first of all, but also for others who wish to avail themselves of these spiritual services.

The primary apostolic work of Opus Dei is that carried out by each of its members, as free and responsible individuals acting on their own initiative. There are also corporate undertakings in which Opus Dei oversees the spiritual and doctrinal aspects. These are always not-for-profit ventures that provide an educational, charitable or similar social service, and include conference centers, schools and universities, student residences, youth clubs, farm schools and medical clinics.

Opus Dei is a "personal Prelature." What is that?

A personal Prelature is a jurisdictional entity within the Church's hierarchical structure, presided over by a prelate, answerable to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops, and to which laity and clergy can belong. It is established by the Holy See for specific pastoral or organizational purposes, and it is governed by statutes given it by the Holy See. The word personal indicates that it is defined by persons, whereas, for example, dioceses and parishes are defined by geographical areas.

What is the public perception of Opus Dei?

Opus Dei has received widespread praise from both inside and outside the Catholic Church. Yet Opus Dei is a new institution of the Church. Like other new institutions, Opus Dei has sometimes been misunderstood. This criticism has sometimes been directed at Opus Dei because of its strong faithfulness to the Pope, the bishops and the Catholic faith. Other times, the root cause of a controversy, real or apparent, is a misunderstanding of some basic point about Opus Dei, such as:

● a failure to grasp that in social, political, family, economic and professional matters, members make up their own minds and act with complete freedom and personal responsibility;
● or a confusion of secrecy and privacy, quite distinct concepts;
or an inability to appreciate the difference between the secular or lay condition of the members, on the one hand; and the canonical state of the consecrated life and aspects that go with it, on the other.
● Anyone familiar with history will hardly be surprised to find some controversy surrounding a relatively new institution of the Church. In fact, Jesus Christ repeatedly warned his followers to expect such criticism.

Today, Opus Dei has spread from Spain to the rest of the world. Since 1975, Centres of Opus Dei have been started in Zaire, Hong Kong, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, Cameroon, New Zealand, India, and Israel, to only name a few.

Opus Dei currently has about 80,000 members in 80 countries around the world. Just under 2,000 are priests. There are about 500 members in the United Kingdom. In Scotland Opus Dei has Centres in Glasgow.