Pope extols Opus Dei

The huge crowds which attended the canonisation ceremony of Josemaria Escrivà on October 6 came as a surprise to many. For decades, the Spanish priest and his Opus Dei did not enjoy the admiration and support of all Catholics everywhere. Indeed, not a few looked upon Escrivà's movement with scepticism and some went so far as to describe it as a sect.

Josemaria Escrivà, who was born 100 years ago in Northern Spain, founded his movement in the late Twenties when Spain was going through a turbulent period in its history, which reached its climax with the civil war; a period which saw the Church being relentlessly persecuted by the radicals, Socialists and Communists.

The main aim of Opus Dei (Latin for "the Work of God"), is "to help lay people to seek holiness in everyday life". It must be remembered that the Movement was born more than 30 years before Vatican II which gave so much attention and importance to the apostolate of the laity. The fact that it appeared before the Council could be one of the reasons why it was looked upon with suspicion.

However the Pope dismissed all doubts and scepticism when in his homily during the canonisation ceremony he extolled the virtues of the new saint and his movement. Among other things the Pope said that Josemaria was a "master in the exercise of prayer".

Quoting Vatican II, John Paul II told the 300,000 or more gathered on St Peter's Square and in Via della Conciliazione that "the Christian message does not remove men from the construction of the world... but obliges them even more to engage in this as a duty". He reminded the congregation that the ideal of the new saint was "to raise the world to God and to transform it from within".

Long before the Council the Spanish priest taught that "...sanctity is not something for a privileged few. The Lord calls all of us. He expects love from all of us, from everyone... whatever their state in life, their profession or job. For the daily life we live apparently one's place in the world in order to search for a God... all the paths of the earth can be the occasion for an encounter with Christ."

One hopes that as Opus Dei and its ideals become better known, rigid negative attitudes will be relaxed, suspicions abate and the movement will be accepted and welcomed as another sign of the Church's salvific mission. Opus Dei is found in 84 countries and has over 80,000 members.