Opus Dei and its prelature

Opus Dei was founded on October 2, 1928, and was set up as a personal prelature within the Catholic Church on November 28, 1982. To thank Mary, the Mother of the Church and our Mother for the continuous and abundant help she has given Opus Dei, the prelature dedicated a special Marian Year, which started last year and comes to an end today.

But what is Opus Dei? What is the personal prelature?

A young priest who, from a human point of view was in possession of practically nothing except his young age of 26, God's grace and a good sense of humour, was on a retreat in Madrid on October 2, 1928, when something very unusual happened to him. Like the blind man of Jericho, whom Jesus cured of his blindness after he had requested Him for the gift of sight, the young priest had been beseeching the Lord since the age of about 16 with the short prayer "That I may see". The Lord did indeed inspire him on that day to "see" Opus Dei.

It was on the liturgical feast of the Guardian Angels of 80 years ago that Opus Dei was born. The young priest was St Josemaría Escrivá who was born in Barbastro, in northern Spain in 1902 and died in Rome in 1975. He was canonised by Pope John Paul II on October 6, 2002.

Opus Dei, or The Work, for short, is, as St Josemaría liked to call it, "a small part of the Catholic Church" with the specific mission of helping people turn their work and daily activities into occasions for growing closer to God, serving others and improving society. Work, family life and other ordinary activities are occasions for spiritual union with Jesus Christ. It is there that the person of Christ and his love for us is made known. This is why many people consider St Josemaría as the saint of the ordinary. Once, while he was watching one of his spiritual daughters peeling potatoes in the kitchen, he exclaimed that one might say that she was just doing a very routine job but that was not really the case because, by offering it to God, she was sanctifying herself and others doing that seemingly humble task.

The aim of Opus Dei is thus to contribute to the evangelising mission of the Church by promoting among Christians of all social classes a life fully consistent with their faith, in the ordinary circumstances of their lives and, especially, through the sanctification of their work.

Opus Dei has about 87,000 members all over the world of whom 98 per cent are lay persons, many of these are married. There are no different categories of members but simply different ways of living the same Christian vocation according to the different circumstances of each member.

About 70 per cent of the total members are supernumeraries, generally married men or women, for whom the sanctification of their family duties is the most important part of their Christian life. The other members are men and women who commit themselves to celibacy for apostolic reasons. Associates live with their families or wherever is convenient for professional or work reasons. Numeraries usually live in centres of Opus Dei and are completely available to attend to apostolic undertakings and the formation of the other members.

The priests, who account for about two per cent of members of Opus Dei, are ordained from among numeraries and associates after years of being members and having completed the studies required for priesthood.

Most jurisdictions in the Church are territorial, as in the case of a diocese, where the faithful who belong to it are determined according to their territory or domicile. However, jurisdiction is not always linked to territory but may depend on other criteria, such as employment, religious rite, immigrant status or agreement with the jurisdictional body in question. The last-mentioned applies in the case of military ordinariates and personal prelatures.

Personal prelatures, as envisaged by Vatican Council II, are made up of a prelate together with secular priests and men and women who are the lay faithful. The prelate, who may be a bishop, is appointed by the Pope and governs the prelature with power of governance or jurisdiction.

The faithful of the prelature continue to belong to their local Church and to the diocese where they live. For these and other reasons, personal prelatures are clearly different from religious institutes and the consecrated life in general, and also from associations and movements of the faithful. Opus Dei's work of spiritual formation complements the work of local Churches and those who join Opus Dei or attend its activities continue to belong to their local dioceses.

Opus Dei was established by John Paul II as a personal prelature of international scope and the document effecting this is the apostolic constitution Ut sit November 28, 1982, which formally came into force on March 19, 1983.

The Opus Dei prelature is dependent immediately and directly on the Roman Pontiff through the Congregation for Bishops. The authority of the prelate is limited to the specific mission of the prelature and is thus in harmony with the authority of the diocesan bishop in exactly the same way and regarding the same matters as any other baptised person in the diocese. The current prelate is Bishop Javier Echevarría who for many years had been the founder's secretary.

Opus Dei provides spiritual formation aimed at helping people develop their spiritual life and apostolate. These activities are held in Opus Dei centres or in a church, office or private home. In the words of the founder, "Opus Dei's main activity consists in offering its members, and other people, the spiritual means they need to live as good Christians in the midst of the world".

On a daily basis, members are encouraged to see to their Catholic duties, better known as Plan of Life, which includes daily Mass, time for meditation, the recitation of the Holy Rosary and, most of all, being constantly in the presence of God in daily work. Whatever their occupation, this will help them find Christian solutions to the problems of society and give constant witness to their faith.

In Malta, monthly evenings of recollection are held for men at Lapsi church in St Julians, and for women at Our Lady of Victories church in Valletta. This is a time for personal prayer and reflection on topics related to Christian life. Everyone is invited to attend.

www.opusdei.org