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Opus Dei

Josemaría Escrivá ©

Opus Dei is a Catholic organisation with around 85,000 members worldwide and about 500 members in the UK.

Members are encouraged to promote their faith through their professional work and their everyday lives.

Critics accuse the organisation of being secretive and elitist but members wholeheartedly reject this.

Despite these very public criticisms, thanks to the publicity the organisation has been getting from The Da Vinci Code phenomenon, UK numbers are rising. Jack Valero, Opus Dei spokesman in the UK, claimed that they got two to three enquiries a day - up to 50 a month - from people looking to join.

Practices and beliefs

Opus Dei describes itself as "a personal prelature of the Catholic church that helps people seek holiness in their work and ordinary activities". In other words, they try to help others through their regular work and their day-to-day life.

Joining Opus Dei is a long process. Often people are invited along to a meeting, although according to their website any lay Catholic may ask to join Opus Dei as long as they are at least 18 years old. It takes over five years to join, with a person's commitment to joining having to be renewed each year, before a lifelong commitment is possible.

Opus Dei is a strong advocate of traditional Catholic values, focusing particularly on spreading the Catholic teaching that every individual is called to become a saint and an apostle of Jesus Christ and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. It also lays particular stress on the unique character of Roman Catholicism - as compared with other churches and faiths.

There are three types of members of Opus Dei: numeraries, associates and supernumeraries. Associates and numeraries make up about 25% to 30% of members. They are celibate, live with other members and, on occasion, practice corporal mortification - the most controversial of Opus Dei's traditions.

Corporal mortification is the practice of physically enduring a minor amount of suffering. Some of the celibate members of Opus Dei sometimes practice traditional Catholic penances such as using the cilice (a light metal chain with prongs which is worn round the thigh) and the discipline (a woven cotton strap). These are practices which Opus Dei states Catholics have used for centuries. The Opus Dei website states the motivation for these voluntary penances is to imitate Christ and to join him in his redemptive sacrifice (cf. Matthew 16:24), and that they can also be a way to suffer in solidarity with the many poor and deprived people in the world.

The majority of Opus Dei members are supernumeraries. They account for around 70-75% of members and they are usually non-celibate, married men or women.

A discussion of corporal mortification

Contributors from Opus Dei and a Greek Orthodox church discuss self-denial, fasting and corporal mortification with a Muslim chaplain.

Structure

The fact that Opus Dei was designated a personal prelature in 1982 by Pope John Paul II has meant that some critics have referred to its position as being similar to that of a "church within the Church". Admittedly this is a unique position to be in - it is the only personal prelature within the Catholic Church. However Opus Dei's members argue that this unique position does not in any way mean that its members are held in a specifically high regard by the Vatican, or given any special treatment.

Personal prelature is a canonical term meaning that the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church over Opus Dei covers the members of Opus Dei rather than a geographical area like a diocese. A personal prelature operates in a very similar way to a religious order; however, there are no geographical limits, and its members are lay-people rather than monks or nuns. Those Catholics who belong to Opus Dei also continue to be part of the congregation at their local church. Unlike members of religious orders, the members of Opus Dei join by means of private contracts and not vows. In order to join a member must ask to do so, and they must also be convinced that they have received a vocation.

Opus Dei is seen by many to be a fairly wealthy organisation. Members have to donate a significant part of their income to Opus Dei. It is a decentralised organisation and does not publish its general accounts so it is difficult to be precise over the state of its finances.

The orgranisation has sponsored a network of institutions across the UK, such as Netherhall House and Kelston Club for Boys in Wandsworth. Some estimates put the number of centres and charitable ventures owned by Opus Dei at more than twenty-five.

Controversies

Opus Dei appeared frequently in the press in 2003 because of its importance to the plot of The Da Vinci Code. The novel (and film adaptation) paints it as an all-powerful, wealthy and secretive cult-like Catholic sect.

Beyond this portrayal, the methods Opus Dei members employ to encourage others to join the organisation have been attacked by critics. Much of this stems from a statement by Opus Dei's founder, Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá. In 1975 he was quoted as saying "...we must be a little crazy ...you must kill yourselves for proselytism."

The Opus Dei Awareness Network is one of the most vocal opponents of Opus Dei. Dianne DiNicola, its executive director has said: "The biggest problem we have with Opus Dei is that a person is not free to make their own decisions. They live in a controlled environment and all the while Opus Dei hides behind the Catholic Church."

Critics have also described it as a sort of Catholic freemasonry - accusing it of being secretive and manipulative.

Opus Dei members respond to these allegations by emphasising the fact that all members are free to join, and leave, as they please. The allegations of secrecy and aggressive recruiting tactics are more often than not attributed to misinterpretations of the way Opus Dei was viewed in the past - the existing organisation has taken great pains to present itself in a more moderate way.

Well-known members

It has been suggested that Opus Dei has a wealth of important and powerful members in both the religious and the political spheres. However, Opus Dei does not publish official lists of members, believing membership is a private matter.

Opus Dei's UK spokesman Jack Valero denies the belief that many key figures at the Vatican are Opus Dei members: "The number of people from Opus Dei working in the Vatican is very reduced: five or maybe six people, including the spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. The influence of Opus Dei in the Holy See has been exaggerated."

Ruth Kelly, British Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

An Opus Dei member in the British government attracted questions in May 2006. Questions were raised over Ruth Kelly's suitability for the role of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government; however, she insisted as a practising Catholic her faith would not influence decisions she needs to make for her job.

Asked if she thought homosexuality was a sin, Ruth Kelly stated: "I don't think it's right for politicians to start making moral judgements about people. That's the last thing I would want to do. What I think the question is, is what are my political views and as a politician those are the ones I'm accountable for to the public. As a politician I think anybody should be free from discrimination and I'll fight to the absolute end to make sure that is the case."

Timeline

1928 Josemaría Escrivá, a 26-year-old Spanish priest, creates Opus Dei. His vision is to extend the Sunday religiosity of working people into their everyday lives. He is initially seen as a heretic by the church hierarchy.

1933 The first Opus Dei centre opens in Madrid, an academy teaching law and architecture.

1936 The Spanish civil war unleashes anti-clerical persecution and Escrivá goes into hiding.

1939 Escrivá supports General Franco's victory and starts to proselytise throughout Spain.

1946 Opus Dei extends to Britain, Portugal and Italy. Escrivá regularly visits Britain and calls it a "crossroads of the world".

1950 Opus Dei's secretive constitution is published. It states: "No one must reveal to anyone that they themselves belong to Opus Dei." Opus Dei is given final and complete approval by Pope Pius XII.

1975 Escrivá dies, leaving behind a thriving and affluent movement with about 60,000 members.

1981 Revelations in The Times about Opus Dei's practices, such as corporal mortification, prompt Cardinal Basil Hume to announce he is against the recruitment of members into Opus Dei who under 18 in Britain.

1982 Pope John Paul II establishes Opus Dei as a personal prelature, confirming its growing status in the Catholic Church.

2002 John Paul II canonises the founder of Opus Dei, Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, in a 'fast track' process only 27 years after his death. Thousands of supporters pack St Peter's Square for the canonisation.

2003 The Da Vinci Code is published.

2006 Opus Dei uses The Da Vinci Code movie to promote its work. A website competition offers the chance to meet a genuine Opus Dei member.

Find out more

• Pope John Paul II