Opus Dei works in a climate of dialogue and trust with the Holy See, says its Prelate

The Prelate of Opus Dei, Mons. Fernando de Ocáriz, has offered some guidance on the current situation of the institution founded by Saint José María Escrivá de Balaguer, four years away from celebrating its centenary in 2028 and immersed in the adaptation of its statutes.

These changes are prepared according to what Pope Francis stated in the Motu Proprio. To protect charisma published in July 2022, in which what is contained in the Apostolic Constitution is developed Preach the gospel who reformed the Vatican Curia in March of that year. Precisely this Monday, Pope Francis received Bishop Ocáriz at the Vatican.

In an interview given to the Spanish newspaper The debateproperty of the Catholic Association of Propagandists, Bishop Ocáriz estimates that the indications coming from Rome do not modify for the laity, the majority in the prelature, “the way of living their vocation to the Work.”

However, as an institution, changes are going to occur, which are being discussed with the Dicastery for the Clergy in a joint effort presided over by “a climate of dialogue and trust, typical of the Church as the family of God.” assures the Prelate.

For Bishop Ocáriz “knowing how to change – modeling any change from the essential – is a requirement to be able to remain faithful to a mission.” In the case of Opus Dei, he emphasizes, the “immutable core that gives it meaning” is the message about “holiness in the midst of the world.”

Opus Dei seeks “a legal figure that gives it a place in the Church and reflects its nature”

Since the conversations are underway, the head of Opus Dei is productive when it comes to specifying what the statutory change will consist of.

In this sense he assures that “just as charisms should not be absolutized, neither should the law. That is why Opus Dei has gone through various institutional solutions, to find the most appropriate formula, which integrates, on the one hand, the custody of the charisma and, on the other, a legal figure that gives it a place in the Church and “reflects its nature without restricting or suffocating it.”

“The elasticity of canon law can help combine the desire of the Holy See and the Work itself to push the mission of the Church in a changing world, finding adequate solutions without institutional bankruptcies,” adds the Prelate at another point in the interview. .

What is Opus Dei?

Opus Dei currently has the legal form of personal prelature, the only one within the Catholic Church, which means that it is an entity presided over by a prelate who can be a bishop and who is appointed by the Pope. The prelate governs the institution in a manner analogous to how a bishop does in his diocese.

Founded in 1928 by Saint Josémaría Escrivá de Balaguer, its charism is to live holiness in ordinary life, especially through daily work.

Priests, celibate lay people (numeraries and aggregates) and non-celibate lay people (supernumeraries) are part of Opus Dei. The latter are the vast majority of its more than 90,000 members.

As explained on your website, “in Opus Dei there are no different categories of members. There are simply different ways of living the same Christian vocation according to the personal circumstances of each one: single or married, healthy or sick, etc.

Furthermore, it is specified that the connection with Opus Dei “does not affect his legal relationship with the diocese to which he belonged and continues to belong, since the incorporation does not change either his position as an ordinary faithful in the Church or his condition as an ordinary citizen.” .