The "Wonderful World" of Opus Dei
POPE BENEDICT XVI
BLESSES STATUE OF ST. JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA
VATICAN CITY, SEP 14, 2005 (VIS) - Following today's general audience, Benedict XVI blessed a statue of
St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, which has recently been placed in a niche on the outside of St. Peter's Basilica.
The marble statue, some five meters high, is located in a niche on the external wall of the left transept of the basilica, also known as the arm of St. Joseph, very near the entrance to the sacristy. The niches in this area of the basilica were allocated by John Paul II for sculptures of saints and of founders of religious orders.
The statue of St. Josemaria, work of the Italian sculptor Romano Cosci, has been placed alongside other statues of similar dimensions, among them those of St. Gregory the Illuminator, apostle of Armenia, of the Carmelite St. Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, and of St. Marcellin Champagnat, founder of the Marist Brothers.
Prior to the arrival of the Holy Father, Bishop Javier Echevarria, prelate of Opus
Dei, Cardinal Francesco Marchisano, archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, and Romano Cosci, the sculptor, each made speeches which were interspersed with hymns sung by the "Cappella Giulia" Choir led by Msgr. Pablo Colino.
AG/STATUE ST. JOSEMARIA/...
Controversial Opus Dei casts shadow on John Paul II's legacy
HindustTimes - Ap 7/05 - Opus Dei, which is Latin for "God's Work", was founded in 1928 by Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, a one time Spanish priest who was declared a saint by the pope in 2002.
It says its aim is to promote the evangelizing mission of the church through members daily and professional lives.
It claims 80,000 members around the world including government ministers, cardinals and top businessman. John Paul II's spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls is one of the best-known members.
Most however are just ordinary professionals, known in the movement as "numeraries" who have made personal and financial commitments to Opus Dei.
... critics accuse Opus Dei of being a secretive and manipulative presence within the church.
Full story
Here
UK Education Secretary Kelly stands by link to Opus Dei
Jan 20/05 -BBC - Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has defended her role in the Catholic conservative movement Opus Dei.
Ms Kelly insisted in an interview with the Daily Mirror that her faith was a private matter which had nothing to do with her job.
Opus Dei, which means "Work of God" in Latin, adheres strictly to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Critics accuse the religious organisation of being secretive and elitist but members reject this.
'Strong belief'
They prefer to regard it as discreet.
The education secretary, who at 36 is the youngest woman to be appointed to the Cabinet, said of her involvement in the organisation: "I don't see why it should be an issue at all.
My life in Opus Dei- why I joined
& why I left
Commonweal, Feb 25, 2005 by Alvaro Silva
Commonweal - Feb 25/05 - The huge, devout crowd attending the canonization of Opus Dei founder Josemaria Escriva at St. Peter's Square in the fall of 2002 could never have imagined that a much larger, worldwide audience would soon be introduced to Opus Dei through a best-selling novel. In The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown pits members of Opus Dei, the institution Escriva founded to foster holiness in ordinary life, against enemies of the Catholic Church in a tale that includes an assassination conspiracy.
Perhaps Brown chose Opus Dei because of its reputation as a highly disciplined, secretive group made up of intelligent, totally dedicated members. The fact that Opus Dei members still flagellate themselves may have added to the group's narrative appeal. Brown depicts Opus Dei as a quasi-military organization with enormous wealth and power, including an impressive Manhattan headquarters set amid the influence wielders of the world. Some of the plot line is simply off the wall. I can attest, for example, that in my thirty-five years as a member of Opus Dei, I was never commanded to assassinate someone--not even a liberal archbishop.
Still, despite all its fictional nonsense, The Da Vinci Code is on target when it comes to one point. Conservative religious groups in the Catholic Church today do not merely want to thrive, they want to save the church from the jaws of hell, both from within and without. It is a rescue mission that can turn dangerous, though, both for members of the group and for the rest of us.
Opus Dei, or the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, began quietly in Madrid in 1928, and spread following the tragic Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Years later--in 1964 to be exact--as a young high-school student in the Basque country, I welcomed its message. Even before I had come to read Charles
Peguy, I believed passionately that "the only sadness is not to be a saint." Holiness, as several bright Opus Dei university students explained to me while walking the rainy streets of
Vitoria, was the only goal of Opus Dei. The idea was to demonstrate the truth and the beauty of the Christian faith through human excellence: in personal goodness and honesty, generous friendships, serious study, and exemplary professional work. Holiness consisted not in performing sentimental devotions but in doing serious daily work and in developing all the human virtues.
The years that followed did not make me fall deeply in love with Opus Dei. Institutions, even religious ones, I often reminded myself, are not to be loved; they must be constantly watched, lest they devour what is personal and intimate. I had by then moved to Pamplona, to study architecture at the University of Navarre. The Opus Dei members there were exceptional individuals; still, the founder's way had become a dry engine. It was sustained by an authoritarian desire for control and a pedestrian understanding of the gospel texts. Opus Dei became simply Opus--The Work--as routinized and self-driven as the production line of a factory. It operated not merely as a beneficial daily planner, a much-needed incentive to make good use of one's time (whether you were going to be a saint or a criminal), but it planned one's entire life and sought to control every detail. Once the institution took over, it determined what was good not only for itself but for you. As Escriva had put it, we needed to "sacrifice ourselves completely" so that God's work might be achieved on earth.
Opus Dei operates under a Christian military model. Numeraries (full members who remain celibate and may eventually be chosen by the leadership to assume positions of responsibility) enter an assured state and can finally breathe free. They have made it. As in any life-controlling situation, the whole menu is ordered up for you. The group's directors act as censors and plan all aspects of group life. If you are a docile member of Opus Dei, life can be rewarding, and there is the further assurance of an eternal reward.
There were numerous restrictions on matters that should better have been left to the judgment of individual members. Escriva's rhetoric was high on liberty and on personal responsibility, but the day-to-day reality was quite different. Often the directors became manipulative and authoritarian, handing down all manner of commands and claiming the "super-natural" character of Opus Dei as the basis for their decisions. This absolute conviction
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http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_4_132/ai_n14924998
Pope Makes Priest (Founder of Opus Dei) a Saint
Oct 7/02- OneNews - Around 300,000 people packed St Peters square in Rome, for a ceremony to declare the founder, of the controversial conservative Roman Catholic group, Opus Dei, a saint.
Jose Maria Escriva, was a Spanish priest who died in 1975.
The Opus Dei movement has 80,0000 followers worldwide, but critics accuse it of elitism and secrecy, and liken it to a religious cult.
Escriva was made a Saint by Pope John Paul in front of the crowd of soberly dressed pilgrims from 80 countries, who filled St Peter's Square and spilled into the surrounding piazzas.
"We declare the blessed Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer a saint and include him in the annals of saints," the gold-robed Pope said, reading from a Latin formula.
He urged the faithful to follow in Escriva's footsteps and seek God in everyday life.
Escriva is the 468th saint proclaimed by Pope John Paul, who has declared more saints than all of his predecessors in the last four centuries combined.
Thousands of pilgrims turned out for the canonisation of the Spanish priest who taught that Catholics could be saints by living completely ordinary lives and seeking holiness in everything they did, whether as a banker or a baker.
Escriva founded Opus Dei, which means "God's Work", in Spain in 1928. There are now 1,800 Opus Dei priests. The rest of the 84,000 members worldwide are ordinary Catholics, many of them professionals.
"For me he was important, as he managed to bring holiness into everyday life, he showed that we can all be saints," said Maria Siera Ramillan, who travelled from Spain for the ceremony.
Controversial saint
But in the years leading up to Escriva's 1992 beatification - the last step before sainthood - Opus Dei was frequently accused of having a dangerous, secret, fundamentalist agenda.
The group appears to have gradually opened up to outsiders, and even past critics have acknowledged that.
One of those who continue to criticise Opus Dei is Kenneth Woodward, author of the book "Making Saints - How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why".
Recently he wrote that Opus Dei's "wealth and influence have silenced most opponents...even admirers know little about the inner workings of this shadowy Church within the Church."
Spain hit by `religious overload' as Opus Dei founder is canonised
Independent on Sunday, The, Oct 6, 2002 by Elizabeth Nash in Madrid
The Independent - UK - Oct 6/02 -
Blanket coverage today on Spanish state-controlled radio and TV of the canonisation of the controversial Opus Dei founder,
Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, has prompted criticisms of religious overload.
Opposition Socialists condemned the decision by Spanish Radio and Television (RTVE) to devote its second channel to the new saint for the entire morning as "absolutely out of proportion". A socialist spokesman for TV's watchdog committee, Maximo Diaz Cano, said the exercise was an abuse of the Popular Party's control of Spain's broadcast media.
"This is a clear example of what the PP understands by public service, which is nothing other than to broadcast a programme encouraging us all to vote PP, attend Mass and join the Opus Dei," Mr Diaz Cano said. It would be better, he added, to broadcast parliament's budget debate "where matters really important to people are decided".
A secretive Catholic organisation which urges the individual to pursue sanctity through their work and daily life, Opus Dei is often accused of focusing its recruitment efforts on business and political leaders. But Pope John Paul II is a supporter, and hundreds of thousands are expected at today's ceremonies in Rome.
Some shoots of dissent pierced the hagiography in the Spanish press last week. A former Opus Dei member, Isabel de
Armas, published a book Being a Woman in the Opus Dei which accused Escriva of misogyny and megalomania, and the organisation of marginalising women members and imposing upon them "complete submission".
Another former member, Alberto Moncada, condemned it as "a sect that manipulates its members and seeks power at any price". One group of former members has written to the Pope attacking Escriva for his "arrogance and malevolent temper ... his indifference to the poor, his love of luxury and ostentation". It accuses Opus Dei of causing "moral damage" through its culture of secrecy.
Even Escriva is not what he seems: born Jose Maria Escriba Albas in 1902, the son of an Aragonese shopkeeper, he changed his name on the death of his father to the more Catalan and aristocratic Escriva de
Balaguer, and is said to have bought the title of Marquis de Peralta to gain more clout.
Members are reluctant to declare themselves, or their medieval practices of self- mortification. They may wear a spiked chain around the thigh so that it and the wounds it inflicts are unseen, and whip themselves with a lead-tipped five-stranded lash while praying the Salve Regina.
"It's a penance, no more painful than a workout in the gym," says the Pope's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro
Valls, a member of Opus Dei. "I know, I've tried both."
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20021006/ai_n12668640
In pictures: Opus Dei founder canonised
BBC - - Thousands of pilgrims thronged St Peter's Square in Rome for the canonisation of the founder of the controversial Opus Dei movement, Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer.
Secret Society in the Roman Catholic Church - What is Opus Dei?
BBC - Dec 01 - Opus Dei - which means God's Work in Latin - was established in 1928 and has around 80,000 members in Europe, North and South America and elsewhere.
Members are enjoined to promote the evangelising mission of the Catholic Church through their professional work. Membership is by invitation only.Critics describe it as a sort of Catholic freemasonry - accusing it of being secretive and manipulative.
Father Escriva de Balaguer preferred the word discreet.It is a strong advocate of traditional Catholic values, including opposition to abortion and artificial contraception.
It also lays particular stress on the unique character and status of Roman Catholicism - as compared with other churches and faiths.
Its relationship with the present Pope is a matter of some speculation.
'Fundamentalist power'
The Vatican's press spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, is a member.
On the other hand, one of the Pope's favourite theologians, Hans Urs von Balthasar, once described Opus Dei as a "concentration of fundamentalist power in the Church".
The rise of Opus Dei
80,000 agents of influence for Vatican power
BBC - Oct 4 /02 - Its members, many of them well-educated professionals, adhere strictly to the teaching of the church.
The papacy of John Paul II, which has upheld traditional moral values, has enabled the organisation to flourish, and its influence to spread.
Some members of Opus Dei, though not priests, choose to remain celibate. They donate their salaries to the organisation, and often live in group homes where men and women are segregated.
They practise "self-mortification" - including fasting and flagellation - as a way of reminding themselves of how Christ suffered.
Opus Dei was founded on the principle that ordinary Catholics can achieve holiness in their everyday lives.
Critics accuse the organisation of being secretive and elitist. They have expressed concern over its recruitment methods, likening it to a religious cult.
Independence
Bankers, lawyers and politicians are among its members. Nobody applies to join Opus Dei; membership is by invitation only.
But while the organisation has attracted criticism, many admire the piety of its members.
John Paul II clearly approves of the way the organisation defends traditional moral values, seen as under threat in a modern world.
Given his own background, he has also been impressed by its support in opposing communism in countries like Poland.
The Pope has rewarded Opus Dei by giving it special status in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, allowing it an unusual degree of independence.
This papal seal of approval represents remarkable progress for an organisation that was only founded in 1928.
Now, by making the founder of Opus Dei a saint, the Pope is giving further recognition to the group, and underlining its growing influence at the highest levels of the church.
Opus Dei: No surprise
it gets top billing in this papacy
NCR - Nov 9/01 - One of the fringe benefits of being a Vatican correspondent is that interesting people are constantly passing through Rome, and often I get the chance to sit down with them over lunch or dinner. It’s a marvelous way to broaden one’s sense of the universal church.
My guests usually want the latest Vatican gossip, so standard conversation starters include, “How’s the pope’s health?” and “Who’s up among the papabili (candidates to be pope)?” Almost invariably, however, as we move into a second bottle of wine and tongues loosen, there’s another question waiting to be popped. When the moment comes, people usually lean in and whisper, as if worried about the walls having ears.
They ask: “Is Opus Dei really taking over the church?”
Ancien régime meets high finance in Opus Dei
THEIR KINGDOM COME:
INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF OPUS DEI
By Robert Hutchison
Doubleday, , 1998 (not easily available in the United States)
NCR - Story Here
Opus Dei prestige on display at centenary event
The extent of the power and prestige of Opus Dei in today’s Catholic church was on full display during a high profile Jan. 7-11 congress here marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of founder Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer.
The event drew 1,200 people from 57 countries, with an impressive number of church and state VIPs on hand, and was streamed live on the Internet. It occurred less than a month after Pope John Paul II recognized a miracle that clears the way for Escriva to become a saint.
One point that became clear during the Congress was how Opus Dei-inspired politicians tend to apply Escriva’s emphasis on finding holiness in work. A key theme of the gathering was the need for “coherence” between faith and politics, which in practical terms means taking one’s cues from the Catholic church on issues such as abortion, gay marriage and cloning.
American VIPs included Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N.J., a member of Opus Dei’s Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, and U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania. Santorum told NCR he is not a member of Opus Dei, but an admirer of Escriva.
The Ecumenical Movement & Opus Dei
"Among others who often stoutly disagree with us are members of Opus Dei. A long letter from William Schmitt, their communications director in New York, takes issue with NCR’s May 15 article on the deaths of three Swiss Guards at the Vatican."
NCR - Story Here
Selling orthodoxy to Washington power brokers
Opus Dei priest brings conservatives to Catholicism
By JOE FEUERHERD
Washington
Fr. C. John McCloskey, director of the Washington archdiocese’s Catholic Information Center, likens his current job to his pre-ordination experience hawking stocks on Wall Street.
“I’m a salesman for the church,” said the 49-year-old Opus Dei priest.
Some of the nation’s leading conservatives are buying.
McCloskey is credited with facilitating the conversions of such luminaries as failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, “Crossfire” co-host Robert Novak, Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, conservative book publisher Alfred Regnery, economist and commentator Larry Kudlow, and one-time New York gubernatorial candidate Lewis Lehrman. Abortion doctor-turned-pro-lifer Bernard Nathanson was tutored by McCloskey, as was indicted Tyco International counsel Mark Belnick.
“It’s just like the brokerage business or any business of sales,” said McCloskey. “You get a reputation, you deal with one person and they mention you to another person … and all of a sudden you have a string of people.”
World's first Opus Dei cardinal
To say that Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani of Lima is a controversial figure is a bit like saying that Michael Jordan was a decent basketball player. True so far as it goes, but it hardly begins to capture reality. Even by the occasionally ugly standards of clerical politics, the tempests swirling around Cipriani, the world's first Opus Dei cardinal, seem almost surreal.
Opus Dei Awareness Network
The Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. (ODAN) was founded in 1991 to meet the growing demand for accurate information about Opus Dei and to provide education, outreach and support to people who have been adversely affected by Opus Dei.
ODAN challenges many of Opus Dei's Questionable Practices because of the way they affect an individual's personal freedom, choices and family life.
Since 1991, ODAN has been in contact with countless individuals, families, the secular and religious press, clergy, religious, cult awareness organizations, campus ministers, home-schooling parents and more.
ODAN is a worldwide community of people who have had painful experiences as a result of their association with Opus Dei.
Opus Dei & Index of Forbidden Books
Opus Dei BBC Report (Real Player)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38303000/rm/_38303857_opus12_marshall_vi.ram
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