Anyone knows anything of OPUS DEI? It´s a sect? Thanks Félix

-- Félix González (comopudiste@hotmail.com), January 30, 2004

Answers

Response to OPUS DDEI

On October 2, 1928, during a spiritual retreat, Fr. Josemaria saw what it was that God was asking of him: to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment of the Christian's ordinary duties. From then on he worked on carrying out this task, meanwhile continuing his priestly ministry, particularly to the poor and the sick. During these early years of Opus Dei, he was also studying at the University of Madrid and teaching classes in order to support his family.

When the Civil War broke out in Madrid, religious persecution forced Fr. Josemaria to exercise his priestly ministry clandestinely and to move from place to place seeking refuge. Eventually, he was able to leave the Spanish capital; and, after a harrowing escape across the Pyrenees, he took up residence in Burgos. When the war concluded in 1939, he returned to Madrid and finally obtained his doctorate in law. In the years that followed he gave many retreats to laity, priests, and religious, and continued working assiduously to develop Opus Dei.

Guiding the Growth of Opus Dei

In 1946 Fr. Josemaria took up residence in Rome. During his years in Rome, he obtained a doctorate in Theology from the Lateran University and was appointed by Pope Pius XII as a consultor to two Vatican Congregations, as an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, and as an honorary prelate. He traveled frequently from Rome to various European countries, and to Mexico on one occasion, to spark the growth of Opus Dei in those places. In 1974 and 1975, he made two long trips to a number of countries in Latin America, where he met with large groups of people and spoke to them about their Christian vocation to holiness.

Msgr. Escriva died in Rome on June 26, 1975. By the time of his death, Opus Dei had begun in dozens of countries and had touched countless lives. After his death thousands of people, including more than a third of the world's bishops, sent letters to Rome asking the Pope to open his cause of beatification and canonization.

Beatification and Canonization

Pope John Paul II beatified Msgr. Escriva on May 17, 1992, in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The ceremony was attended by approximately 300,000 people. "With supernatural intuition," said the Pope in his homily, "Blessed Josemaria untiringly preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate."

Ten years later, on October 6, 2002, John Paul II canonized the founder of Opus Dei in St. Peter’s Square before a multitude of people from more than 80 countries. In his discourse to those who attended the canonization, the Holy Father said that “St. Josemaría was chosen by the Lord to proclaim the universal call to holiness and to indicate that everyday life, its customary activities, are a path towards holiness. It could be said that he was the saint of the ordinary.”

© 2003, Information Office of Opus Dei on the Internet

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), January 30, 2004.

Opus Dei is a lay movement specializig in the perfection of the lay person in civil society, it is not a sect. Unfortunately, some fiction authors have used 'poetic license' to fictionally change Opus Dei into a clandestine organization and give it a history it did not have. Remember, fiction is FICTION, not fact.

-- Bill Nelson (bnelson45@hotmail.com), January 30, 2004.

Thank you,I think it´s all I need. Félix

-- Félix González (comopudiste@hotmail.com), January 31, 2004.

Want another "contrary" opinion? Sometimes is very useful two see both sides of the coin:

http://www.odan.org/

God Bless You all!

In Cordibus Jesu Et Mariae

A Friend.

-- A Friend (never@mind.tv), January 31, 2004.

Dear Friend,

No doubt there has been some misunderstanding. Great saints such as Saint Josemaria are often intensely disliked by many.

The website you volunteer does contain some small grain of truth, but it is enveloped in a veneer of innuendo and sinisterism. What these people in the Work do is really very good. Why would our Holy Father embrace them if they did not and canonize their founder? Is the Catholic church also corrupted by this group?

In light of all this, do you have anything nice to say about Opus Dei?

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), January 31, 2004.

It is not important what i think regarding Opus Dei. The link i posted before as i mentioned is intended to show tha BOTH sides of the coin. But i have one more link elaborated ONLY by ex-members of the Opus Dei. Sorry, as long as Opus Dei is mainly spanish, this site is only in spanish:

http://www.opuslibros.com/

Wanna hear only the things U want to to hear, or different opinions are useful?

God Bless U all!

In Cordibus Jesu Et Mariae

A Friend.

-- A Friend. (never@mind.tv), February 01, 2004.

I see you have nothing kind to say. And yes, I agree you are entitled to an opinion.

I regret your experience has not been as positive as mine, or that of the many millions of others throughout the world who have touched and helped in some way by Opus Dei and Saint Josemaria Escriva.

We shall pray for you.

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), February 01, 2004.

I have never said nothing regarding Opus Dei in this forum, nor good or bad. If someone have a beautiful or bad experience with the Opus Dei, that`s not my business, but i guess it is useful to hear their opinions; remember: an opinion is just an opinion, not right or wrong, just an opinion. Here one more link, sorry if someone don't like it:

http://opusdob.tripod.com/

Thanks and may God bless U all!

Yes! U can pray 4 US, thanks!

In Cordibus Jesu Et Mariae

A Friend

-- A Friend (never@mind.tv), February 02, 2004.

Friend,

My personal experiences have been very, very good. So have those of the many hundreds I've known personally in the Washington DC area, and throughout the world.

The people at Opus Dei centers, and the priests there, are great sources of good advice and helpful spiritual formation. In my long experience with the Work (over 20 years), I have never encountered even the slightest hint of manipulation by any member upon either me or anyone I've ever been associated with.

In fact, respect for personal freedom is a central tenet in the Work. In keeping with what I have learned, I respect your freedom to post these websites, but I will also state that I personally have encountered nothing like what these web-sites suggest. I refute them all by my personal eyewitness testimony. They appear to have no basis in reality.

Can you personally substantiate any of what these websites suggest?

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), February 02, 2004.

Thanks all of you for your help. My interest in this question came from the relation of someone very close to me. I did take a look to opuslibros.com (my problem is english, not spanish)and there is something I don´t like, you can say anything (I mean anything at all, no matter what) but no a word in favor (they said "what could anyone say to us, we know the truth") There is also in some of the opinions and recomended books attacks to the Pope. I´ve read now something of it´s history and it seems to have a difficult starts. Above all, I have discover that the Pope have really defended it many times (Navarro Vals is a member of the Opus Dei) So, for me it´s the end of the question. I will try to learn more, anyway. Again, thank you all Félix González

-- Félix González (comopudiste@hotmail.com), February 04, 2004.

Félix, me parece que no has leído suficientemente la página www.opuslibros.com.

Como ex miembro numerario del opus dei, puedo decirte que nunca se ha publicado algo con tanta fidelidad a la verdad como se hace en este sitio.

El sitio publica libros que no siempre son 100% fieles a la Iglesia, pero deberías leer diariamente la sección de correspondencia, y también los testimonios colectados en "Tus Escritos" . La enorme mayoría de los que escriben son ex miembros que siguen siendo católicos practicantes y ortodoxos, como yo.

El hecho que el papa los apoye, bueno, hasta los papas pueden engañarse. Al fundador del opus dei le gustaba mucho criticar papas, de manera que no parece absurdo creer que este papa se ha engañado en este respecto. Soy de los que llaman Juan Pablo de "Magnus"., de manera que no puedes verme como liberal etc. Me parece que Wojtyla ha sido uno de los mayores papas de la historia, pero cuanto a proteger el opus dei, bueno, ha sito talvez su mayor (¿único?) pecado.

Contáctame si quieres mayores informaciones, pero pienso que todo lo que precisas en termos de información está en opuslibros.

Abrazos y Dios te bendiga

-- Atila (me@nowhere.com), February 25, 2004.

Atila,

I'm sorry but I totally disagree. John Paul II is a man of great wisdom and perception. He would not be decieved on a scale as great as you suggest. Do you not think the Catholic Church would be more careful before they canonized Saint Josemarie Escriva.

Quite frankly, I don't know anything about you personally. That sort of self-characterization is not persuasive. But I do know hundreds of people who have benefited fromn Opus Dei. I'm sorry if your personal experience was not good. But do you ever look in the mirror and ask the guy there if he was the problem all along?

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), February 25, 2004.

Pat, I have been in this forum since 1999.

If you do not know me, there is nothing I can do about. I have dozens of posts here, although I have not been a regular poster recently, for various reasons.

I simply say: go and read the suggested site: www.opuslibros.com.

We are not talking about one or another person. We are talking about dozens, perhaps hundreds of people with exactly the same experience. And it does not matter where, when or who: the experience is the same in all countries, at all periods of time and in both sections (male and female). opus dei has an incredible skill to mislead people. People, like you, who never entered the institution, have no way to know what goes on inside. And most people who did have that opportunity (by entering the institution, like me, who also have been misled in my time)), found out that there was somthing essentially wrong. It is estimated that there are more ex-members of opus dei worldwide that inside. In fact, in my country, we have tallied people in and out, and we found that there are more people out than in (male numeraries). Meanwhile, opus dei repeats that "the desertion index in opus dei is extremely low", which speaks volumes about the will of the institution to speak the truth.

Well, Pat, you are relatively new here... and you never were an opus dei member, so you are not in a great position to "completely disagree". You do not know what goes on inside. Would it be easy to know? Not at all. My mother attends one of its centers, and has just put in front of me a pamphlet of Msgr. Escrivá. She goes to her center 3 times a week, now for 20 years, and has no idea whatsoever as to what goes on inside, such as you.

So, you should be a bit more humble and admit the limitations you have regarding the access to information here. You are talking to someone who was there and knows what he is talking about. And if you doubt me, go to the mentioned website and see if you can say that all that people are lying, from England to Japan to USA to Brazil to Argentina to Mexico to Spain to Italy to Austria to Germany to Guatemala to..., all of them reporting essentially the same experiences, all of them very far from evangelical ones.

God Bless you.

-- Atila (me@somewhere.com), February 25, 2004.

You said:

"But I do know hundreds of people who have benefited from Opus Dei."

I do not deny that. In fact, I have a "gravitational model" theory about that. It is that people like you and my mother, who attend opus dei activities, may well benefit from the incentive to pray, to study our faith, to become frequent receivers of the Sacraments etc.

However, if you come too close, you are lost. Those who "whistle" are entering most of the time the most miserable life.

I do not know exactly your condition, but if I did I would be able to tell you in detail how you are treated at opus dei. I imagine that you are an adult person, perhaps married (i cannot remember now if you are that guy who had a decree of nullity, but never mind...) If this is so, you probably frequents a "St. Gabriel" center. The center in inhabited by something between 8 to 16 numeraries, most of them with more than 25 years of age. You have a designated "friend" who talks to you at least once a week. If you frequent opus for a long time, this "friend" may have changed a couple of times, and, in this case, chances are that you rarely, if ever, talks again to you old "friend".

For some reason, opus dei decided that you did not have "vocation". Probably you are a cooperator and you donate substantial time and / or money to the work. If you have children, there must be more than a subtle pressure that you put them in opus' schools (which opus dei never will recognize as theirs, they are "personal initiatives" of its members).

You talk weekly with your friend about everything in your life. Perhaps you do not know, but everything that you talk with your "friend" is repeated by him in the weekly Local Council meeting. Your inner feelings and doubts, your sexual life, the most intimate details of your conscience, all of this is freely discussed between the director, the subdirector and the secretary of your center, together with the local priests (one or two, depending on the center – more, if you attend a Center of Studies). The priest you confess with may, by his own will, retain what you talk with him before you kneel to confess, but he may not. As you know, strictly speaking, everything you talk with the priest before you kneel does not bind the priest to the sacramental secret. So, it is a well known practice in opus dei that the priests participate in that Council meetings talking about your conscience matters.

As you never entered opus dei, this is probably the farthest they will go in violating your rights. If you did come to whistle (enter the work), there would be no more ending. If you want details, I repeat, go to the linked website. Just one example: do you know that opus dei violates many many CIC cannons, or, better said, would violate them if it were a religious order? And that this violations only does not take place because it is a personal prelature, for which the Church has very little ruling today, for it's a new canonical structure? And that many people argue that this is one of the main reasons Escrivá wanted opus dei not to be canonically under religious laws? That many safeguards present in religious bodies, or even in diocesan seminaries, dictated by Church's experience and Prudence, are flatly ignored by opus dei? For example, CIC 240 says:

"Can. 240 §1 Besides ordinary confessors, other confessors are to come regularly to the seminary; while maintaining seminary discipline, the students are always to be free to approach any confessor, whether inside or outside the seminary.

§2 In deciding about the admission of students to orders, or their dismissal from the seminary, the vote of the spiritual director and the confessors may never be sought. "

Well, that's the opposite of what goes on in opus dei. Nobody is free to "approach any confessor", you are designated one and that's all. If you don't like it you are showing "bad spirit" and sinning against obedience. As for the admission to whatever, not only to orders (including admission to opus dei itself), "the vote of the spiritual director and the confessors" is positively sought. The cannons relating to religious life are very often ignored in opus dei practices and norms, as you can see in detail at the aforementioned website.

Well, the many many ways in which opus dei veers very far from Catholic orthodoxy can be told for a long time. Granted, it "seems" to be very orthodox in things like right to life. So do the Trads, and nobody in this site (except for the very Trads) would argue that they are examples of orthodoxy. But opus dei supports the pope, isn't it? Well, when it pays…

God bless.

-- Atila (me@nowhere.com), February 25, 2004.

Dear Atila,

I'm sorry but what you are portraying is in many ways not true or totally un-representative of the actuality within the Work. The relationship between the members themselves and, between members and non-members is one of respect, and always cognizant of the personal freedom that is necessary and central to a person's ability for developing their spiritual life.

Opus Dei, if you request it, will provide a spiritual director. This is a well established practice in Catholicism. A spiritual director's job is to know the person and give advice in life situations so that a person can make their own choices informed about how their actions conform or not with Catholic Doctrine.

I totally disagree about confessors and the seal of the confessional. I confess to many priests in and out of the Work. Some of those in the Work are old friends. I also have a spiritual director that I keep in touch with on my own schedule. I have not recently contributed money to the Work, but I plan to resume that and other such activities on a very regular basis as this type of regular practice was interrupted due to my own life circumstances. (Yes I am the decree of nullity guy...been posting here since about 2000-1).

I have known the Work for many years. In fact, I have previously been a member, and did in fact "whistle." I was an active member for five years before I decided it was not quite right for me about 8-9 years ago. Nevertheless, the people in the Work are still very much a part of my life in some ways. I have NEVER encountered any of the conspiratorial nonsense you allege. The types of things you allege cannot be proven otherwise as you allege they are done secretly.

What I have seen within the work are many highly gifted people who live saintly lives, and less gifted ones who are willing to struggle with themselves. As with any human organization, there is an occasional idiot or two hanging around that everyone tries to be patient with in the hope that they will grow.

I have also seen much of is something else. I have seen people who, when they see the the opportunity for much sacrifice in their life, the sacrifices that will really need to be done to reform their spiritual life, will recoil in disgust after making an initial attempt. This often happens in the spiritual development of any person and is refered to as the "the dark night." Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Theresa of Avila refer to these periods as occuring twice along the path to great spiritual perfection. This path is well know and is defined by three phases: Purgative, Illuminative and Unitive and are separated by these dark periods. This is all explained quite will in "Spititual Passages" by Father Benedict Groeschel (not in Opus Dei).

Many people when they reach these dark phases, or encounter some other great temptation, give in to the temptation to just stop trying. These people sometime find their way back to spiritual development, sometimes not. Unfortunately, rather than realize this failure is the result of their own weakness, these people will try and blame their own personal decision on factors controlled by others.

I see this often among ex-members who wish to justify there own personal decision to leave the "Work." They associate the demands of growing in the spiritual life, with the rigors associated with living the "Norms" and other activities that EVERY person, in and out of the Work will eventually need to undertake if they are to develop themselves and grow to be a person of great virtue (i.e., a saint).

You have left the Work for your own reasons. That is fine. That is your personal freedom and your right. No one in the Work disrespects. But you sin greatly by maligning those who, of their own freedom, choose to stay and use the Work as a vehicle for their own spiritual growth. That is all that Opus Dei really is. Its a service-provider and a vehicle for what can be great spirtual growth for those who wish to take that ride.

The LIBROS website you refer to is trash. It is set up by bitter people who wish to justify the unhappiness they have with their personal decisions by maligning others. It teaches attacks on the Church herself. It is full of relativism, skepticism and cynicalism. These are the marks of people who have turned their eyes from the truth.

I will pray for you Atila, as I'm sure your true friends in the Work regularly do despite your absence and attacks upon them. But in charity, I tell you that your present crusade is guided by none other than the Father of Lies.

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), February 26, 2004.