Given the approach of the solemnity of Pentecost that celebrates the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church, Father Fernando Ocáriz, Prelate of Opus Dei, encouraged the members to pray for the new statutes of the Work.
“On the 19th we will celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost, an occasion to make special memory of the visible coming of the Holy Spirit on the nascent Church. In the form of a purifying fire and an impetuous wind, the Paraclete gave the apostles new wisdom, a new love and a courageous evangelizing impulse,” says the Prelate, in a message published on the Opus Dei website this 15 of May.
“At the same time, this party is an opportunity to meditate, give thanks and open our souls to the action of the Holy Spirit, infinite Love. He, with sanctifying grace, identifies us more and more with Christ and, in Christ, he makes us more and more children of God the Father,” continued Father Ocariz.
In his message, the Prelate pointed out that he counts on “the prayer of each one, cor unum et anima una (Acts 4, 32) – it is everyone’s business – for the ongoing study of our Statutes.”
Father Ocáriz then explained that at the beginning of this month of May “a first meeting of four members of the Dicastery [of the Clergy] and four canonists of Opus Dei, three professors and a female professor, was held. A second meeting of this type is planned for the end of June and will surely continue after the European summer.
The Prelate also specified that the idea of these works is “to outline, in the best possible way, the Statutes of the Work, following the indication given by the Pope to ‘protect the charisma’ ( Ad charisma tuendum ), that is, safeguarding its elements essential (secular and mainly lay character, unity of vocation between lay people – men and women – and priests, etc.).
In July 2022, the Pope published the motu proprio Ad charisma tuendum (“To protect the charisma”), with which he transferred the powers in matters of personal prelatures from the Dicastery of Bishops to that of the Clergy, establishing that from now on the Prelate will not He would be a bishop, and ordered the updating of the Statutes of Opus Dei.
In this way, it adapted the situation of Opus Dei to the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Predicate Evangelium on the Roman Curia, promulgated in March 2022.
In August 2023, in a new motu proprio, Pope Francis modified the canons relating to personal Prelatures. From now on, these types of prelatures are equated with public clerical associations that have the power to incardinate clerics.
What is Opus Dei?
Opus Dei is a personal prelature, the only one that currently exists in the Catholic Church. It was founded in Spain in 1928 by Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer and is present in 68 countries around the world.
A personal prelature is an entity headed by a pastor called a Prelate, who governs the institution, similar to how a bishop governs his diocese or assigned territory.
Its name in Latin means Work of God, so its members familiarly refer to it as “The Work.” Its special accent or charisma is sanctification through daily work.
In Opus Dei there are priests, celibate lay people who are called numeraries and attaches, and supernumeraries who are married members.