Summary
With reform of Opus Dei still under review, Pope Leo XIV met privately with Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz and Msgr. Mariano Fazio, leaders of Opus Dei, on February 16. The prelature’s ongoing canonical restructuring, initiated by Pope Francis in 2018, continued its study phase according to a statement from the prelature. The process has no end date foreseen as Pope Leo XIV indicated that no publication date can be determined yet. This meeting also addressed recent allegations of abuse in Argentina involving former Opus Dei members, with Msgr. Ocáriz informing Pope Leo about the “institutional perspective” regarding these controversies. Opus Dei is an international Catholic institution founded by St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer in 1928 and approved as a personal prelature in 1982. The prelature, comprising nearly 90,000 Catholics, aims to achieve holiness through ordinary lives, with various levels of affiliated laypeople including supernumeraries, numeraries, associates, and celibate clergy. Two motu proprios were issued by Pope Francis in July 2022 and August 2023. The first mandated Opus Dei supervision by the Dicastery for Clergy instead of Bishops, requiring yearly rather than five-year reports. The second canonized a form of governance based on charism over hierarchical authority to better suit Opus Dei’s structure.
Key Topics
Vatican City, Opus Dei, Pope Leo XIV
