A Brief History of Opus Dei's Canonical Path

A new edition of the short book, The Juridical Mind of St. Josemaria Escriva, by canon law professor, Ernest Caparros has been published on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Opus Dei becoming a personal prelature.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the erection of Opus Dei as a personal prelature, the Canadian publishing house Wilson and Lafleur has brought out a new edition of the book entitled The Juridical Mind of St. Josemaria Escriva. This work gives a brief, readable outline of the canonical evolution of Opus Dei--through the efforts and guidance of St. Josemaria--to its final form: The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei.

The book's 65 pages describe St. Josemaria's struggles to find an adequate legal status within the canon law of his time and recounts the various approvals in 1941, 1943, 1947 and 1950. Only in 1982, seven years after St. Josemaria's death, did the Work acquire a completely adequate canonical status, when John Paul II erected it as personal prelature.

The book decribes a number of the essential characteristics of personal prelatures and explains why it is a good fit for Opus Dei.

The author, Enrest Caparros, is a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa and a visiting professor at the faculty of canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome

The book can be obtained at Midwest Theological Forum.