Opus Dei

Pope Benedict XVI’s second encyclical is on Christian hope. The title comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans: "in hope we were saved."

God is a Father, St. Josemaría tells us, who is with us both in good and not so good times, when we laugh and when we cry (Weekly Video: 00'39'').

The Pope raised his eyes and looked intently at him. "The best way to help the Church in Finland," he said, "is to do Opus Dei." Fr. Barto Menchen recalls this encounter.

Saints in ordinary life: an attractive goal for all Christians. How can we attain it? By loving our spouse, caring for our children, working with professional excellence… “And God will help us,” says St. Josemaria (Weekly Video : 01’27”).

God comes to save us. With that hope, Bishop Echevarría suggests we prepare our hearts during Advent so that Jesus will be pleased to dwell there.

November 28th marks the 25th anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution "Ut Sit," by which the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, gave Opus Dei the canonical form of a Personal Prelature.

"I shall never tire of repeating that marriage is a great and marvellous divine path." - St. Josemaria. Thomas and Hedaya Mundia, from Kenya, give tips on parenting and how to create a bright and cheerful family atmosphere in the home. They have two children.

To give thanks to God for Opus Dei’s 25 years as a Personal Prelature, Bishop Echevarría invites the Prelature’s faithful to strive to go even more fervently to the intercession of God’s Mother during this year.

In 1982, with the Apostolic Constitution, "Ut sit," John Paul II erected Opus Dei as a personal prelature. The following video records the first Prelate, Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo, receiving the bull "Ut sit" in the Basilica of Saint Eugene in Rome.

Although similar personal hierarchical structures already existed (such as military vicariates), the juridical figure of the personal prelature is the result of an apostolic desire of the Second Vatican Council that later took form in the present Code of Canon Law. The first to be erected was the prelature of Opus Dei, in the Apostolic Constitution Ut sit of John Paul II, on November 28, 1982.