Opus Dei

In this episode of "Fragments of History," German historian Barbara Schellenberger takes us back to the origins of the Muengersdorf Campus in Cologne, Germany. Through her stories, we will explore how this residence, founded in 1966, has played a crucial role in the holistic education of students from various parts of the world.

Luis Cano works at the Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer Historical Institute in Rome. In late 2020, he published a critical study of four unpublished letters that the founder wrote to members of Opus Dei past, present and future. This is a translated adaptation of an interview he gave on this volume of work.

Gerona, Hinojosa de Jarque (Teruel) and Santa María de Luneda (Pontevedra) are the starting points for three hitherto unknown testimonies of dedication to others. The historian Santiago Martínez brings us an account of three early members of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross — founded by Saint Josemaría in 1943 — to which more than 4,000 clerics around the world belong today.

The Minerva publishing firm (1943-1946) was the first cultural initiative begun by faithful of Opus Dei. It was launched with great enthusiasm, under the direct encouragement of Saint Josemaría. The historical researcher Mercedes Montero recounts the origin and evolution of this project.

May 18, 1992: two old acquaintances meet in the waiting room at Ciampino airport in Rome. The day before they had attended Josemaría Escrivá’s beatification. One was Juan Jiménez Vargas. The other was Don José Carlos Martín de la Hoz, who asked him: "Yesterday, when you saw that crowd in St. Peter's Square, what did you feel?”

Pedro Casciaro was one of the first members of Opus Dei. He met Saint Josemaría when he was studying mathematics and architecture in Madrid. That restless, sensitive and somewhat cold young man, religiously speaking, began to form a closer relationship with God and discovered his vocation. It was the beginning of an exciting adventure and the path that led him to a full life, as José Carlos Martín de la Hoz recounts.

Encarnación Ortega was born on May 5, 1920, just over 100 years ago. Encarnita, as everyone called her, was one of the first women in Opus Dei; she met Saint Josemaría in 1941 and soon asked to be admitted as a numerary. The historian José Carlos Martín de la Hoz, vice-postulator of the cause for canonization, recounts in this podcast some events in Encarnita's life that help us to understand her human and spiritual worth.

Saint Josemaría was a man with many good friends. He always valued friendship as one of the great treasures of life, and he left this message as a legacy to the faithful of the Work. Pablo Pérez, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Navarra, spoke of St Josemaría's lasting and deep friendship with Francisco Moreno and Enrique Giménez Arnau, two friends he met in his youth in Zaragoza. This is an English adaptation of that account.

At the end of 1937 Saint Josemaría and some of the first members of Opus Dei and friends crossed the Pyrenees to the so-called national zone, where it was easier for Saint Josemaría to continue his priestly work. During this crossing, there were some particularly risky and difficult moments. The historian José Carlos Martín de la Hoz recounts one of them.

In March 1937, in the middle of the civil war, Saint Josemaría spent four and a half months locked up with some members of Opus Dei and a dozen families in the Legation of Honduras, a building located very close to the Plaza de Emilio Castelar in Madrid, as it had diplomatic immunity. Those months of isolation were also a period of spiritual growth for Saint Josemaría and those who accompanied him.