Opus Dei

The only personal prelature currently existing is Opus Dei. The fact that others have not yet been erected is due to the newness of personal prelatures, which have to offer guarantees of ecclesial solidity and be harmoniously inserted into the dioceses in which they operate. Besides, there are other ecclesiastical circumscriptions, such as the military ordinariates, with the same type of configuration, that is to say, one that is both personal and that complements the dioceses.

The work and entire life of the members of Opus Dei, to the extent to which they are loyal to their vocation, constitutes a part of the spiritual and apostolic good of the diocese.

Naturally this vocational requirement is not essential to personal prelatures, which could be based on very diverse circumstances, usually linked to social bonds among its faithful.

Both belong equally to the prelature.

At the institutional level, what is Opus Dei’s relationship with the dioceses? Is its pastoral work carried out in accord with religious institutions and other ecclesial entities?

From its foundation on October 2, 1928, Opus Dei was already in essence, although in an embryonic state, the same as we see it today: a part of the Church, made up of faithful and structured hierarchically around a head who was at first the founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá, a priest.

The prelature of Opus Dei is financed in the same way as the dioceses and other future prelatures, that is, above all by the contributions of its own faithful and of other people who provide financial assistance for its mission.

The prelate of Opus Dei and the prelature itself depend on the Holy See: on the Roman Pontiff and the Congregation for the Clergy.

Incorporation in the prelature of Opus Dei is essentially united to the personal vocation of that individual.