Fernando Ocáriz, prelate of Opus Dei, together with Pope Francis in 2017. File photo.
Starting this Thursday, August 4, Opus Dei will no longer be protected by the Catholic Church, said Francisco Bergoglio, better known as Pope Francis I, a decision that breaks 40 years of protection.
In this way, the highest representative of the Catholic Church adapts Opus Dei to the new Constitution of the Vatican Curia Praedicate evangelium, which entered into force on June 5. Pope Francis considers “necessary,” as the letter reads, “a form of government based more on charisma than on hierarchical authority.”
This new form of governance ends the period of influence of his predecessor John Paul II, the main supporter of Opus Dei, who erected it as a personal prelature on November 28, 1982 with the apostolic Constitution Ut sit. It was then that it became an ecclesiastical institution governed by a prelate with his own jurisdiction, like a diocese, but without being linked to a specific territory.
The novelty is that Opus Dei goes from being controlled by the board of bishops to the Ministry of the Clergy, like several other organizations, for which it loses some privileges and autonomy. Likewise, the prelate may not be a bishop nor will he be allowed to wear the robes or the episcopal ring.
Opus Dei has a dark history that includes exploitation, torture and ill-treatment through medieval practices, all this using the power and autonomy conferred by John Paul II. Many people were marked for life by this sect.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/EF
