Opus Dei

The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, commonly known as Opus Dei (Latin for "Work of God") or the Work, is an international organization of the Roman Catholic Church whose mission is to spread the Christian message that God calls everyone to become a saint and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The Opus Dei prelature comprises ordinary lay people and secular priests governed by a prelate.

Founded in 1928 by a Catholic priest, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, Opus Dei was established as a personal prelature by Pope John Paul II in 1982. The first, and so far the only one, this prelature now coexists with episcopal dioceses as an official part of the Church's institutional structures. Opus Dei has around 87,000 members.

Various Popes and Catholic Church leaders strongly support what they see as Opus Dei's innovative teaching on the sanctifying value of work in the secular world and its loyalty to the Church. Still, since its foundation Opus Dei has been subjected to criticism and opposition. Liberals and secularists accuse it of secrecy, elitism, ultraconservatism, and support for the extreme right-wing in politics. Some ex-members accuse it of cult-like recruitment and of violating their rights.

CNN's Vatican analyst, John L. Allen, Jr., and Dr. Vittorio Messori, journalists and Catholics, stated that these accusations are mere myths, a far cry from Opus Dei's reality. In 1994, Dr. Massimo Introvigne, a prolific sociologist and conservative Catholic scholar, stated that Opus Dei had been the target of secularists intolerant of what he saw as a "return to religion" in society. In his view, its opponents unfairly stigmatize Opus Dei. Allen describes Opus Dei as "the most controversial force in the Catholic Church", receiving both support and opposition. Due to this, many Catholics see Opus Dei as a sign of contradiction.