Opus Dei
Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (more commonly known as Opus Dei) is an organization of the Roman Catholic Church. ("Opus Dei" means "Work of God" in Latin.)[1] Opus Dei says that the Catholic Church gave them a special job: to tell everyone that God wants them to be close to him. This means that everyone is called by God to become a saint.[2]
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Opus Dei was started by St. Josemaría Escrivá, a Roman Catholic priest, in 1928. It was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1950.[3] Now, Opus Dei has around 85,000 members[2] in 80 different countries.[1]
In 1982, Pope John Paul II decided to make Opus Dei into a personal prelature.[4] Usually, in the Catholic Church, there are separate dioceses in different areas. Each area has its own bishop who is in charge of just that diocese. But because Opus Dei is a personal prelature, its bishopm called the Prelate, is not limited to any specific area. He is in charge of members of Opus Dei wherever they are, around the world.[3] The prelate of Opus Dei is Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz Braña.[5]