New Motu Proprio Pope Francisco affects Opus Dei

2023-08-08 16:37:00

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

August 8, 2023 / 9:37am

This Tuesday, August 8, the Holy See released a new Apostolic Letter in the form of Motu Proprio of Pope Francis that affects the personal Prelature of Opus Dei, previously reformed in July 2022 with “To protect the charisma”.

This new document —divided into three articles— modifies the canons relating to personal Prelatures. From now on, this type of prelature is equated with public clerical associations that have the power to incardinate clerics.

According to indicates the Holy See“the associations of the faithful erected by the competent ecclesiastical authority are called public associations”.

“The clerical are those associations of faithful that are under the direction of clergy, make the exercise of the sacred order their own and are recognized as such by the competent authority.”

Notably Opus Dei is the only personal Prelature that existscreated 40 years ago with the Apostolic Constitution Ut sit of Saint John Paul II.

In addition, this new document modifies canon 296, relative to the participation of the laity in the apostolic activities of the Personal Prelature.

In it, it is established that “the laity can dedicate themselves to the apostolic works of a personal Prelature by means of conventions stipulated with the same Prelature; The mode of this organic cooperation and the main duties and rights related to it must be precisely determined in the statutes”.

This new variation comes just over a year after the Motu Proprio “Ad charisma tuendum”, promulgated on July 14, 2022, by which the competence of the personal Prelatures was transferred to the Dicastery for the Clergy.

For its part, Opus Dei has issued a statement in which they assure that they will study “what consequences these modifications may have for the legal configuration of Opus Dei, also in the framework of the work that is being carried out with the Department of Clergy on the adaptation of the Statutes required in the Motu proprio To protect charismain a climate of communion with the Holy Father”.

Almudena Martínez-Bordiú is a Spanish journalist, correspondent for ACI Prensa in Rome and the Vatican, with four years of experience in religious information.