Appropriate answer to, "Is Opus Dei a Cult?"

[Faithdancer]

The Catholic Church itself is called a cult. That word is used in various ways. Opus Dei is a Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church, established in 1982, and Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez is the prelate since 1994. The bishop is subject to the Holy See.

opusdei.us/art.php?p=10877

Thank you for clarifying, Vico. Yes, Opus Dei is a Personal Prelature, not an order, or a fraternal organization. Opus Dei is administered by a Prelate. All members of Opus Dei are expected to follow the guidelines of their diocese and to participate fully in parish life.

As a side note, I have attended nearly a dozen Evenings of Recollection and find absolutely nothing cult-like about Opus Dei, though membership is a serious vocation and takes time and mutual discernment on the part of both prospective member and Opus Dei. I have found the members I have encountered to be quietly yet intensely Catholic, but of course that is true of many other lay faithful who do not belong to the Prelature.

 

[Strevel]

My experience with “Opus Dei” has been the same as yours. They are very intensely Catholic, and I frankly like that. When you deeply and intensely love something and it is a part of your life making decesions and goals is easier! I love it, and would never turn back.

They are today, what we all were pre-vat 2. I like them.

Don, Vegas

 

[Faithdancer]

I agree in that before Vatican II there was a more sober approach to worship on the part of the faithful. For example, I know of just one parish in our diocese of over 1 million that still offers regular EF masses. The women at San Secondo d’Asti wear head scarves, there is no talking inside the church, and there is even a dress code- no tank tops, bare backs, or shorts allowed. The pastor, Father Marx, has established confessional times before every single Mass, every day. This is remarkable! Someone I told about it recently called it “hardcore.” I call it, service.

While Vatican II has had some regrettable side effects such as clown masses and rock anthems in the liturgy, the Vatican II empowerment of the lay faithful is completely compatible with the Opus Dei philosophy of saintliness in the middle of the world.

 

[pewpew]

Yep. For St. Benedict, the liturgical prayer life is the central focus, and is often referred to as the opus Dei.

I actually notice some similarities between St. Josemaria’s spirituality and St. Ignatius of Loyola’s. Obviously, the process by which they live their lives is significantly different, but the focus on sanctifying your whole day to God, your work, doing the dishes, etc. is very similar between the Society of Jesus and Opus Dei.

Peace,

Indeed, also their focus on academic life etc.

I think it is called Opus Dei because the aim is to not only make everything a prayer, to make your whole life be your LOTH, in a way it wants the laity to be able to share in a ‘monastic life’.