Opus dei?!?!

[godsent]

Can someone tell me what this actually is and what all the controvsery over it is…

can anyone be part of it?

Is it good or bad?

thanks!

 

[Nance]

If your asking about Opus Dei …than yes it is very good.

St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, opened a new path of holiness in the Catholic Church, teaching that men and women can become holy by performing their work and daily duties with a Christian spirit.

heres a link opusdei.org

 

[AquinasXVI]

Nance:

I agree 100% but I’d just like to clarify the word NEW. OD and it’s charism is not necessarily new because it is simply putting to practice by lay people what the church has been teaching all along. It seems new because it’s articulated very well…but as far as inventing a NEW system, it’s actually ancient.

in XT.

 

[Michael_C]

The contraversy mostly comes from the fictional book the Davinci code which has an evil charachter that is an Opus Dei Monk (There is no such thing by the way).

Opus Dei - Good

Da Vinci Code - Bad

 

[Guar_Fan]

Michael C:

The contraversy mostly comes from the fictional book the Davinci code which has an evil charachter that is an Opus Dei Monk (There is no such thing by the way).

Yes, I agree this is how most folks have heard of Opus Dei. However, there have been newspaper and magazine articles about the rumors surrounding Opus Dei well before The Da Vinci Code was published.

Actually a good myth-busting book about Opus Dei was recently published: Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church. The author is Johm Allen, a Vatican reporter.

He was interviewed by Terry Gross, on her radio show. Its pretty darned informative if you care to listen to it (about 40 minutes long) .

Opus Dei is an international lay Catholic group whose core ideal is the sanctification of work. But critics and some former members have accused the group of having cult-like practices and promoting a right-wing agenda.

Opus Dei was founded in Spain in 1928; today, it has 84,000 members in 80 countries. For many, the group first gained wide attention when it was portrayed in Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code. The thriller depicted the group as a repository for arcane knowledge and fervent – even dangerous – belief.

Two other real-life events also helped to raise Opus Dei’s profile: FBI agent Robert Hanssen, a member of the group, was arrested for spying in 2001; and Pope John Paul II canonized founder Josemaria Escriva as a saint in 2002.

npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5029154
You can listen to the interview or read some excerpts from the book at the link above.

 

[Sayanz]

St. Josemaria said that his teaching is as old as the Gospel and as the Gospel new.

Yes, there is always newness in the Gospel. The Cardinals referred to Opus Dei as an “absolute novelty,” (Koenig) “great originality”, (Martins) an “about-face, a new, original chapter in the history of Christian spirituality.” (Baggio)

You can check out en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_Dei#Novelty_of_doctrine_and_controversies

This might help answer your question.

 

[Al_Masetti]

Have you googled around and found the Opus Dei web site?

 

[Augustine]

Can someone tell me what this actually is and what all the controvsery over it is…
As you’re not the first one to ask about OD in this forum, look it up. There’s plenty of good posts about it.
can anyone be part of it?
Yes.
Is it good or bad?
It’s good all right, or it wouldn’t have become a personal prelature, the only one ever, by JPII. But, as anything, it’s not for everybody.

 

[Debbie]

Here is a link to very good article describing Opus Dei.

catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm0052.html

God bless.