Opus Dei

Rome headquaters

The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (from the Latin "work of God") is a Catholic religious group that believes every member of their church has the potential to become a saint, and must perform God's work to attain this holy prize. Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church that helps people seek holiness in their work and ordinary activities. Opus Dei stresses the importance of work and professional competence. They hold the belief that everyone is called to by holy because it says in the Holy Bible "Be perfect, as your father in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48)

The group was started in Spain en 1928 by the Roman Catholic Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá.

Controversially, Opus Dei appear in The Da Vinci Code, and are represented in the film as an evil organization practicing brutal self-flagellation rituals. Opus Dei has stated that this depiction is false, but do not deny that their adherents practice self-mortification, in particular by the wearing of the cilice, a device with inward-pointing spikes which is worn round the upper thigh.

Opus Dei began its apostolic activities in the United States in Chicago in 1949. Opus Dei’s U. S. headquarters are in Lexington Avenue, New York City. Today there are more than 3,000 members in the United States and about 90,000 members in more than 80 different countries.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Josemaría Escrivá.

Your work must become a personal prayer, most become a real conversation with Our Father in heaven. Saint Josemaría.

See also

• Jesus Christ
• Luigi Giussani

External links

• WHAT IS OPUS DEI? Finding God in daily life.
• The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei
• US Bishops' website on The Da Vinci Code