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Pope
Francis
has decided with a
Motu Proprio
, a papal document, to reform the influential
Catholic organization Opus Dei
, known in Europe and Latin America for its conservative positions.
The papal document, under the title
'Ad charisma tuendum'
('To protect the charisma'), effective as of this Thursday and released last July,
"reduces power and independence"
from the powerful organization within the church, according to experts in religious matters.
"Some have interpreted the provisions of the
Holy See in terms of
'
downgrading' or
'loss of power
.
' says Manuel Sánchez, from the
Opus Dei
press office, reiterating
the entity's official position
.
The
Argentine pontiff
, who since assuming the papacy in 2013 has vowed to reform the
Roman Curia
, the church's central government mired in a
series of scandals
, has approved several measures to modernize and ensure greater transparency within the institution.
On this occasion, the Pope's provisions affect a
powerful religious organization
that the Pope and now Saint
John Paul II
elevated at the beginning of his pontificate, in 1982, to the rank of "personal prelature."
Loss of privileges?
It is also the only existing prelature, a
true privilege
, since it was equated to a diocese with all the power of decision that that means.
"Forty years later,
Francis
seeks to put an end to an excessively hierarchical structure and 'rescue' the charismatic values of an institution marked by
power struggles and the singularity
that makes it unique (for the moment) in the world," says
Jesús Bastante
, of the specialized page
Digital Religion
.
Accused by its
detractors of being a kind of secret sect
to pull the strings of power inside and outside the Vatican, something that the organization promptly denies,
Opus Dei
is present in more than 60 countries
and is made up of some 90,000 lay members, including political or business personalities, and
more than 2,000 priests,
especially in Europe and Latin America.
Founded in 1928
by the Spanish priest
Jose María Escrivá de Balaguer
, who died in Rome in 1975 at the age of 73, his canonization in 2002 by John Paul II sparked controversy
due to his closeness to the Franco dictatorship
.
According to some of the modifications decided by the
Argentine Pope
, that prelature becomes "depending on the Dicastery [or ministry] of the Clergy" and every year, instead of every five, the prelate must present to that body
a report about the internal situation
and the development of his apostolic work.
What comes from the Holy Father
is "filially welcomed
, with the desire to delve into what is essential," Sánchez underlines.
According to some interpretations of the text,
the leader of Opus Dei
will no longer be considered
a bishop
and will not be able to wear episcopal robes.
Opus Dei
's form of government
will be "based more on charisma than on hierarchical authority,"
Pope Francis
emphasizes in his document.
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