– Marco Carvalho
Ninety years after it was founded by Saint Josemaria Escrivá, the challenges that Opus Dei faces remain unchanged. The organization is still the only personal prelature of the Catholic Church and its main focus remains on reconnecting people with God, says Monsignor José Rafael Espírito Santo, the Regional Vicar of Opus Dei in Portugal.
Father Espirito Santo, who completed a degree in Civil Engineering before he became a priest in 1987, rejects the idea that the organization is somehow secretive and elitist and summarizes the role of “the Prelature of the Holy Cross,” as it is formally known, as an invitation for the faithful to recenter their life in Jesus Christ and his word. “What does this imply? It implies to bring out prayer and contemplation into the world and help others walk this very same way. This is the Opus Dei proposal,” Monsignor José Rafael Espírito Santo recalls.
The members of the organization are encouraged to promote their faith through their professional work and their everyday lives with the aim of seeking holiness in their work and ordinary activities: “When Opus Dei was founded in 1928, its message was a surprise for many, not because it talked about holiness and sanctity, but because it defended that sanctity could be at everyone’s reach: a common worker, a father, a mother, a teacher or any other professional,” explains the Regional Vicar of Opus Dei in Portugal. “This hasn’t changed, notwithstanding the fact that we live in a somehow, very absorbing and restless world. Despite all our worries, we should always be able to remember that God didn’t change. He is always the same God. He is there for us and we should be able to embrace him every day. We need to return to God without fear,” Monsignor Espírito Santo says.
To help people reconnect with Jesus Christ and recenter their lives on his Word, the organization offers its members formation courses to help them to get a better understanding of the Sacred Scriptures, to teach them how to find God through prayer and to better commit themselves to their own faith: “With the help of God, it is always possible to live by our faith. Without it, it’s neither wise nor possible,” the Regional Vicar of Opus Dei in Portugal reasserts.
Any lay Catholic may ask to join Opus Dei, as long as they are at least 18 years old. It takes over five years to join the organization, although a person’s commitment to joining has to be renewed each year, before a lifelong commitment is made possible.
Despite its focus on an individual pathway to God, Opus Dei sponsors a network of several institutions across the world and Portugal is no exception. Appart from four schools in Lisbon and Porto, the organization manages two youth centers, Clube 7 + in Lisbon and Vega Clube, in Porto, Portugal’s second largest city.
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