Editing Opus Dei (section)

==History of Opus Dei==
===Founding and Early Years (1928–1950)===
Josemaría Escrivá founded Opus Dei on October 2, 1928, in Madrid, inspired by a vision to encourage lay Catholics and priests to seek sanctity through professional and secular life. The organization emphasized a “universal call to holiness,” rejecting monasticism and promoting work as a path to spiritual growth.

In 1930, Escrivá established a women’s branch, and in 1943, he formed the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross for priests. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), Escrivá fled to France but maintained ties with Spain’s conservative factions, including supporters of Francisco Franco, though he claimed political neutrality.

The Vatican approved Opus Dei as a secular institute in 1950 under Pope Pius XII, granting it autonomy to operate globally while remaining under Church oversight.
===Global Expansion and Personal Prelature (1950–1982)===
Opus Dei expanded to Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, establishing schools, universities (e.g., University of Navarra, Spain; Austral University, Argentina), and social initiatives. By 2005, it supported 608 institutions, with assets worth at least $2.8 billion.

Its structure includes supernumeraries (married laypeople, ~70%), numeraries (celibate members, ~20%), and priests (~2,000), with a focus on professional excellence and evangelization.

In 1982, Pope John Paul II designated Opus Dei as the Catholic Church’s first personal prelature, a unique status allowing it to operate independently of geographic dioceses, reporting directly to the Pope. This move, coupled with Escrivá’s beatification (1992) and canonization (2002), solidified Opus Dei’s influence.

The organization faced criticism for its secretive practices, aggressive recruitment of youth, and conservative stances on issues like abortion and marriage, drawing comparisons to “clerical Freemasonry” by critics like Jesuit leader Wlodimir Ledóchowski.
===Modern Era (1982–Present)===
Under prelates Álvaro del Portillo (1982–1994), Javier Echevarría (1994–2016), and Fernando Ocáriz (2017–present), Opus Dei continued to grow, with ~93,510 members by 2021, including 650 in Australia.

It faced controversies, including allegations of human trafficking and labor exploitation in Argentina (1983–2015), involving 44 women recruited for domestic work under exploitative conditions, and sexual abuse cases in Spain, Mexico, Uruguay, Chile, and the U.S., with canonical sanctions applied but limited civil accountability.

Pope Francis introduced reforms in 2022, requiring annual Vatican reports and barring the prelate from becoming a bishop, signaling efforts to curb Opus Dei’s autonomy, which some members accepted as “filial obedience.”