Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders

This is truly a great ideal, which right from the beginning has anticipated the theology of the lay state, which is a characteristic mark of the Church of the Council and after the Council.” L’Osservatore Romano, August 27, 1979.

He also said upon creating Opus Dei as a personal prelature, “With very great hope, the Church directs its attention and maternal care to Opus Dei, which -- by divine inspiration --the Servant of God Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer founded in Madrid on October 2, 1928, so that it may always be an apt and effective instrument of the salvific mission which the Church carries out for the life of the world.

In the "Address to Theological Study Convention on the Teaching of Blessed Josemaria Escriva," October 14, 1993, John Paul II stated: "In the 65 years since its foundation, the Prelature of Opus Dei, an indissoluble unity of priests and lay people, has contributed to making Christ's saving message resound in many walks of life.

I encourage all the members of the Prelature of Opus Dei to persevere in this work, in faithful continuity with the spirit of service to the Church which always inspired the life of your founder."

Benedict XVI, three years before becoming Pope, said "the theocentrism of Escrivá...means this confidence in the fact that God is working now and we ought only to put ourselves at his disposal...This, for me, is a message of greatest importance.

The biblical concept that everyone is called to sanctity was already enunciated by Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Sales, and Alphonsus Liguori, but their emphasis was on prayer and liturgical devotions, basically monastic spirituality applied to lay people.

On a deeper level, the "great originality" of Opus Dei's message, states José Saraiva Martins (2002), is based on the teaching that all of creation has been sanctified by the God-become-flesh: movies, boardrooms, gardens, sports can and should lead to God.

This attack against Opus Dei from within well-regarded ecclesiastical circles ("the opposition by good people," Escrivá called it), which happened time and again in its history, is considered the root of present-day accusations coming from the most varied quarters.

Some time after the end of the Second Vatican Council, Opus Dei critics started stating that it has an ultraconservative and reactionary vision of the Roman Catholic faith.

The late Hans Urs von Balthasar, considered one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, discussed Opus Dei in an article entitled "Fundamentalism," describing it as "a concentration of fundamentalist power in the Church."

He based his negative views on his reading of some points of Escriva's main book, The Way, which von Balthasar did not consider of sufficient spiritual depth for its worldwide goals.