90 years ago: The founding of Opus Dei

On October 2, 1928, Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, a Roman Catholic priest, founded the order Opus Dei (literally "Work of God") in Madrid. Opus Dei is the Roman Catholic Church's most controversial order. Its members are mostly lay people, and the order stresses the sanctity of ordinary work.

Opus Dei has been strongly supported and criticized. In 1982, Pope John Paul II declared the order to be a personal prelature, i.e., those in the order are under the authority of its leader wherever they are, rather than under the authority of the leader in a particular geographical area. Fr. Escrivá was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, who called him "the saint of ordinary life."

Opus Dei has been criticized for secretiveness, alleged cult-like practices; alleged support for governments such as the Spanish regime of Generalissimo Francisco Franco; and for being a "church within a church." Daily and weekly prayer and piety practices contain much in the way of ritual--a form of contemplative spirituality, which has been wreaking havoc in "Evangelical" churches in recent years. Christians familiar with contemplative spirituality will also recognize the Opus Dei practice of spiritual direction, in which less experienced members are coached one-on-one by more experienced members.

Another practice of Opus Dei that has come in for criticism is that of mortification of the flesh, manifested in such behaviours as self-flagellation. Such practices apparently existed in the professing Christian church even in its early decades, since the apostle Paul offered his own Holy Spirit-inspired criticism:

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?
These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Colossians 2:20-23 (ESV)