Opus Dei

Today I will be talking about the organization of Opus Dei, which was founded by a Roman Catholic priest named Josemaría Escrivá, in Spain on October 2nd, 1928 with the approval of the Pope Pius XII. Opus Dei in Latin signifies the work of God, and Josemaria had named it that because he said he had witnessed the work of God earlier on that day. Therefore, they devote their time by praising God and following the catholic religion by praying on certain times, attending masses and communion. To become a member you must be invited by an Opus Dei Prelature, which are the bosses to this organization. More than 70% of the members are married men and women with devotion to obey this Cult and pray. Opus Dei practice mortification, which is self-inflicted pain. They will hit themselves with whips to show God their appreciation and devotion to him. They will also fast to prove to God that they put him above all. I can relate to their love for God because part of the Muslim religion revolves around eternal love for Allah and we fast once a year just like the Opus Dei do to show respect towards our religions. Although, I cannot relate to the practice of mortification because I was not brought up this way and I do not agree that God would want to see us in pain. This organization has been there for years, and it has been judged to be a horrible cult because of its mortification of flesh and all of the classified information kept within the cult. Personally, I do not mind what they do as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. Opus Dei became very popular in the year 2003, when the novel The Da Vinci Code came out, and even more spoken of when they came out with the movie in 2006 based on the novel. Opus Dei has over 90 000 members, 2000 priests worldwide, is a fast growing organization and the cult is still growing bigger.

 Here is the symbol of Opus Dei, in the background.


Sources:

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_Dei
-http://www.odan.org/what_is_opus_dei.htm
-https://www.youtube.com/user/opusdeienglish