Spain, Opus Dei Must Delete the Names of Its Former Members, by Giacomo Galeazzi, Vatican Insider, December 6, 2011

Spain, Opus Dei Must Delete the Names of Its Former Members

By Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican Insider
December 6, 2011

vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/opus-dei-spagna-spain-espana-10544/

Madrid and the Vatican.

The Supreme Court has ordered that personal data of those no longer part of the Prelature be removed: "constitutional rights of the individual above all"

Deleting the names of former members is mandatory. The Spanish Supreme Court has ordered Opus Dei to remove personal data of members who have left the personal Prelature of the Catholic Church.

The sinister myth of the economic and political power of the most important Catholic organization in the world, its recruitment methods, and occult influences, inspired Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and is fuelling attacks, also by ecclesiastical quarters, against the "white masonry." Because of this, its archives are not secret, despite an over thirty-year-old agreement between Madrid and the Vatican.

Pursuing the case up to the Spanish Supreme Court, was a former "numerary" who unsuccessfully requested the deletion of his personal data. Opus Dei was opposed to the request, based on the 1979 agreement between Spain and the Holy See which guarantees the inviolability of its archives. The Spanish Supreme Court, however, has established that the constitutional rights of former members supersede the agreement between Spain and the Holy See. The Spanish Constitution, in fact, guarantees "the fundamental right to protect personal data" and to freely give or revoke control over it. In reality, Opus Dei statutes forbid any kind of secrecy. The Work does not require any pre-determined path - economic, political, or cultural. Every person of faith has full freedom of thought and action. All are asked to live a fully Christian life. "Opus Dei," summarized its founder, "could be compared to a sports club or a charity organization. It has no involvement in the political or economic activities carried out by its members."

Its canonical cause began in 1981 in a climate of suspicion. Eleven years later, 300,000 people celebrated the beatification of the founder of Opus Dei in St. Peter's Square - a "Copernican revolution" that positively affected public opinion toward the Work. According to the followers of the Blessed Josemaría, the cultural climate must be changed, with a focus on ideology and political opposition. The categories of progressive and conservative are fading away - the distinction between them has narrowed. And if the Blessed Josemaria inspired discussion on these topics, as a saint he has silenced all his critics: vindication, approval - full recognition, in other words; the same as for Padre Pio, another model of holiness singled out by John Paul II for humanity of the third millennium.

Opus Dei, then, is not new to controversies. "We are ecumenical, but we didn't learn ecumenicalism from Your Holiness," Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer once dared say to John XXIII, who smiled, knowing that in 1950 Opus Dei had obtained permission from Pius XII to welcome non-Christians as "associates." Among the 86,000 people taking part in the Work, there are many outstanding names, including Ettore Bernabei, Paola Binetti, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, and dozens of cardinals and bishops. Even Marcello Dell'Utri, Silvio Berlusconi's right-hand man, was at the side of the Blessed Josemaria on 21 November 1965 when the Work's sports center, which he had founded coming up especially from Palermo to Rome, was inaugurated. "Then Dell'Utri moved to Milan and his participation became sporadic..." recalls spokesperson Giuseppe Corigliano. Former coach of the Italian national football team Giovanni Trapattoni (current manager of the national team of the extremely Catholic Republic of Ireland), a cooperator, celebrates his birthdays in an "Obra" center in Florence, while the banker and new Minister of Infrastructure and Economic Development, Corrado Passera, participates in summer work training camps for youth in Kenya. "Opus is like a gas pump: people are looking for meaning, and after refueling, they no longer ask where they can find gas," say the "Opusdeini," recalling that Josemaria, when asked about a "spiritual son" who become a Minister or head of a company responded: "And what matters to me, what counts, is that he is holy!"

The secrecy of a "Catholic masonry" is also branded as a falsehood. "We are not well-known because we are new and every innovation gives rise to false beliefs: even the Franciscans were seen at first as mysterious and dangerous, even by Saint Francis's father," they emphasize. Yet the use of the cilice (along with the rosary, for devotion to the Madonna and the guardian angels) was singled out as proof of its "sectarian" character. Opus Dei, to be exact, means "Work of God," and it promotes a life coherent with faith among believing Christians of every kind, bringing the Gospel into all parts of society and seeking holiness. Some members, the "numeraries," choose celibacy particularly to dedicate themselves with greater freedom to their apostolic work.

"The extent, number, and quality of Opus Dei members," wrote Pope Luciani, "made everyone think of who knows what kind of quest for power, of the strict obedience of followers. But it is really the opposite. There is only the desire to create saints, but in joy, the spirit of service, and great freedom" - free choice, as John Paul I recalled. Opus Dei helps its faithful to responsibly make free choices, including in politics. And if someone attains an important position, "it is his business, not that of the Prelature."