Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (more commonly known as Opus Dei) is an organization of the Roman Catholic Church.  ("Opus Dei" means "Work of God" in Latin.) Opus Dei says that the Catholic Church gave them a special job: to tell everyone that God wants them to be close to him. This means that everyone is called by God to become a saint.

Opus Dei was started by St. Josemaría Escrivá, a Roman Catholic priest, in 1928. It was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1950.  Now, Opus Dei has around 85,000 members in 80 different countries.

In 1982, Pope John Paul II decided to make Opus Dei into a personal prelature.  Usually, in the Catholic Church, there are separate dioceses in different areas.  Each area has its own bishop who is in charge of just that diocese.  But because Opus Dei is a personal prelature, its bishopm called the Prelate, is not limited to any specific area.  He is in charge of members of Opus Dei wherever they are, around the world. The prelate of Opus Dei is Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz Braña.

Beginnings and goals

Opus Dei was started by a Roman Catholic priest, Josemaria Escrivá, on 2 October 1928 in Madrid, Spain.  He said that God showed him what to do. On that day he "saw Opus Dei."

Escrivá said that the goals of Opus Dei are:
 To help Christians to know that ordinary life is a way to becoming a saint; and
 To bring people close to God.

Opus Dei gives classes, talks, and other help so that people can practice these teachings.

Belief that Opus Dei is God's work

Pope John Paul II has said that Escrivá was led by God when he started Opus Dei.

In 2002, Pope Benedict XVI said that Opus Dei is God's work, not Escrivá's.  He said that God just used Escriva as a tool to start his own work.

What it teaches

Escrivá and Opus Dei teach that a person can get close to God by doing these things:

Becoming a saint in ordinary life
Living like saints.  According to Opus Dei, when they were baptized, Christians became children of God.  Because of this, they have to act like people who belong to the family of God.  Most Christians should live like Jesus Christ, making their everyday lives holy. Jesus worked as a carpenter and lived as a son in a Jewish family in a small village for 30 years.
Making work holy
Doing work for God by doing things that help others and serve the needs of society. This work pleases God. By working to serve and help others, Jesus Christ "did all things well" (Mk 7:37).
Loving freedom
Being happy that God created them as free beings. Being free means each person can choose do something or not to do it. When God himself became a man, he also became free like any man. Throughout his life, he obeyed what God the Father wanted from him, even when he had to die in the process. "Because he wants to," each person either decides to be with God or away from him. Those are the two basic choices in life.
Praying and sacrificing (doing good things which are hard to do)
Learning to love by praying throughout the day like a child.  Love is what holiness is all about. Escrivá said that people can have great holiness just by doing the little duties of each moment.
Doing charity and bringing people to God
Loving God and others.  Escrivá said this is the most important thing a Christian should do.  Christians should understand others and be nice to each other.  They should do their duties and also give God to others. 
Becoming god-like.  A Christian who seeks God not just in church, but also in material things (things he can own), does not have two lives. He has one life. He lives the life of Jesus Christ, and Jesus is both God and man. A good Christian becomes another Christ.

Escrivá said that the basis of a Christian life is being a child of God.  If people are aware of this, then they will always be very happy.  He wrote that joy comes from knowing we are children of God.

What it does

According to the Catholic Church, people can find God in their daily work and activities. There they can be very close to him. They do not have to become priests or monks to become a saint. God wants them to become a saint by doing their ordinary duties and activities well.  The Catholic Church gave Opus Dei the job of spreading this knowledge, and teaching people that they can be real saints just by doing ordinary things and offering them to God.

Beliefs, newness and problems

Pope John Paul II praised Opus Dei and said that its aim of bringing God into the place of work is something great. Cardinal Albino Luciani, who later became Pope John Paul I, said that Escriva brought about a big change in how people deal with God. Before, people saw prayers as the only way to be close to God. Luciani said that Escriva also gave importance to work. The work one does can become prayer.

But when Escriva started teaching this, some Jesuits in the 1940s did not understand him. They said his beliefs were against the Catholic faith, because at that time Catholics thought that only priests and nuns could become holy. Some Jesuit leaders started saying that Opus Dei had secrets which it did not want the world to know, and that Opus Dei was dangerous. In fact, they said, Opus Dei just wanted to become very powerful and to control the world.

All these accusations were cleared up by the Popes and Catholic officials. These officials say that Opus Dei is doing something good for the world, by teaching people how to practice good habits, like telling the truth, working hard, keeping promises, loving people, and being concerned with those who are in need.

However, since the Jesuits are well-respected, a lot of people in the world believed what they said. Opus Dei has gotten a lot of criticism from Catholics and non-Catholics. They say that the members develop a strong drive to gain influence, and that the behaviour resembles that of a sect.  Critics of Opus Dei also say there is a lot of gender inequality in the organization.  They say Opus Dei has a very traditional view of the role of women in a Christian society. According to these critics, for Opus Dei the duty of the woman is to busy herself about the house and to raise the children of the family.

In 2005, a writer named John L. Allen, Jr. wrote a book which argued against these accusations. He said that these claims are mainly based on not understanding Opus Dei. He argued that:
 Opus Dei only teaches what the Catholic Church teaches
 There are many Opus Dei women who are very good leaders in business, fashion, art, education, social work, and other professions
 Half of Opus Dei's leaders are women, and these women also lead men
 Opus Dei does teach that women are very good at taking care of their families. Escriva said that women are natural teachers.

Another writer, Massimo Introvigne, said that Opus Dei is now being attacked by people who do not believe in God and people who think that God should not be present in the world of human beings. These people, he says, do not want religion to come back to the lives of many people in society.

History: how it developed

1928: October 2. Escrivá' starts Opus Dei
1930: February 14. Start of the Women's branch of Opus Dei
1939: The Way, Escrivá's book of spiritual thoughts, is first published
1941: March 19. The Bishop of Madrid approves Opus Dei
1943: February 14. Start of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross
1946: Escrivá goes to Rome and puts up the headquarters of Opus Dei there
1950: June 16. Pope Pius XII gives the Catholic Church's approval of Opus Dei
1962: Start of the Second Vatican Council, a big meeting of Catholic bishops from all over the world. In this meeting, the bishops and the Pope teaches to everyone that they are all called to become holy
1975: June 26. Escrivá dies. Alvaro del Portillo, his closest co-worker, is chosen to become his successor
1982: November 28. Opus Dei become a personal prelature. John Paul II chooses del Portillo as prelate, or head of the prelature
1992: May 17. John Paul II declares that Opus Dei's founder, Escrivá, is in Heaven
2002: October 6. John Paul II says that Escriva is a saint. John Paul II calls Escrivá the "saint of ordinary life"

References

Further reading
 Allen, John, Jr. (2005). Opus Dei: an Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church, Doubleday Religion.  — Some online excerpts are: Opus Dei: An Introduction, Chapter I: A Quick Overview , Chapter 4: Contemplatives in the Middle of the World , Chapter 7: Opus Dei and Secrecy 
 Berglar, Peter (1994). Opus Dei. Life and Work of its Founder. Scepter. — online here 
  
Estruch, Joan (1995). Saints and Schemers: Opus Dei and its paradoxes. — online Spanish version here
 Hahn, Scott (2006).  Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei. Random House Double Day Religion.   — online excerpt of Chapter One here
Introvigne, Massimo (May 1994). "Opus Dei and the Anti-cult Movement". Cristianità, 229, p. 3-12 — online here
John Paul II. Sacred Congregation for Bishops. (23 August 1982). Vatican Declaration on Opus Dei. — online here
  
 Martin, James, S.J. (25 February 1995). "Opus Dei in the United States". America Magazine. — online here 
  — online Spanish version here 
O'Connor, William. Opus Dei: An Open Book. A Reply to "The Secret World of Opus Dei" by Michael Walsh, Mercier Press, Dublin 1991, 
Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal (Benedict XVI) (9 October 2002). "St. Josemaria: God is very much at work in our world today". L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, p. 3. —  online here 
Schall, James, S.J. (Aug-Sept 1996). "Of Saintly Timber". Homiletic and Pastoral Review.  — review of Estruch's work, online here
Walsh, Michael (2004). Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Powerful Secretive Society within the Catholic Church. Harper San Francisco.

Other websites

Sites that support Opus Dei
 Opus Dei Official Site
 Romana, the Opus Dei's Official Bulletin
 McCloskey's Perspectives — website of writer Fr. McCloskey, priest of Opus Dei

Sites that criticize Opus Dei
 Opus Dei Awareness Network 
 Opus Libros (in Spanish)
 The Unofficial Opus Dei FAQ

Roman Catholicism
Christian organizations
1928 establishments in Europe
1920s establishments in Spain