Nothing to fear: new law on personal prelatures includes the laity as the old law does
Is there a possibility that lay members of Opus Dei might no longer be included within the prelature?
In my opinion, there is nothing to fear that this will happen due to the new legislation, since the old canon which mentions the inclusion of the laity in the prelature is kept in the new one as is.
The new canon only adds a reminder that the place where a member lives determines his or her Ordinary (or bishop), but the essence of the old stipulation—even its wording—is totally intact within the new law. The new canon says, as the old canon does: "the laity can dedicate themselves to the apostolic works of the personal prelature; but the manner of this organic cooperation and the main duties and rights connected with it, shall be determined appropriately in the statutes."
And so the key to the type of lay inclusion is the statutes. This is why the prelate is asking for prayers for the work of revising them while at the same time serenely obeying the legal changes and asking Opus Dei people to unite with this obedience.
The serene, unqualified acceptance by the government of Opus Dei is a sign that the figure of the personal prelature continues to fit the reality of Opus Dei.
For many decades, Opus Dei peacefully and happily embraced the legal canons establishing personal prelatures, considering it as its "definitive configuration", since this ensured that the laity were equally members as the clerics. As I have shown, the new canons continue to stipulate lay inclusion in terms of "organic cooperation" as the old canon did, suiting itself thus to Opus Dei's nature. This means, like before, the lay members continue to be essential to the entire organism of the prelature, and are not mere external helpers. The clergy and laity are interdependent components of the organic whole: no clergy without laity, and no laity without a clergy.
In previous post, I clarified that the key word "similar" is defined in the dictionary as "resembling without being identical", and therefore implies that Opus Dei is really different from clerical associations:
1. The resemblance of personal prelatures to "clerical associations of pontifical right with capacity to incardinate priests" lies only in the latter part: pontifical right with capacity to incardinate priests.
2. The difference, aside from the canon on lay inclusion, is that a personal prelature is, by its very name, a hierarchical reality, established by church authority, while associations are established by its members.
Lastly, there should be no fear that personal prelatures are under the Dicastery for the Clergy, because the head of Opus Dei must be a cleric (not a bishop), since its founder, St. Josemaria, became a cleric (not a bishop) in order to dispose himself to receive the Opus Dei charism as its founder and become its head. And if we are to add the insight of Joseph Ratzinger: priestly hierarchy in its original sense essentially means being a sacred principle, a channel by which the lay people can receive God's graces. Because Opus Dei is a work of God and not of men, then this connection with the clergy, the channels of grace, to bolster Christian life in the middle of the world further emphasizes this divine aspect of its charism.
I think the word "similar" has upset so many people, but it is crucial to understand (a) its true meaning—the word implies difference, even radical difference!—and (b) the specific points for comparison that similarity implies, so as to comprehend the intent of the Vatican, and keep the serenity that the Prelate of Opus Dei keeps.
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