Institute of Russian Sociological Research. Opus Dei "The Da Vinci Code" Dan Brown
"), founded in Spain in 1928 by a man named Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, states that its purpose is "to continually encourage society to live according to the evangelical precepts, to sanctify its work, performed with full responsibility and good will." The group's founder died in 1975. In 1992, the Pope canonized him as a saint and canonized him in October 2002. This decision still causes lively debate.
Both Catholic clergy and lay people professing the Catholic faith can become members of the organization. According to some estimates, there are now about eight thousand members of the society around the world. Most of Opus Dei's groups are located in cities. They exist at almost all major universities. The most active propaganda work and recruitment of new members is carried out among students. Members of the society may work in the outside world, but their spiritual life is under the strict control of Opus Dei. All members of the community must follow what is called the "Plan of Life", which consists of a series of spiritual rites, which include daily Mass, recitation of the rosary and spiritual reading.
Members of society are divided into several classes. The most severe laws reign in groups called numerarii. Members of society belonging to this category devote their entire lives to Opus Dei. They live in dormitories owned by Opus Dei and take a vow of celibacy. All their money goes to Opus Dei. They are not allowed to have their own bank account and are given a small amount each week for their daily needs. All incoming and outgoing member mail is reviewed by the Opus Dei Chapter Manager. These same managers control the content of what members of society read, listen to on the radio, or watch on television. There is an almost three hundred page list of literature prohibited by Opus Dei. The banned books include the Protestant version of the Bible and all books that contain references to Darwin's theory of evolution.
All movements outside the organization's territory must obtain permission from the manager. Members of the order inflict bodily pain on themselves as punishment for sins, and also to drown out the need for sex. Inflicting pain on oneself is here called “mortification.” Members of the order wear a braided cord with spikes on their legs, called "cilice", and whip themselves on the back with a knotted whip. They wear “Cilice” for two hours every day, excluding Sundays. They engage in self-flagellation once a week. If members of the community want to do this more often, they must ask permission. Community members are instructed to take cold rather than warm showers.
According to one former member of the order, "cilice" and discipline are so foreign to most ordinary people that they come to the conclusion that Opus Dei is too strange an organization to join.
Catholic leadership, taking as its basis the words of the Apostle Peter: “Therefore, just as Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourself with the same thought; for he who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin"(1 Pet. 4:1), interpreted this passage in isolation from the general context. This Bible verse is not talking about deliberately causing bodily harm to oneself, but about enduring the difficulties of life.
And in the “mortification of the flesh” practiced by Opus Dei, there is only a real danger of succumbing to masochism, and not at all of achieving holiness. The management itself understands this, and therefore traditional Catholic teaching prescribes that “mortification” rituals should be carried out only under the guidance of a manager. There are such observers, but often the organization entrusts such responsibilities to people who do not have the necessary maturity of judgment and prudence.
Each Opus Dei house has its own priest who conducts masses and receives confessions. Members of the society are prohibited from confessing to a priest who is not a member of Opus Dei. The numeraries are assisted by women who do housework in the centers of the Opus Dei prelature.
The next class of organization are the super-numeraries. Members belonging to this class are allowed to marry and have families. They also follow the "Plan of Life", but are usually ignorant of the very extreme rituals practiced by their fellow members of society, the Numerarians. They live in their own homes, but are required to contribute most of their income to Opus Dei. All the leaders of the secret society are priests from the numerarian class. Some claim that Opus Dei has long infiltrated the Vatican, and many of the high-ranking clergy serving the Pope are Opus Dei numeraries.
Next comes the class of associate members who live at home but have taken a vow of celibacy. And finally, there is a class of “helpers” who are not officially members of the organization, but help the community in financial matters. Helpers do not have to be Catholic at all.
Like many other cults, Opus Dei prohibits people from maintaining contact with their families. They are told that discussing Opus Dei with their families will be a waste of time because they “won’t understand.” Many members are instructed to keep their membership of Opus Dei a secret from their families.
Members of the society form teams that develop an aggressive strategy to recruit new members. The interests and hobbies of potential newcomers are analyzed, and members of the community with similar inclinations are encouraged to use common interests to establish contact. All Opus Dei meetings are required to include a count of potential candidates for membership and reports on the work done to recruit them. All members of the society are recommended to have ten to twelve “friends” who can subsequently join the society. Group members use friendship as bait and cut off relationships with people who do not want to join Opus Dei. Potential candidates do not even suspect that their recruitment was pre-planned and staged. In some colleges and universities, this society conducts recruitment under the guise of some organizations. For example, clubs are created that are completely managed by Opus Dei, but have a completely different name. These include Right to Life and other religious groups. Those who join these clubs are then very aggressively persuaded to join Opus Dei. Recruitment of members is also carried out in Roman Catholic parish communities.
Since the Vatican decided in the early 1980s that Opus Dei was a “personal prelature” within the Church, local dioceses have no right to control what happens at the Opus Dei centers that operate on their territory. An outsider will not be able to determine how deeply the members of this secret society managed to penetrate the parish community, since they keep all their activities secret. Pressure to join Opus Dei is often carried out at a time when a person is in crisis and most emotionally vulnerable.
Since 1991, there has been a group called the Opus Dei Danger Alert Society (ODAN). She is trying to warn the world about what they call the organization's "questionable traditions." ODAN is made up of former members and disgruntled family members of current members.
According to ODAN, new members agree to dedicate themselves to the group before they are told exactly what that will entail. When they find out what their allegiance will be, they are told that they have already given their word, and not keeping a promise means “turning away from God.” Those who do decide to leave Opus Dei are told that they will live a life without God's grace and may be damned.
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Since time immemorial, humanity has been striving to know the unknown. The unusualness of some natural phenomena, for example, ball lightning or solar eclipses, forced our ancestors to come up with supernatural explanations for them. Almost every nation on earth today has an endemic religion, with roots going back not even centuries, but millennia. A characteristic feature of almost every such religion is its branching into many communities and sects, united by common sources, differing insignificantly in the protocol part and ceremonial. An example would be a split Christian Church to Orthodox and Catholic in 1054.
One such community is the organization Opus Dei (from the Latin “Work of God”). It was created relatively recently - in 1928, October 2, in Madrid (Spain). The founder was the Catholic priest Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. Opus Dei is the personal prelature of the Catholic Church. The word "prelature" means "community".
Opus Dei is a conservative Catholic organization that, from the day of its inception, immediately began to gain popularity among workers and students, as well as in other sectors of society. On February 14, 1930, a women's branch was founded in the organization. After Franco came to power in Spain, Opus Dei became widespread throughout the country. The Franco regime relied heavily on the support of technocrats and politicians of the organization, thanks to which it was able to achieve significant success in the economy and government. In 1942, Pope Pius XII established Opus Dei in his constitution, Provida Mater Ecclesia.
The organization moved its headquarters to Rome in 1946, and already in 1950 Opus Dei received the status of a church-wide secular organization, which is formally subordinate to the Congregation for Orders. In 1982, Pope John Paul II granted the organization the status of a personal prelature of the Catholic Church, which in this case meant the withdrawal of Opus Dei from the jurisdiction of local bishops. Now members of society obeyed them as laymen. As for the activities in the organization, it was led by a prelate - the head of the community. Today, Opus Dei branches operate in 87 countries and number 1,654 parishes, 1,734 priests, 344 seminarians and 81,954 lay parishioners.
A little about the hierarchy of society. Leadership is carried out by members of the organization - the so-called “numeraries”, who take on various obligations, including celibacy. Members of the community do not take vows, since they are not monks, but laymen. From among the numeraries, a separate group of 72 people, “inscripti,” is selected, who are entrusted with a leadership role in Opus Dei. Numeraries are required to contribute all their earnings to the organization’s treasury.
Along with them, the organization has supernumerary trusted employees - the so-called supranumeraries, who are allowed to marry. Finally, Opus Dei includes "aggregati" - members who also commit to celibacy and contribute a percentage of their income to the treasury. The organization is headed by a prelate. Admission to Opus Dei takes as long as 6 years - from the moment of submitting a written application, 6 months pass before the candidate is allowed to temporarily join the community. After five years, it becomes possible to join on a permanent basis.
Opus Dei's activities have displeased many critics, who have dubbed the organization "the core of Vatican intelligence." They have reason to believe that the goal of Opus Dei is to seize world power, and they see the main danger in the closeness and secrecy of the organization. The leadership of Opus Dei strongly rejects such rumors, insisting that the organization aims only to unite people before the face of God within the church. Meanwhile, the prelature has many characteristics that classify it as a sect.
The organization promotes unity in the community, each of whose members, performing certain functions, acquires holiness through these deeds. Such slogans strongly resemble the desire to create a new world order, a kind of global Masonic lodge, where each person is a cog in a common clockwork. What aggravates the situation is that Opus Dei has become a very influential political force behind Lately. With the help of the organization, the Vatican, led by the Pope, seeks to strengthen the influence of the Catholic Church in the international arena.
What is alarming is that all materials relating to the organization are classified: there are no publicly known decrees, financial reports or official documents of the prelature, and the only printed organ - the Chronicle newspaper - is accessible only to its members. Opus Dei boasts a well-thought-out internal structure and iron discipline within its ranks. This is precisely what many politicians and religious figures, and poses the main danger. Members of the order are also present in the governments of some countries, for example, the USA.
The ideology of the sect is very different from traditional Christian sentiments. If the majority of communities promote a life of service to the Lord and dedicating every minute to praising His deeds, Opus Dei believes that such actions can anger God, because He created man not only for prayers, but for the sake of his full existence. When a person spends all his free time in prayer, he cannot live a full life, and, therefore, violates God's covenant. Only by fulfilling everyday worldly duties will a person comprehend God and fulfill His will - this is the main dogma of Opus Dei. The sermons of the society's leaders are very convincing, and therefore every year the number of followers of the idea, despite the difficulty of joining the organization, is steadily growing.
Naturally, Opus Dei does not want to remain in the shadows and is constantly looking for opportunities to spread its influence wherever possible. Thus, with the popularization of the Internet, members of the prelature created the website www.opusdei.org, the Russian version of which is located at www.opusdei.ru. The site contains some information about the activities of Opus Dei, texts of sermons by the founder of the prelature, Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, information about the branches of the organization, video files with recordings of meetings with the founder and articles on topics related to Catholicism. Note that the resource provides answers only to general questions, without delving into an analysis of the activities of Opus Dei. For those who are especially interested, there is a feedback form where the visitor must provide information about himself, after which representatives of the organization will contact him.
Fear of such a disciplined and influential community gives rise to numerous rumors. Opus Dei has been accused of a wide variety of “sins,” from practicing cult-like propaganda techniques to far-right views and connections to fascists and even the KGB. It is noteworthy that Opus Dei plays an important role in Dan Brown's famous novel The Da Vinci Code, an intellectual detective thriller that many Christians considered blasphemous and defamatory of the ideas of their religion. However, no critic of the organization can provide any significant evidence due to the secrecy mentioned above. All that is available is isolated speculation and a meager amount of facts. However, this does not prevent many opponents of Opus Dei from predicting the society’s imminent seizure of power over the world.
Meanwhile, the prelature continues to gain momentum and accept new members into its ranks, and also conducts active educational activities in many countries of the world, including Russia. The idea of "holiness through daily activities" takes hold of the minds of many people who join the organization, taking their place in the gigantic coherent mechanism of Opus Dei. And who knows, maybe soon this mechanism will begin to function at full capacity. Then the consequences are almost impossible to predict.
Well, we'll wait and see.
Opus Dei today
On October 28, 1982, the Apostolic Constitution Ut Sit was published and came into force, by which the Holy See established Opus Dei as a personal prelature of the Catholic Church. A fragment of this memorable document has been published on the official website of Opus Dei, so we have a great opportunity to introduce you to it.
JOHN PAUL, BISHOP,
SLAVE OF THE SLAVES OF GOD,
FOR ETERNAL REMEMBRANCE
With the greatest hope, the Church cares and takes motherly care for Opus Dei, founded by divine inspiration by the servant of God Josemaría Escrivá on October 2, 1928, so that this Work may remain at all times a suitable and effective instrument in the saving mission carried out by the Church for the life of the world.
Indeed, from its very beginning, this institution not only shone a new light on the mission of the laity in the Church and society, but also contributed to its practical implementation. It also sought to put into practice the doctrine of the universal vocation to holiness and spread to all levels of society the idea of sanctifying professional work and sanctifying oneself through work. Moreover, through the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, it helped diocesan priests to follow this teaching in the performance of their pastoral ministry.
With the help of God's grace Opus Dei how the apostolic body spread throughout the world and now works in numerous dioceses. It is composed of priests and lay men and women, and has developed as a single whole, that is, as an institution of one spirit and one administration, and whose members are united by one purpose and one preparation. Such an institution must be given a legal status appropriate to its nature. The founder himself Opus Dei in 1962, with confidence and humility, asked the Holy See to grant the Cause a suitable ecclesiastical status, recognizing the true characteristics and theological essence of the institution and thereby strengthening its apostolic effectiveness.
When the Second Vatican Council, through the Decree "Presbyterorum Ordinis" (10), which came into force through the motu proprio "Ecclesiae sanctae" (1-4), introduced into ecclesiastical law the status of personal Prelatures for the implementation of special pastoral undertakings, it became obvious that this status was entirely fits Opus Dei. Our Predecessor Paul VI, who responded favorably to the request of the servant of God Josemaría Escriva de Balaguer, allowed him to convene a General Special Convention for the purpose of beginning the work, under the leadership of the founder, to transform Opus Dei into a status consistent with its nature and according to the norms of the Second Vatican Council.
We Ourselves formally demanded the continuation of this work and in 1979 we instructed the Sacred Congregation for Bishops, to whose jurisdiction this matter essentially fell, to begin studying the formal request Opus Dei, carefully collecting all factual and legal data. The Sacred Congregation carried out its mission carefully, taking into account the historical, legal and pastoral aspects of the matter. Since any doubt about the validity of this request and the possibility of its practical implementation was excluded, the expediency of the desired transformation into the status of a personal Prelature became quite obvious.
Therefore, having heard the favorable opinion of the Cardinal Prefect (Head of the Sacred Congregation for Bishops), We, by Our Apostolic Authority, decree:
Opus Dei established as a personal Prelature of international scale. Its name is the personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, abbreviated - Opus Dei. At the same time, the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross was established as an Association of clergy, inseparably united with the Prelature.
The prelature is governed by the general legislation of the Church, the Apostolic Constitution “Ut sit” and its own Charter (“Code of Proper Law Opus Dei»).
The jurisdiction of the personal Prelature extends to priests incardinated into the Prelature, as well as to lay people who have joined it by contract and devoted themselves to the apostolic endeavors of the Prelature - but only with regard to the performance of special duties arising from this contract. Both laity and priests depend on the Prelate to carry out the pastoral mission of the Prelature.
The Prelate is the Prelature's own Ordinary Opus Dei. The election of the Prelate is carried out in accordance with the general legislation of the Church and its own Law Opus Dei, and approved by the Pope.
The Prelature is subordinate to the Sacred Congregation for Bishops and resolves necessary issues with the relevant Departments of the Roman Curia.
Every fifth year, the Prelate must present to the Pope, through the Sacred Congregation for Bishops, a document on the position of the Prelature and the development of its apostolic work.
The headquarters of the Prelature is in Rome. The Church of "St. Mary, Queen of Peace", located at the headquarters of the Prelature, is established as a prelate's church.
Father Alvaro del Portillo, elected General President Opus Dei September 15, 1975, appointed Prelate of the personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei.
AUGUSTINUS Card. CASAROLI, State Secretary
SEBASTIANUS Card. BAGGIO, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Bishops.
Ten years later, on May 17, 1992, in St. Peter's Square in Rome, in front of a huge crowd of people, Pope John Paul II declared Josemaría Escrivá blessed, and on October 6, 2002, he personally signed the decree of canonization. So Escrivá was canonized. As a result, the organization he created - Opus Dei - has already acquired a much higher status and began to have even greater influence in the world.
In 1983 - that is, at the time of its establishment as an official prelature of the Church - Opus Dei had more than 73,000 members of 87 nationalities!
Today, over 85,000 people around the world are members of Opus Dei! We believe that you will be interested to know: most of the members of Opus Dei live and work in European countries (about 50,000 people), the USA comes in second place (about 30,000 people), followed by the countries of Asia and Oceania (4,700 members ), and Africa closes this series (1600 members). It is characteristic that clergy make up only 2% of all members, while 98% of this organization are lay people. Moreover, the number of women and men in Opus Dei is approximately the same! The headquarters of the organization is located in Rome (Viale Bruno Buozzi, building 73).
Opus Dei is headed by a bishop-prelate. He is the already mentioned Javier Equevarria, who replaced Alvaro del Portillo after the death of the latter. The Vicar General of Opus Dei is Father Fernando Ocariz. Vicar Secretary - Father Manuel Dakal.
Under the authority of the bishop-prelate, who has the status of Ordinary, are the vicars who direct the activities of Opus Dei in the regions.
Javier Equevarria
In addition, there are two Councils - the General Council (represented by men) and the Central Assessor, consisting of women. The purpose of these Unions is to fully support the activities of the bishop-prelate. In turn, each vicar can count on assistance from the Regional Commission (which consists of only men) and the Regional Assessorium (represented by women). It should be added that large regions are sometimes divided into delegations, each of which is governed by a special vicar, assisted by two councils. Local Opus Dei governments are centers (separate for men and women). Each center is headed by a director, assisted by a special council (at least three members of Opus Dei).
An electoral General Convention takes place every 8 years.
Opus Dei has its own website, as we have already mentioned, and there is even a Russian-language version: http://www.opusdei.org/. The organization has its own magazine: “Romana: Journal of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei.”
Members of Opus Dei strive live a contemplative life, but in peace. In this way, traditional stereotypes of proclamation of the Christian faith are gone. Each representative of Opus Dei tries to spread the Teachings of Christ where he works and lives. A very important feature of the doctrine of this organization is sanctification of daily work activities. That is, suppose a tractor driver who belongs to Opus Dei will enthusiastically master the field, realizing within himself that his work is a service to the Lord, and the harder he works, the more he will please God. Such service opens up not only for this tractor driver, but also for any person the possibility of limitless improvement. It turns out that the more successful you are in your work, the more holiness you can achieve!
The third tenet that guides Opus Dei members is the understanding that Christianity is the religion of freedom! True service to the Lord does not accept violence. The wisdom of Opus Dei is available to anyone, because the gates of this society are open to everyone!
However, following the first three postulates is achieved solely through unity with the Lord, and unity is most easily achieved through prayer coming directly from the heart.
So, we told you about the founder of Opus Dei, presented the main postulates that determine the activities of the society. The question naturally arises: what is Opus Dei - a real stronghold of faith or a sect that dreams of power over the whole world and - as Dan Brown showed - without hesitation resorting to the services of fanatical killers? The official evidence we have presented allows us to conclude that the real Opus Dei organization is fundamentally different from the image in which it is presented in The Da Vinci Code. And if you have doubts about this, then remember: the gates of Opus Dei are open to everyone...
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The purpose of Opus Dei is to help believers achieve holiness in Everyday life, doing ordinary earthly affairs, in particular professional activities.
The headquarters of the Prelature is in Rome, at Viale Bruno Buozzi, 73.
Story
From its very founding, Opus Dei began to spread among students and workers, as well as in other sectors of society.
During the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. Republicans brutally persecuted all religious organizations in the country. 12 bishops and more than 6 thousand priests and monastics became victims of these persecutions. On the contrary, the then established Franco regime strongly favored Catholicism, providing the opportunity for growth to all religious entities, and therefore the new government enjoyed some support among Catholics. There were several members of Opus Dei in Franco's government, which led to accusations that the organization was sympathetic to fascism and seeking power. But the founder of the society always emphasized that members of Opus Dei have the same political freedom as all other Catholics and can adhere to whatever political beliefs they prefer, since the Cause is a religious, not a political organization.
As of December 31, 2008, the prelature had 1,654 centers of pastoral care, 88,904 members, 1,972 of whom were priests (“Annuario Pontificio,” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2009). In the Priestly Society of St. The Cross, in addition to the clergy of the prelature, consists of about 2 thousand diocesan priests and several deacons incardinated in various dioceses around the world (see Directory of the Prelature “Opus Dei”, p. 34, Almaty, 2010, at http:// multimedia.opusdei.org/pdf/ru/muller.pdf).
Hierarchy
The organization is led by members of the “numeraria”, who undertake various obligations, including the obligation of celibacy (members of Opus Dei do not take vows, because they are not monastics, but laymen). Many of them live in the centers of the prelature; some go on to become priests. Among the “numeraries” there is a special group with an indefinite number of members, called “inscripti” ( inscribed). From this group, the prelate of the organization appoints “electors” (electors), who participate in the selection of the next prelate.
Along with the numerary members of the organization, it also includes supernumeraries who undertake certain obligations. They do not promise celibacy and can be married, but at the same time they are full members of Opus Dei.
Joining Opus Dei is carried out by concluding a special agreement, the form of which is the same for everyone, between Opus Dei and the believer who decides to become its member. The procedure for joining the organization is quite complicated, and the process is finally completed no earlier than after six years. An adult candidate for membership of the organization submits a request in writing, which is considered within six months, then, after a year, through a formal contractual declaration (renewed every year), the person receives the opportunity to join only temporarily. After five years, there is an opportunity to join the organization permanently. The individual who has entered into the contract has a number of obligations: “to remain under the jurisdiction of the prelate as regards the purposes of the Prelature; comply with the legal rules of the Prelature and fulfill other duties of members of Opus Dei."
Leaders of Opus Dei
- Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer (October 2, 1928 – June 26, 1975)
- Alvaro del Portillo (1975-23 March 1994)
Activity
The essence of Opus Dei is to provide its members and all who wish it with the means of spiritual education so that they can live in the world as befits good Christians.
St. Josemaria
These means include classes to deepen the understanding of the truths of faith, regular spiritual exercises, personal spiritual guidance, etc. In addition, members of Opus Dei organize, as a rule, in developing countries various educational, social and cultural initiatives aimed at helping to the local population. Such initiatives may include universities, schools, vocational training centers, small clinics, charities, etc. In doing so, members of the prelature contribute to the spread of the Gospel among their circles, confirming their witness by the example of their own lives.
Criticism
Opus Dei is under fire. Critics, including Catholic priests, consider Opus Dei to be a dangerous organization. At the beginning of its existence, Opus Dei was called the "new heresy" because of the call for universal holiness, which was then adopted in the Second Vatican Council(1962-1965). The danger is mainly seen in the secrecy and closeness of Opus Dei. There are publications in print and online media that say that Opus Dei uses many practices characteristic of sects. However, the Popes have repeatedly expressed their approval of Opus Dei.
Notes
Links
- The profile of the Opus Dei organization is on the World of Religions portal.
- History of the Opus Dei prelature on the website “Hierarchy of the Eastern and Catholic Churches”.
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See what "Opus Dei" is in other dictionaries:
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In today's rapidly changing world, traditional institutions of world religions are also undergoing inevitable transformations. They react in their own way to the processes of globalization and secularization. Sometimes this reaction takes quite radical forms, as can be seen in the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.
However, it is not only Islam that is trying to find an answer to the challenges of the time. Protestantism, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism - all occupy a perimeter defense, and sometimes go on the offensive. One of the first to begin rebuilding its structure and mobilizing forces for new tasks Catholic Church. To maintain the unity of the church and give new impetus to its development, the Vatican is looking for support in conservative organizations and spreading their influence throughout the world.
The position of one of the largest modern organizations of Catholics - " Opus Dei". The activities of this "order" receive very mixed reviews, meanwhile, having the status of the personal prelature of the Pope, it enjoys the full support of John Paul II, who canonized its founder, a Spanish priest, two years ago Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer.
Catholicism remains a powerful political organization. The Holy See is an active player on the world stage, at its disposal enormous wealth and sophisticated levers of influence that have been built throughout the history of Western European civilization. What policies the Vatican will pursue will inevitably have an impact on the whole world. However, determining the direction of the coming changes is not easy, because even the treasures of the Vatican library, rumored to contain unknown manuscripts of ancient Greek philosophers and Jewish medieval sages, have still not been opened to the outside world - especially since the inner life of the Holy See remains secret.
However, it can be said with certainty: the brain and heart of modern Catholicism is " God's Cause", in Latin - " Opus Dei".
On October 6, 2002, in the Vatican, Pope John Paul II canonized Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer (1902-1975), the founder of an influential organization whose full name is the secular Catholic order, as a saint of the Catholic Church. Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Works of God" ("Prelatura della Santa Croce e Opus Dei") or, in short, "Opus Dei", "God's work."
This organization is quite well known, not least for the accusations brought against it. During the time of Franco, the order, founded in 1928, reached its maximum prosperity and, going beyond the borders of Spain, received the status of the personal prelature of the Pope. Since then, rumors have spread that Opus Dei is the reincarnation of the Jesuit Order of the 16th century, an ultra-conservative structure through which the Vatican influences world politics.
As in the era of the Reformation, at the beginning of the twentieth century the influence of the Catholic Church began to decline rapidly, and final goal- achieving power over the conscience of all representatives of the human race - accordingly, moving away. It was then that the young Spanish priest decided to restore the glory of the Holy See. Ordained in 1927, Escriva de Balaguer, after serving in a rural parish, moved first to Madrid, where he founded his order, and then in 1946 to Rome. He lived there until his death, while being a professor at a number of universities and making long trips to Spain, Portugal and South America.
With obvious favor towards the Order of John Paul 11, the founder of Opus Dei was awarded a truly super-fast canonization. Already in 1992 he was canonized (a preliminary stage of recognition of holiness in the Catholic Church), and just ten years later he was canonized. And this despite the fact that in other cases this process drags on for hundreds of years.
The speed of canonization confirms both the validity of the opinion about the enormous influence of “Opus Dei” on the papal environment and personally on the pontiff, an influence that supplanted the centuries-old power of the Jesuit order, which in the twentieth century was overly carried away by liberal theology and “social Christianity”, and the reliability of the mechanism of “infallibility” Dads." Even the fiercest enemies of Opus Dei bowed to the decision to canonize Escrivá, and from now on the theological, ascetic and social ideas of the order become part of the Sacred Tradition for all Catholics.
"...or do I have the right?"
In the 30s last century, the founder of Opus Dei wrote Spiritual Reflections. The work, called "Camino" ("Way"), contained 999 maxims and was published in thirty-four languages with a circulation of more than three million copies.
Maxim sixteenth reflects one of the main features of the consciousness of someone who was lucky enough to be accepted into the order: an understanding of their belonging to the elite, the desire to become a leader. " Can you be a private?- asks Balaguer. — Are you a herd person? You were born to be a leader".
However, the desire for leadership does not exclude iron discipline, stipulated by the six hundred and seventeenth postulate, which reads: " Obey as an instrument obeys in the hands of an artist who does not stop to think". The order established in Opus Dei provides for the mortification of the flesh. A member of the order is required to wear chains for two hours every day - a metal chain densely studded with nails, attached to the thigh with a hook. Chains cut into the body, especially when a person is sitting, and are left on it bloody wounds, but even greater pain is caused by a rope whip, which they use to whip themselves on the buttocks until blood appears.
Self-flagellation is applied without fail once a week, on the day of “vigil and sacrifice” appointed by the mentor (usually on Saturdays). There are other ways to “mortify the flesh”: get out of bed instantly in the middle of the night; sit without leaning on the back of a chair; there is exactly what you don’t like.
The actual “holy vigils” include daily Mass and sacrament, two half-hour prayers, midday and evening prayer- and, finally, special prayers, the text of which is kept secret. " Numeraria must die squeezed like a lemon", said Escriva de Balaguer.
The order’s founder’s precept: “Young people give everything they have, including themselves without reserve,” is taken literally: the overwhelming number of Opus Dei members are recruited from minors. A sophisticated and harsh system of “spiritual help” has been created for them - distance from their parents, constant mutual control over actions and even thoughts.
When Eva was 12 years old, she began to go to the cultural and religious center of the order, which consisted of several rooms, a prayer room and a permanent chapel. Eva was taught there to play the guitar, home economics and glass painting. At the same time, she was introduced to religious meditations and conversations about the Mother of God and the life of Escriva de Balaguer. Almost every week, Eva confessed to a priest - a member of the Cause of God.
Then, at Easter, the 13-year-old girl spent two weeks in an international hostel in Cologne, in a beautiful mansion on Aschenerstrasse. Together with her there were 15 more Italians, 30 Spanish girls and representatives of a dozen other countries under the strict supervision of adult members of the order, who introduced the girls to the works of Balaguer.
IN next year, during a trip to Rome, a radical change occurred in the life of 14-year-old Eva. On Easter, a large annual festival of candidates for membership in Opus Dei is celebrated: hundreds of boys and girls from all over the world gather for collective meetings with conversations and chants, they are received by the leaders of the order and the Pope himself.
When she was fourteen and a half years old, Eva sent a letter to the head of Opus Dei with a request to be accepted into the “numeraria” - full members of the organization. This act is called "pitar" (Spanish for "whistle"). Together with other future numeraries, Eva took a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. And after five years - a vow of fidelity, as a sign of which a ring is issued, which members of the organization wear on their left hands.
It is impossible to join the order on your own: this requires an invitation from one of the organization’s activists. The process of involvement and regulations for membership in Opus Dei is an absolute secret to outsiders.
Officially the order unites from above 85 thousand people, taking into account secret members and lay members the organization consists of hundreds of thousands, which are divided into three levels.
Those standing on the first of them ( numeraries) are full members of the organization, observe all the vows and rules of the order, and the following two categories ( aggregate And supernumeraries) refer to the “apostolate” (orthodox laypeople).
"Numerarians" observe a vow of celibacy and often live in dormitories that exclude contact between men and women. As a rule, by profession these people are teachers, lawyers, doctors, industrialists, bankers, politicians, journalists and priests, with a high educational level (at least two years of study in philosophy and four years in theological faculties). They donate all their earnings to the organization, receiving pocket money in exchange. Numerirs can also take priestly rank.
"Aggregati" can marry, but they are obliged to send their children to study in schools supported by the order. They are prohibited from disclosing their affiliation with Opus Dei. They donate part of their earnings to the order (usually one third). "Supernumeraries" are married and attend regular places of worship.
Secret Article 202 proclaims the purpose of the activities of faithful laymen to be state and public service, “especially leadership.” Former head of the Opus Dei women's organization Maria Augustia Moreno: “Our goal is also to penetrate university faculties and departments and government institutions. Then we will be able to award our people doctoral degrees, award orders, ensure their careers , which will attract new representatives of the elite to us."
The order is led by a prelate, who is personally appointed for life by the Pope.. The main deputies are the prefect in charge of spiritual leadership, and the procurator acting as Minister of Foreign Affairs - all of them must have a clergy title. Representatives of the prelate in different countries - general secretaries and vicars - are also ordained. Since April 20, 1994, the post of prelate has been occupied by Bishop Javier Echevarria, born in Madrid on June 14, 1932.
Thanks to the system of psychotechnics adopted in the order, unique personnel are forged who combine absolute readiness to carry out the orders of the leadership and at the same time initiative, have a high education and occupy a high position in society.
The Holy See was not slow to use this powerful weapon. On February 2, 1942, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical "Provida Mater Ecclesiae" ("In the Care of the Mother Church"), legally recognizing organizations of lay people who, while observing monastic vows, do not wear a cassock and do not live in monasteries, and in 1950 he fully approved of the activities of Opus Dei. 32 years later, John Paul II granted this organization the status of his personal prelature, that is, henceforth the members of the order are not subject to the jurisdiction of the church leaders of the localities where they live, but are under the personal jurisdiction of the Pope.
On the eve of the conclave of cardinals, which was supposed to elect a successor to John Paul I, the Bishop of Krakow Karol Wojtyla visited one of the Vatican crypts, where he prostrated himself on a slab of green marble with the inscription “José Maria Escriva de Balaguer” - on the grave of the founder of an organization that fully corresponds to the idea of the Polish cardinal about the true face of Catholicism. Without the support of Opus Dei, Wojtyła could not have become Pope, and without the support of John Paul II, Opus Dei could not have achieved such a high position in the seat of Catholic power.
Like the Isuits of old, the order controls the finances of the Vatican, and provides security cover, strategic planning and strategic intellectual development. Opus Dei owns eighteen universities; Moreover, several years ago, John Paul II established and transferred under the authority of the order a new center of Catholic education - the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, which educates about one and a half thousand students from 65 countries. Members of the order work in almost 500 universities and other higher education institutions on five continents, in more than 600 newspapers and magazines, 52 radio and television stations, 38 news agencies, 12 film companies, and are members of governments, intelligence agencies, banks and corporations .
According to the most conservative estimates, the organization's Italian "treasury" alone can count on at least 50 billion lire a year, which is much more than the amount the Vatican collects worldwide through the "St. Peter's obol" campaign. But the Opus Dei treasury also receives inheritances, donations, and all kinds of alms! Numerarians are required to bequeath all their property to the order. There are a huge number of "auxiliary societies" around Opus Dei., as they are called in the charter of the order, including educational, academic and financial. Moreover, in the official names of these societies nothing indicates a connection with the order.
Active conductors of the Vatican's policy are specially trained priests who serve as military chaplains in the armed forces of a number of NATO countries. According to a recent papal decree, bishops with military badges, although they do not have a diocese, have absolute spiritual authority over career military personnel and privates, as well as over their families, and can even create their own seminaries.
Not everyone in the Vatican supported the concept of a personal prelature. Among the opponents of this idea was Paul Vl’s closest associate, Cardinal Giovanni Benelli. However, a month after the Order was granted prelature status at the end of 1982, he died suddenly as a result of a heart attack. From that moment on, the papal possessions began to be increasingly controlled by the Pusdeists. The bishop of the prelature, Opus Dei, Julián Herrans, is co-president of the Pontifical Council, where the order has two other adherents. The affairs of information and press in the Vatican are managed by Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a layman - the “numerary” of the Order, observing celibacy. Moreover, some hierarchs do not publicly declare their membership, such as the personal secretary of the head of the Vatican, Monsignor Stanislav Dzivich.
Spain: international loans in exchange for increased influence of Opus Dei
The history of the order in Spain is very indicative. Here in the 50s and 60s. Opus Dei was able to take a dominant position on the political scene, replacing the fascist phalanx as the main behind-the-scenes force of the regime.
After the Second World War, Spain, being an ally of the Axis countries, found itself in international isolation. Its economy was a closed system, despite separate economic and trade agreements with the United States and Great Britain. In 1957, the leading countries of Europe concluded the famous Rome Agreements, which laid the foundation for the European Community. Francoist Spain was not accepted into the number of united countries. Its economy lagged far behind the level of France, Germany and even Italy. Franco understood that for the survival of his regime, Spain must achieve entry into the European economic and political space - and decided to use the international connections of the Cause of God.
Also in 1957, a government was formed, which for the first time included two ministers from Opus Dei. They took key economic positions: “Numerario” A. Ulyastres became Minister of Trade, and “supernumerario” M. Navarro Rubio became Minister of Finance. And already in 1958, Spain joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Monetary Fund.
After difficult negotiations, the Spanish government received loans worth $418 million. They were intended to implement the economic liberalization program, which went down in history as the “stabilization and development plan.” Its main task was to prepare for Spain's entry into the European economic community, and one of the main authors of the plan was a member of the Spanish government, numerario Opus Dei. Laureano Lopez Rodo.
Foreign goods were allowed to enter the Spanish market, customs regulations were relaxed, but protectionist tariffs were maintained so that the flow of high-quality goods from leading European countries did not stifle Spanish industry. The development of its own industry was supposed to be based on technical modernization. These measures predetermined economic growth in the 60s. The increase in industrial production reached an unprecedented 10% per year for Spain. In 1986 the country was admitted to the United Europe.
Members of the order were members of all Spanish governments until 1973, holding key positions there. Since 1992, the presence of the order in almost all Spanish cabinets has resumed.
Since the beginning of the 70s, the influence of the organization has rapidly spread throughout the world, and is especially noticeable on the American continent.
The order had a strong position in Chile, where it was supported by General Augusto Pinochet, and one of the richest people in the country, Cruzat, who controlled the Banca de Santiago and about 250 companies, in the 70s. allocated $2 million monthly to finance the organization's structures. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who left the country due to corruption allegations, collaborated with representatives of the order. The order's influence is also great in Mexico.
At least fifty centers of the order were opened in the United States - there Opus Dei began to especially strengthen during the years of Ronald Reagan, when members of the order appeared in the White House and in the middle and upper echelons of the Pentagon. Under the Clinton administration, the order's influence also expanded, although more slowly.
However, not everyone in the Catholic Church is happy with the rapid rise of the “new Jesuits.”
On the eve of Balaguer's canonization, the Vatican received a letter from a group of former members of Opus Dei, accusing Escriva of being hot-tempered, arrogant and addicted to luxury. Spanish journalists have shed light on the financial transactions of the Knights of the Church, and on the order’s connection with Clara Calvi, the widow of “God’s banker” and freemason Roberto Calvi, the head actor famous Italian political scandal. The London Times published a photograph of a leather whip with which adherents torture their sinful buttocks. A whole series of revealing articles and books written by former numeraries were published in Germany. All this is an indicator of a serious internal struggle for the future ideology of the Church, for its geopolitical concept.
Recently, the Vatican has been gripped by serious ideological disagreements: some church fathers advocate far-reaching reforms and easing, others adhere to conservative views. Until recently, the “Liberals” were led by the 74-year-old Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Maria Martini. However, he now seems to be hatching the idea of retiring to the Holy Land, and is being replaced by the 64-year-old Bishop of Mainz, Karl Lehmann, who has headed the German Episcopal Conference for 14 years. Leman was elevated to the rank of cardinal only recently. Since 1983, he has held the post of head of the “cardinal’s” diocese, but, nevertheless, in the last three consistories he was bypassed with the cardinal’s cap.
A scandalous situation arose: the German bishops three times confirmed Lehmann’s mandate to lead the national conference, that is, to the rank of cardinal, and the Pope just as stubbornly did not want to introduce him to the College of Cardinals. The reason that the leader of the richest and most influential association of European bishops has fallen out of favor with the Holy See is the liberal position of the absolute majority of German pastors on the problems of family, divorce, remarriage, abortion and the use of contraception.
The camp of conservatives is headed by 78-year-old Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, since 1977 - Archbishop of Munich and Cardinal, and from 1981 to the present - Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Vatican. Until relatively recently, church policy was led by modernists, but the reforms they carried out undermined internal church discipline and, as a consequence, the financial base and political power of the Church. In it, moreover, very extreme reformers began to gain strength, for example, the talk of charismatics, whose teachings practically go beyond the boundaries of Catholicism. Now John Paul 11 is trying to support conservatives and resist liberal trends, believing that further following the path proposed by the “reformers” will cause irreversible changes.
The conservatives' stronghold is Eastern Europe, the liberals' stronghold is Germany. Their positions are also strong in the USA, Latin America, Asia and Africa, so it is difficult for conservatives to hold on. All these disagreements have long ago assumed a dangerous character for the future fate of the entire Catholic Church. However, in order to lead the Church in the right direction, while maintaining its unity, the conservative wing needs a powerful foundation. It is possible to stop further spread only by giving the Church a new impetus and a new meaning of existence, by linking its fate with some powerful force. Under existing conditions, the obvious option is to transform the Vatican into the support and spiritual heart of a United Europe.
Vatican propaganda persistently - and not unsuccessfully - tries to make the Pope a spiritual symbol of all “people of good will,” and his endless trips serve precisely this purpose. The Pope as a spiritual standard, the leading ideological force of the era - this is the goal of the Pontiff and the conservative wing he supports, the essence of the strategy developed by Opus Dei.
Such a transformation is also beneficial for Europe, because without a single spiritual, ideological and organizational core it is difficult to maintain a strong unification. As already mentioned, the main bastion of the conservative wing is the Catholic parishes of Eastern Europe and the western part of the former USSR - and therefore local nationalist movements historically associated with Catholic fundamentalists. However, here the strengthening of Catholic positions is hampered by the influence Orthodox Church and Russia. Therefore, the Vatican is objectively interested in Moscow’s withdrawal from Eastern Europe and Ukraine-Belarus-Baltic states.
However, Vatican diplomacy never goes ahead, and the strategists of the “Cause of God” try not to leave their signatures on the decisions taken by the Pope - and it is quite possible that diplomats of the order may, in order to soften Russia’s resistance to their course, as “compensation” for the strategy they themselves developed, offer the leadership of the Russian Federation their connections and influence in the American administration and their assistance in establishing contacts between the Russian Federation and the EU according to the model tested during the time of Franco.
Transformation of Opus Dei into driving force The Catholic world became possible because the ideological climate on the planet gradually began to change. As the Moscow Orthodox publicist Yegor Kholmogorov noted in connection with Balaguer’s canonization, until the last third of the twentieth century, the processes of secularization and liberalization were gaining strength in the world, but in recent decades the pendulum has swung in the other direction - the spiritual militarization of world religions is taking place. Strengths are ripening within them that are oriented toward the real success of their business not only in eternity, but also “in this age.”
In Islam, this trend took the form of Islamic fundamentalism, with its focus on the Muslim ummah as a military association. In Catholicism, it is a form of a semi-secret order that has chosen the path of striving for secular dominance and active participation in political life, as a means of realizing the spiritual goals of Christianity. A “spiritual-militaristic” ferment is also taking place in Orthodoxy, although it has not yet taken clear organizational forms.
Such processes are taking place in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, and Greece. Protestantism is experiencing an era of rapid growth of charismatic and activist movements. In many remote regions, such as Belarus and Latin America, Protestants are replacing old denominations, gradually becoming the main religious force in the region. In Latin America, in recent decades, based on African, Indian and Christian elements, new religious systems have emerged, which have become not only a spiritual, but also a political factor - for example, the religions of Canbomble, Macumba, Umbanda and Quimbanda in Brazil.
Around Tibetan Lamaism, the possibility of the maturation of a militant and expansive Buddhism begins to be felt. A revolution was also brewing within Judaism, comparable to the emergence of the Hasidic movement in the mid-eighteenth century. This time in Judaism we can expect the emergence of movements that stand in the positions of purely religious orthodoxy, at the same time eschatological and aimed at spiritual and secular expansion. Moreover, striving, as was the case in the last centuries before the spread of Christianity, to go beyond the boundaries of the Jewish people. In the most unlikely places, like the Peruvian Andes or the Indian state of Mizoram on the border with Burma, local tribes are converting en masse to Orthodox Judaism.
New times, threatening and unexpected, are already on our doorstep. The coming century will not be similar to the past - and the Catholic Church was the first of the world religions to begin to rebuild its structure and mobilize forces for new tasks.
(The specified document is not NAMACON material)