Josemaría Escrivá

Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer
Saint of Ordinary Life
Born	9 January 1902(1902-01-09) Barbastro, Aragon, Spain
Died	26 June 1975(1975-06-26) (aged 73) Rome, Italy
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	17 May 1992, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Canonized	6 October 2002, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Our Lady of Peace, Prelatic Church of Opus Dei, in Rome
Feast	26 June
Attributes	Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar

Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (January 9, 1902 – June 26, 1975) (also known as José María or Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás, born José María Mariano Escrivá y Albás) was a Roman Catholic priest from Spain and the founder of Opus Dei. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II, who declared Saint Josemaría as "counted among the great witnesses of Christianity".^[1][2][3] He is the most recently deceased canonized saint of the Catholic Church.

Escriva gained a doctorate in civil law at the University of Madrid and a doctorate in theology at the Lateran University in Rome. He was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology and Consultor of the Congregation of Seminaries and Consultor of the Pontificial Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law.

Escriva's principal work was the foundation, government and expansion of Opus Dei, an organization that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life can be a path to sanctity. Both Escrivá and Opus Dei have aroused controversy, primarily revolving around allegations of secrecy, elitism, cult-like practices within Opus Dei, and political involvement with right-wing causes, such as the dictatorships of Generals Francisco Franco in Spain (1939-1975) and Augusto Pinochet in Chile (1973-1990).^[4] On the other hand, some independent journalists, among them CNN Vatican analyst John Allen, Jr., say that many of these accusations are unproven and have grown from black legends propagated enemies of Opus Dei and Escrivá.^[5][6][7][8] Opus Dei and Escrivá continue to be polarizing subjects among certain members of the Catholic Church. Popes and Catholic leaders strongly endorse Escriva's teaching on the universal call to holiness, the role of laity, and sanctification of work.^[9]

Escriva's best known book is The Way which has sold more than five million copies in 50 languages. His writings have sold a total of eight million copies. According to John Allen, among Catholics St. Josemaría Escrivá is "reviled by some and venerated by millions more."^[5]

Biography

Early life

St. Josemaría in his youth.

The son of José Escrivá y Corzán and wife María de los Dolores Albás y Blanc, Josemaría Escrivá was born 9 January 1902, in the small town of Barbastro, in Huesca, upper Aragon, Spain, the second of six children and the first of two sons. Escrivá first felt that "he had been chosen for something," it is reported, when he saw footprints left in the snow by a monk walking barefoot.^[10][11]

Escrivá then decided that the best way to follow God's call was by becoming a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. After obtaining the blessing and help of his father, he studied in both Logroño and Zaragoza and was ordained a deacon in Zaragoza on Saturday, December 20, 1924. He was ordained a priest, also in Zaragoza, on Saturday, March 28, 1925. After a brief appointment to a rural parish in Perdiguera, he went to Madrid, the Spanish capital, in 1927 to study law at the Central University. In Madrid, Escrivá was employed as a chaplain to the Santa Isabel Foundation, which comprised the royal Convent of Santa Isabel and a school run by the Little Sisters of the Assumption.^[12]

Mission as the founder of Opus Dei

A prayerful retreat helped him to further discern what he considered to be God's will for him, and on October 2, 1928 he "saw" Opus Dei (English: Work of God) as a new lay movement through which Catholics might learn to sanctify themselves through their secular work. According to John Paul II's decree on Escrivá's "cause of canonization," which contains a condensed biography of Escrivá, "[t]o this mission he gave himself totally. From the beginning his was a very wide-ranging apostolate in social environments of all kinds. He worked especially among the poor and the sick languishing in the slums and hospitals of Madrid."^[13]

During the Spanish Civil War, Escrivá sided with Franco and fled, via Andorra and France, to Burgos (which was under Franco's control), to escape persecution by leftists.^[14] After Franco's victory ended the war in 1939, he was able to resume his studies in Madrid and complete a doctorate in law, for which he submitted a thesis on the historical jurisdiction of the Abbess of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas.^[15]

The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, attached to Opus Dei, was founded on Sunday, 14 February 1943, and Escrivá himself moved to Rome in 1946. The decree of his "cause of canonization" states that "in 1947 and on Monday, 16 June 1950, he obtained approval of Opus Dei as an institution of pontifical right. With tireless charity and operative hope he guided the development of Opus Dei throughout the world, activating a vast mobilization of lay people... He gave life to numerous initiatives in the work of evangelization and human welfare; he fostered vocations to the priesthood and the religious life everywhere... Above all, he devoted himself tirelessly to the task of forming the members of Opus Dei."^[13]

Later years

Josemaría Escrivá in a meeting with men. Pope John Paul II called Opus Dei's founder the "Saint of Ordinary Life".

In 1950, Escrivá was appointed an Honorary Domestic Prelate by Pope Pius XII, which allowed him to use the title of Monsignor. In 1955, he received a doctorate in theology from the Lateran University in Rome.^[15] He was a consultor to two Vatican congregations and an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. Later on, Escrivá also was consulted by many cardinals during the Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Many biographers commented on his contribution regarding the universal call to holiness, the role of the laity and the importance of the Mass as the centre and root of the Christian life. Escrivá worked throughout his life to foster Opus Dei's work, so that when he died on 26 June 1975 Opus Dei covered five continents and had more than 60,000 members from 80 nationalities.

Personality and attitudes

Attitudes in general

One of the persons who knew Escrivá most was the Bishop of Madrid where Opus Dei was founded, Bishop Leopoldo Eijo y Garay, for Escrivá would visit and report to him quite frequently and the two established very strong bonds of friendship. In a 1943 report to Rome, the bishop stated: "The distinctive notes of his character are his energy and his capacity for organization and government; with an ability to pass unnoticed. He has shown himself most obedient to the Church hierarchy--one very special hallmark of his priestly work is the way he fosters, in speech and in writing, in public and in private, love for Holy Mother Church and for the Roman Pontiff". Eijo y Garay wrote to the Jesuit Provincial of Toledo, Carlos Gomez Martinho, S.J. in 1941: "Fr. Escrivá is an exemplary priest, chosen by God for apostolic enterprises; humble, prudent, self-sacrificing in work, docile to his bishop, of outstanding intelligence and with a very solid spiritual and doctrinal formation". Eijo y Garay also told a leader of the Falange who went to consult the bishop on the "secret and Masonic" society founded by Escrivá: "To think that Fr. Josemaría Escrivá is capable of creating anything secret is absurd. He is as frank and open as a child!"

Josemaría Escrivá in a meeting with women.

Dr. Viktor Frankl, an accomplished Austrian Author, Psychiatrist, Neurologist, the founder of Logotherapy and Nazi death-camp survivor, met Escrivá in Rome in 1970. Later he wrote of "the refreshing serenity which emanated from him and warmed the whole conversation", and "the unbelievable rhythm" with which his thought flowed, and finally "his amazing capacity" for getting into "immediate contact" with those he was speaking to. Frankl went on: "Escrivá evidently lived totally in the present moment, he opened out to it completely, and gave himself entirely to it".^[16] At the end of the meeting, Frankl whispered to the translator, "This man is a spiritual atomic bomb".^[17]

According to Alvaro del Portillo who lived for forty years as the closest collaborator of Escrivá, there is one basic quality of Escrivá "that pervaded everything else: his dedication to God, and to all souls for God's sake; his constant readiness to correspond generously to the will of God."^[18] Paul VI summarized his view of what he called the "extraordinariness" of Escrivá's sanctity in this way: "He is one of those men who has received the most charisms (supernatural gifts) and have corresponded most generously to them."

"The first impression one gets from watching Escrivá 'live'," John L. Allen, Jr. writes after watching some films on the founder of Opus Dei in 2005, "is his effervescence, his keen sense of humor. He cracks jokes, makes faces, roams the stage, and generally leaves his audience in stitches in off-the-cuff responses to questions from people in the crowd".^[19]

On the other hand, critics such as the Spanish architect Miguel Fisac, who was one of the earliest members of Opus Dei and who remained close to Escrivá for nearly twenty years, have given a very different picture of Escrivá as a pious but vain and ambitious man, given to private displays of violent temper, and who demonstrated little genuine concern for the poor.^[20] According to British journalist Giles Tremlett, "biographies of Escrivá have produced conflicting visions of the saint as either a loving, caring charismatic person or a mean-spirited, manipulative egoist."^[21]

Towards God

Benedict XVI blessing a statue of the founder of Opus Dei at an outside wall of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Prayer

On the centennial of Escrivá's birthday, Cardinal Ratzinger (who became Pope Benedict XVI) commented: "I have always been impressed by Josemaría Escrivá's explanation of the name 'Opus Dei': an explanation ... gives us an idea of the founder's spiritual profile. Escrivá knew he had to found something, but he was also conscious that what he was founding was not his own work, that he himself did not invent anything and that the Lord was merely making use of him. So it was not his work, but Opus Dei (God's Work). [This] gives us to understand that he was in a permanent dialogue, a real contact with the One who created us and works for us and with us. ... If therefore St Josemaría speaks of the common vocation to holiness, it seems to me that he is basically drawing on his own personal experience, not of having done incredible things himself, but of having let God work. Therefore a renewal, a force for good was born in the world even if human weaknesses will always remain".^[22]

In his canonization homily, Pope John Paul II described Escrivá as "a master in the practice of prayer, which he considered to be an extraordinary 'weapon' to redeem the world...It is not a paradox but a perennial truth; the fruitfulness of the apostolate lies above all in prayer and in intense and constant sacramental life". In John Paul II's Decree of Canonization, he refers to the five short prayers or aspirations of Escrivá through which "one can trace the entire life story of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá. He was barely sixteen when he began to recite the first two aspirations [Domine, ut videam!, Lord, that I might see! and Domina, ut sit!, Lady, that it might be!], as soon as he had the first inklings of God's call. They expressed the burning desire of his heart: to see what God was asking of him, so that he might do it without delay, lovingly fulfilling the Lord's will.^[23] The third aspiration [Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam!, All together with Peter to Jesus through Mary!] appears frequently in his writings as a young priest and shows how his zeal to win souls for God went hand in hand with both a firm determination to be faithful to the Church and an ardent devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God. Regnare Christum volumus! We want Christ to reign!:^[24] these words aptly express his constant pastoral concern to spread among all men and women the call to share, through Christ, in the dignity of God's children. God's sons and daughters should live for the purpose, to serve Him alone: Deo omnis gloria! All the glory to God!^[25][26]

During the thanksgiving Mass for the canonization of St. Josemaría, John Paul II, said: "In the Founder of Opus Dei, there is an extraordinary love for the will of God. There exists a sure criterion of holiness: fidelity in accomplishing the divine will down to the last consequences. For each one of us the Lord has a plan, to each he entrusts a mission on earth. The saint could not even conceive of himself outside of God's plan. He lived only to achieve it. St Josemaría was chosen by the Lord to announce the universal call to holiness and to point out that daily life and ordinary activities are a path to holiness. One could say that he was the saint of ordinary life".^[27]

Towards the liturgy

Monsignor Escrivá saying Mass
Cover image from the book Homelias eucaristicas de San Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, commented by Msgr. Javier Echevarría, 2003.

Escrivá conceived the Mass as the "center and root of the Christian's interior life," a terminology which was later used by the Second Vatican Council.^[10] According to Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, "St. Josemaría strove with all his strength to make the Eucharist the center of his life...For him, Jesus was not an example to imitate from afar, an abstract moral ideal, but his Jesus, a person we should live alongside continuously".

The present Opus Dei prelate Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez said that Escrivá strove to follow whatever was indicated by the competent authority regarding the celebration of Mass. When the new rites were adapted by the Catholic Church after Vatican II, Echevarría said that Escrivá "accepted the reform with serenity and obedience". Since his prayer was much integrated with the liturgy for the past 40 years, Escrivá found the shift difficult and asked Echevarría to coach him in celebrating the new rites. Although he missed the practices of the old rites, especially some gestures such as the kiss on the paten which showed love, he prohibited his followers to ask for any dispensation for him "out of a spirit of obedience to ecclesiastical norms". "He has decided to show his love for the liturgy through the new rite", commented Echevarría. However, when Msgr. Annibale Bugnini, Secretary of the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy, found out about Escrivá's difficulties, he granted Escrivá the possibility of celebrating the Mass using the old rite. Whenever Escrivá celebrated this rite, he did so only in the presence of one Mass server.^[28][29]

Mortification

Many of his biographers comment on his personal application of his teaching that "joy has its roots in the form of a cross" and that "suffering is the touchstone of love".^[30] Escrivá was a practitioner of corporal mortification, a traditional means of penance. In his book The Way, his Maxim 208 reads: "Blessed be suffering. Loved be suffering. Sanctified be suffering...Glorified be suffering!^[31] John Paul II's Apostolic Letter on the Salvific Meaning of Suffering says: "Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption." Speaking of Escriva, John Paul II stated in Christifideles omnes:^[13] During the Spanish Civil War he personally experienced the fury of anti-religious persecution and gave daily proof of heroism in a constant priestly activity seasoned with abundant prayer and penance. It did not take long before many came to consider him a saint. When the war was over many bishops invited him to preach retreats to their clergy, thereby greatly contributing to the renewal of Christian life in Spain. Many religious orders and congregations also requested his pastoral services. At the same time, God allowed him to suffer public attacks. He responded invariably with pardon, to the point of considering his detractors as benefactors. But this Cross was such a source of blessings from heaven that the Servant of God's apostolate spread with astonishing speed."

Towards the Virgin Mary

Mother of Fair Love, a gift of St. Josemaría to the University of Navarra: John Paul II stated: "Love for our Lady is a constant characteristic of the life of Josemaría Escrivá".

John Paul II also stated on Sunday, 6 October 2002, after the Angelus greetings: "Love for our Lady is a constant characteristic of the life of Josemaría Escrivá and is an eminent part of the legacy that he left to his spiritual sons and daughters". The Pope also said that "St. Josemaría wrote a beautiful small book called The Holy Rosary which presents spiritual childhood, a real disposition of spirit of those who wish to attain total abandonment to the divine will".

Since he was 10–11 years old, he already had the habit of carrying the Rosary in his pocket. As a priest, he would ordinarily end his homilies and his personal prayer with a conversation with the Blessed Virgin. He instructed that all rooms in the centres of Opus Dei should have an image of the Virgin. He encouraged his spiritual children to greet these images when they entered a room. He pushed for a Marian apostolate, preaching that "To Jesus we go and to Him we return through Mary". While looking at a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe giving a rose to Saint Juan Diego, he commented: "I would like to die that way". On June 26, 1975, after entering his work room, which had a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, he slumped on the floor and died.^[30]

Towards people

"Escrivá de Balaguer was a very human saint," preached John Paul II. "All those who met him, whatever their culture or social status, felt he was a father, totally devoted to serving others, for he was convinced that every soul is a marvellous treasure; indeed, every person is worth all of Christ's Blood. This attitude of service is obvious in his dedication to his priestly ministry and in the magnanimity with which he launched so many works of evangelization and human advancement for the poorest persons".^[27]

He has been criticized for his attitudes towards women.^[32] On the other hand, his supporters say that through him Opus Dei has been able to raise the quality of life of many women, and refer to his utmost respect for women and his interest in improving their lot.^[30] From the conservative women's movement Elizabeth Fox-Genovese asserted: "Opus Dei has an enviable record of educating the poor and supporting women, whether single or married, in any occupation they choose". Bishops have also been happy that Opus Dei has raised the dignity of women due to its teachings that marriage and the family are a vocation.^[30]

Towards his family

Opus Dei's founder changed his name many times over the course of his life. Four days after birth, he was baptized in the cathedral at Barbastro, Spain with the baptismal name recorded among Church records as José María Julián Mariano. "According to the entry in the baptismal register of the Church where he was christened, his surname was spelled Escriba."^[33] He was given the same first name as his father, José Escriba; his mother was named María de los Dolores Albás Blanc.

According to critics like Luis Carandell, Robert Hutchison, and Michael Walsh (an ex-Jesuit and ex-priest), before the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), he began joining and adding the more aristocratic "y Albás" to his surname. In Castilian Spanish, use of the conjunction "y" ("and") joining a father's and mother's surnames is associated with aristocratic families.

One of the earliest members of Opus Dei, and a close friend for years, the architect Miguel Fisac, who later left Opus Dei, said that Escrivá found it embarrassing to have his father's family name since his father's firm went bankrupt. According to Fisac, he also had a "great affection he felt for the aristocracy" and was embarrassed that he was not associated with aristocratic family names.^[20] Historian Édouard de Blaye has referred to Escrivá as a "mixture of mysticism and ambition."^[34]

But as early as his school days, José Escrivá had "adopted the rather more distinguished version spelled with a "v" rather than a "b". His name is spelled Escrivá in the memento of his first Mass. In 1943, when he was 41, Church records were altered on June 20 to memorialize the change: the registry book of the Barbastro cathedral and the baptismal certificate of José María were annotated to reflect "that the surname Escribá was changed to Escrivá de Balaguer". On June 16, 1940, the Spanish "Boletín Official del Estado" records that Father Escrivá requested of the government that he be permitted to change his "first surname so it will be written Escrivá de Balaguer". He justified the petition by claiming that "the name Escrivá is common in the east coast and Catalonia, leading to harmful and annoying confusion".

According to Vasquez de Prada, a writer, Opus Dei member, and official biographer who produced a three-volume biography of Escrivá, the move has nothing to do with ambition but with fairness and loyalty to his family's real name, a loyalty which his father, José Escriva, insisted on.^[10] The main problem is that in Spanish the letters b and v are pronounced in the same way, thus; many bureaucrats and clerics have made a mistake in transcribing the Escrivá family name in some official documents throughout the generations. The addition of "de Balaguer" was also a necessity felt by many Spanish families to distinguish their family names from others with the same name but who proceed from other regions, especially if the other families have histories which are peculiar and entirely different from one's own.

His brother Santiago states that his older brother Josemaria "loved the members of his family" and took good care of them.^[35] When their father died, he says, Escrivá told their mother that "she should stay calm, because he will always take care of us. And he fulfilled this promise". Escrivá would find time in his busy schedule to chat and take a walk with his younger brother, acting like a father towards him. When the family transferred to Madrid, Escrivá followed the instructions of their father that he take up his doctorate in Law. "Thanks to his docility to this advice", says Santiago, "he was able to support the family by giving classes in Law, and with this he acquired a juridical mentality...which would later be so necessary to do Opus Dei".

Monsignor Escrivá also modified his first name. From the common José María, he changed it to the original Josemaría. Biographers state, that around 1935 [age 33], "he joined his first two names because his single love for the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph were equally inseparable".

Towards his country

Many of his contemporaries recount the tendency of Escrivá to preach about patriotism (love for country) as against nationalism (disordered love for country which leads to hating other people).^[36][37]

However, there are quite a number of criticisms leveled upon him regarding his relationship with General Franco. Accusations of right-wing tendencies, like Escrivá's criticisms of the atrocities committed by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, are common. Critics point to an alleged Fascist link, saying that he was a supporter of Francisco Franco. Vittorio Messori says that this is part of the black legend against Escrivá and Opus Dei.^[38] Allen states that based on his research Escrivá could not be said to be pro-Franco (for which he was criticized for not joining other Catholics in openly praising Franco) nor anti-Franco (for which he was criticized for not being "pro-democracy"). According to Allen, there is no statement from Escrivá for or against Franco.^[39]

Escrivá's followers and some historians have emphasized his personal effort to avoid partiality in politics. Professor Peter Berglar, a German historian, asserts that Franco's falangists suspected Escrivá of "internationalism, anti-Spainism and Freemasonry" and that during "the first decade of Franco's regime, Opus Dei and Escrivá were attacked with perseverance bordering on fanaticism, not by enemies, but by supporters of the new Spanish State. Escrivá was even reported to the Tribunal for the Fight against Freemasonry."^[40]

There is a letter from Escrivá to Francisco Franco which his critics say show this supposed link. His detractors say that he implicitly supported Francoism's endorsement of National-Catholicism and the rise of Catholicism as the official religion of Spain. In the letter he also expresses some kind of Spanish patriotism. He wrote, "Although a stranger to any political activity, I cannot help but rejoice as a priest and Spaniard that Spain, through its Head of State, has officially accepted the law of God in accordance with the Catholic faith". However, his Catholic supporters assert that this letter expresses support for human rights, human dignity and freedom. Escrivá, together with the Popes, preached that all citizens should practice patriotism and love for their country, at the same time loving other nations.

Towards material and worldly things

In the teaching of Escrivá, all of creation has been sanctified by the God-made-flesh: movies, boardrooms, games and gardens are meeting places with the Father God who is near. He even preached a Christian materialism, in which the Christian is supposed to passionately love the world while fighting against his own lust, greed and vanity.

Escrivá received several awards:

• The Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise (1951)
• The Gold Cross of St. Raymond of Penafort (1954)
• The Grand Cross of Isabel the Catholic (1956)
• The Grand Cross of Charles III (1960)
• Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Zaragoza (Spain, 1960)
• The Gold Medal by the City council of Barbastro (1975)

In 1968, Escrivá petitioned for the title of Marquess of Peralta.^[41] The Spanish government headed by Francisco Franco granted the title for four years, from 1968 to 1972, when Escrivá ceded it to his brother.

Several pro-Opus Dei biographers say that he sought neither these awards nor the title, but that they were nevertheless granted to him.^[30] They say that he accepted them out of charity to those who were granting these and that he did not give the slightest importance to these awards. These biographers also state that he prohibited his followers from asking for the title of Marquess of Peralta. They state that Escriva accepted it due to the advice of some cardinals who told him that he had the obligation to do so for the sake of his brother, Santiago, and so as to practice what he preached about fulfilling civil duties and exercising rights. Although these biographers do not explain the reason why Escrivá retained the title for four years, his brother Santiago said: "The decision was heroic because he knew that he will be vilified as a result... Josemaría did what is best for me. After the right amount of time has passed, without making use of the title (in fact he never had the intention of using it), he passed the title on to me."^[35]

Many biographers also refer to his spirit of detachment and poverty.^[30] Escrivá taught that material things are good, but that people should not get attached to them, but should only serve God. He said "he has most who needs least." Many biographers report that it took only 10 minutes to gather his possessions after his death.

Beatification and canonization

After the death of Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer on June 26, 1975, the Postulation for the Cause of his beatification and canonization received many testimonies and postulatory letters from people all over the world.^[42][43] The Postulation solicited the opening of the Cause of beatification and canonization of Escrivá from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on the fifth anniversary of his death. One-third of the world's bishops (an unprecedented number) petitioned for the canonization of Escrivá.^[38]

His cause for beatification was introduced in Rome on February 19, 1981 on the strength of the apparently miraculous cure in 1976 of a rare disease, lipomatosis, suffered by Sister Concepción Boullón Rubio, whose family had prayed to Escrivá to help her. On April 9, 1990, Pope John Paul II declared that Escrivá possessed Christian virtues to a "heroic degree", and on July 6, 1991 the Board of Physicians for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints unanimously accepted the cure of Sister Rubio. He was beatified 17 May 1992.

By way of letter dated March 15, 1993, the Postulation for the Cause received news about the miraculous cure of Dr. Manuel Nevado Rey from cancerous chronic radiodermatitis, an incurable disease, which took place in November 1992.^[42][44] The reported miracle apparently brought about by Escrivá's intervention was ruled valid by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and approved by Pope John Paul II in December 2001, opening the way to the canonization of Escrivá. John Paul II, who frequently expressed public support for Opus Dei and its work, canonized Escrivá on 6 October 2002. During the canonization mass, 42 cardinals and 470 bishops from around the world, general superiors of many orders and religious congregations, and representatives of various Catholic groups were present.

During the days of the canonization event, Church officials commented on the universal reach and validity of the message of the founder, echoing John Paul II's decree Christifideles Omnes on Escrivá's virtues, which said that "by inviting Christians to be united to God through their daily work, which is something men will have to do and find their dignity in as long as the world lasts, the timeliness of this message is destined to endure as an inexhaustible source of spiritual light, regardless of changing epochs and situations."

St. Peter's Square on the day of St. Josemaría's canonization.

However, Opus Dei critics question what they see Escrivá's lightning canonization. On the eve of Escrivá's beatification in 1992, journalist William D. Montalbano, writing for the Los Angeles Times, described it as "perhaps the most contentious beatification in modern times."^[45] Critics have argued that the process was plagued by irregularities. On the other hand, supporters refer to Fr. Rafael Pérez, an Augustinian, "one of the best experts" on canonization and who was the judge of Escrivá's Madrid Tribunal. He says that the process was fast because first, Escrivá's figure is "of the universal importance;" second, the Postulators "knew what they were doing;" third, in 1983 the procedures were simplified in order to present "models who lived in a world like ours." Fr. Flavio Cappucci, the Postulator also reported that the 6000 postulatory letters to the Vatican showed "earnestness."^[46] Escrivá's canonization was one of the first to be processed after the 1983 Code of Canon Law streamlined the procedures for canonization, and so it moved more quickly than was typical before. Mother Teresa is on pace to be canonized even more quickly, having been beatified just 6 years after her death (Escrivá was beatified in 17 years).

On the year of his canonization, the Opus Dei prelate reported that the Postulation has gathered 48 reports of unexplained medical favors attributed to Escriva's intercession, as well as 100,000 ordinary favors.^[47]

Controversy

Alleged statements

Monsignor Vladimir Felzmann, a former Opus Dei priest, claims to have heard Escrivá make several controversial statements. During Escrivá's beatification process, Msgr. Felzmann, who after leaving Opus Dei became a priest in the Archdiocese of Westminster and an aide to Basil Cardinal Hume, sent several letters to Father Flavio Capucci, who was overseeing the proceedings of the nine judges of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The letters were reviewed and later ignored due to Felzmann's previous statements of admiration for Escrivá. The alleged statements by Escrivá include: "Vlad, Hitler couldn't have been such a bad person. He couldn't have killed six million. It couldn't have been more than four million." and "Hitler against the Jews, Hitler against the Slavs, this means Hitler against Communism."^[48][49] Msgr. Felzmann has claimed that Escrivá made those remarks to him in 1967 or 1968, in Rome, during the intermission to a World War II-themed movie. Felzmann has also said that these remarks should be put in the context of Catholic anti-communism in Spain, and pointed out that all of the male members of Opus Dei (who then numbered about fifty) volunteered in 1941 to join the "Blue Division," a group of Spanish and Portuguese volunteers that joined the German forces in their fight against the Soviet Army, along the eastern front.^[50][51] No member of Opus Dei actually served in the Blue Division, however.

On the other hand, Álvaro del Portillo, the former Prelate of Opus Dei, said that any claims that Escrivá supported Hitler were "a patent falsehood," that were part of "a slanderous campaign".^[18] He and others have stated that Escrivá regarded Hitler as a "pagan", a "racist" and a "tyrant".^[52] (See Opus Dei and politics.)

Support for Franco and Pinochet

One of the most controversial accusations made against Escrivá is that he and Opus Dei were active in bolstering Fascist regimes,^[53] including those of Francisco Franco and Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

After 1957, several members of Opus Dei served as ministers in Franco's government.^[54] In particular, the "technocrats" most closely tied with the "Spanish miracle" of the 1960s were members of Opus Dei: Alberto Ullastres, Mariano Navarro Rubio, Gregorio López-Bravo, Laureano López Rodó, Juan José Espinosa, and Faustino García-Moncó. According to journalist Luis Carandell, when Ullastres and Navarro Rubio were first appointed to the government in 1957, Escrivá gleefully exclaimed "They have made us ministers!"^[55] something which Opus Dei officially denies.^[56]

On May 23, 1958, Escrivá sent a letter to Franco, which said, in part:

Although alien to any political activity, I cannot help but rejoice as a priest and Spaniard that the Chief of State’s authoritative voice should proclaim that, “The Spanish nation considers it a badge of honor to accept the law of God according to the one and true doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church, inseparable faith of the national conscience which will inspire its legislation.” It is in fidelity to our people’s Catholic tradition that the best guarantee of success in acts of government, the certainty of a just and lasting peace within the national community, as well as the divine blessing for those holding positions of authority, will always be found. I ask God our Lord to bestow upon your Excellency with every sort felicity and impart abundant grace to carry out the grave mission entrusted to you.^[57]

In 1974, shortly after the coup d'état that removed Marxist Chilean president Salvador Allende from power and installed a right-wing military dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet, Escrivá visited Chile, where he was warmly received.^[58] Left-wing critics have charged that Opus Dei played a role in the "Miracle of Chile" of the 1980s, similar to that of the "technocrats" during the Spanish Miracle of the 1960s, but the only major right-wing politician in Chile that can be unequivocally identified as a member of Opus Dei is Joaquín Lavín, who did not occupy any public office under the military dictatorship of General Pinochet.^[59]

Opus Dei officials insists that individual members are free to choose any political affiliation, and that among its members were also important figures in the Spanish political opposition of the 1970s, such as Antonio Fontán and Rafael Calvo Serer. Peter Berglar, a German historian and member of Opus Dei argued that connecting Opus Dei with fascist regimes is a "gross slander,"^[60]. Journalist Noam Friedlander state that allegations about Opus Dei involvement in the Pinochet regime are "unproven tales."^[7] Several of Escrivá's collaborators have claimed that he actually despised dictatorships.^{[18][28][61][62]}

John Allen, Jr. has written that Escrivá was neither anti-Franco nor pro-Franco. On the other hand, some critics, such as Miguel Fisac^[20] and Damian Thompson, have argued that Opus Dei has always sought "advancement not only of its message but also of its interests,"^[63] and that it has consistently courted those with power and influence, without maintaining a coherent ideological line in political matters.

Title of nobility

Another source of controversy surrounding Escrivá was the fact that, in 1968, he requested and received from the Spanish Ministry of Justice the rehabilitation in his favor of the aristocratic title of Marquess of Peralta.^[64] According to the official Guía de grandezas y títulos del reino ("Guide to the grandeeships and titles of the realm"), the title of Marquess had originally been granted in 1718 to Tomás de Peralta, minister of state, justice and war for the Kingdom of Naples, by Archduke Charles of Austria.^[65] Until 1715, Archduke Charles had been, as "Charles III," a pretender to the Spanish throne (see War of Spanish Succession), and from 1711 until 1740 he ruled as Holy Roman Emperor and King of Naples.

Escrivá's successful petition of a title of nobility has aroused controversy not only because it might seem at odds with the humility befitting a Catholic priest, but also because the same title of Marquess of Peralta had been rehabilitated in 1883 by Pope Leo XIII and King Alfonso XII in favor of a man to whom Escrivá had no male-line family connections: the Costa Rican Ambassador Manuel María de Peralta y Alfaro (1847-1930).^[66][67][68] On that occasion, the documents ordering the rehabilitation claimed that the original title had been granted in 1738 (not 1718) to Juan Tomás de Peralta y Franco de Medina, by Charles of Austria in his capacity as Holy Roman Emperor, not as pretender to the Spanish throne. Ambassador Peralta, who in 1884 had married a Belgian countess, Jehanne de Clérembault,^[66] died without children in 1930.^[67] None of his kinsmen in Costa Rica requested the transmission of the marquessate, but one of them has published an extensive genealogical study that would appear to contradict any claim by Escrivá to the title.^[69][70][41]

Escrivá did not use the title of Marquess of Peralta publicly and, in 1972, he ceded it to his brother Santiago. The argument by supporters of Escrivá that he requested the rehabilitation of the title as a favor to his family, and that it was his intention from the beginning to cede it to his brother, seems belied by the fact that, in 1968, Santiago had requested for himself the rehabilitation of a different title of nobility, the barony of San Felipe, which was not granted.^[71] According to historian Ricardo de la Cierva (a former Minister of Culture in the Spanish government), Escrivá's original request for the title might have been part of an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a Catholic religious order which required its members to be of noble birth and of which his deputy in Opus Dei, Msgr. Álvaro del Portillo was already a member.^[41]

Primary critics of Escrivá

Former Opus Dei members critical of Escrivá's character who were refused a hearing during the beatification and canonization processes include Miguel Fisac (a well-known Spanish architect who was one of the earliest members of Opus Dei and remained close to Escrivá for nearly twenty years),^[20][72] Msgr. Vladimir Felzmann (a Czech-born engineer and Catholic priest from the UK, who was Escrivá's personal assistant),^[48][49] María del Carmen Tapia (who worked with Escrivá in Opus Dei's central offices in Rome and directed its printing press),^[73] Carlos Albás (a Spanish lawyer who was also Escrivá's first cousin once removed),^[74] and María Angustias Moreno (who occupied leadership positions in the women's branch of Opus Dei, during Escrivá's lifetime).^[75][76] Furthermore, several groups critical of Escrivá and of Opus Dei have emerged both before and after the canonization of Escrivá, including the Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN),^[77] and "OpusLibros,"^[78] both collaborations of former members who now oppose Opus Dei and its practices.

According to John L. Allen, Jr. such views are countered by many other ex-members, the present members, and the estimated 900,000 people who attend activities of Opus Dei. He says that the interpretation of the facts "seems to depend upon one's basic approach to spirituality, family life, and the implications of a religious vocation." Allen's account of Opus Dei and its founder, however, was not accepted by all reviewers as impartial.^[79]

Report of discordance among canonization judges

Escrivá's canonization attracted an unusual amount of attention and criticism, both within the Catholic Church and in the press. Father Capucci, the postulator over the nomination for Sainthood, summarized the main accusations against Escrivá: that "he had a bad temper, that he was cruel, that he was vain, that he was close to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, that he was pro-Nazi and that he was so dismayed by the Second Vatican Council that he even traveled to Greece with the idea that he might convert to the Orthodox religion."^[80][48]

A Newsweek article by Kenneth L. Woodward claimed that, of the nine judges of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints presiding over Escrivá's nomination for sainthood, two requested a suspension of the proceedings and did not approve the cause. The dissenters were identified as Msgr. Luigi de Magistris, an official in the Vatican's tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, and Msgr. Justo Fernández Alonso, rector of the Spanish National Church in Rome. Acoording to Woodward, one of the dissenters wrote that the beatification of Escrivá could cause the church "grave public scandal."^[48] In interviews, José Saraiva Martins, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has denied being aware of that dissent.^[81]

The journal Il Regno, published in Bologna by the congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (the Dehonians), reproduced, in May of 1992, the confidential vote of one of the judges in Escrivá's cause of beatification, in which the judge asks that the process be suspended and raises questions about the undue haste of the proceedings, the near absence of testimony from critics in the documentation gathered by the postulators, the failure of the documentation to properly address issues about Escrivá's relations with the Franco regime and with other Catholic organizations, and suggestions from the official testimonies themselves that Escrivá lacked proper spiritual humility.^[82]

This document does not identify the judge by name, but he indicates that he met Escrivá only once, briefly, in 1966, while serving as a notary for the Holy Office, which implies that the judge in question was Msgr. de Magistris. In his vote (which its own contents date to August of 1989), de Magistris also argues that the testimony from the main witness, Msgr. Álvaro del Portillo, who was Escrivá's confessor for 31 years, should have been totally excluded from the proceedings.^[82] John Allen Jr. comments that, according to some observers, de Magistris suffered as a result of his opposition to Escrivá's beatification. De Magistris became head of the Apostolic Penitentiary in 2001, an important position in the Vatican bureaucracy which normally is followed by elevation to the cardinalate, but he was never made a cardinal and retired less than two years later.^[83][84]

Critics of the canonization process have also questioned the fact that some of the physicians involved in the authentication of the two "scientifically inexplicable cures" achieved through the posthumous intercession of Escrivá were themselves members of Opus Dei.^[85] On the other hand, the Vatican stated that the Medical Consultants for the Congregation unanimously affirmed that the miraculous cure of a cancerous state of chronic radiodermatitis in its third and irreversible stage in Dr. Manuel Nevado Rey (a country doctor in the village of Almendralejo) was "very quick, complete, lasting and scientifically unexplainable". After six months, the theological consultants, according to the Vatican, also unanimously attributed this cure to Escrivá.^[86]

Teachings and legacy

While some theologians downplayed the importance of the message and teachings of Escrivá, Roman Catholic cardinals of all theological persuasions spoke highly of his influence in the Catholic Church of the present and the future.

In the decree introducing the cause of beatification and canonization of Escrivá, Cardinal Ugo Poletti wrote in 1981: "For having proclaimed the universal call to holiness since he founded Opus Dei in 1928, Msgr. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, has been unanimously recognized as the precursor of precisely what constitutes the fundamental nucleus of the Church's magisterium, a message of such fruitfulness in the life of the Church." Sebastiano Baggio, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, wrote a month after the death of Escrivá: "It is evident even today that the life, works, and message of the founder of Opus Dei constitutes a turning point, or more exactly a new original chapter in the history of Christian spirituality." A Vatican peritus or consultor for the process of beatification said that "he is like a figure from the deepest spiritual sources." Franz König, Archbishop of Vienna, who, according to Messori "is considered one of the leaders of the so-called "progressive current," wrote in 1975:

Opus Dei's prelatic church, Our Lady of Peace, located in its central headquarters in Rome: Below the altar lie the mortal remains of St. Josemaría.

The "absolutely central" point in Escrivá's teaching, says American theologian William May, is that "Sanctification is possible only because of the grace of God, freely given to his children through his only-begotten Son, and it consists essentially in an intimate, loving union with Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior." ("Holiness and ordinary life in the teaching of St. Josemaría Escrivá").^[87]

Escrivá's books, including Furrow, The Way, Christ is Passing By, and The Forge, continue to be read widely both by members of Opus Dei and by other Catholics attracted to his spirituality, which emphasises the laity's calling to daily sanctification (a message also to be found in the documents of Vatican II). Pope John Paul II made the following observation in his homily at the beatification of Escrivá:

As regards Escrivá's place in history, Pierre Chaunu, Protestant historian, professor at the Sorbonne in Paris, President of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1993, said that "The work of Escrivá de Balaguer will undoubtedly mark the 21st century. This is a prudent and reasonable wager. Do not pass close to this contemporary without paying him close attention." (Vue Culturelle, 5–6 February 1983)

John Paul II's decree Christifideles omnes also states:^[13]

Writings

• Escrivá, Josemaría (2002), Camino, Leominster: Gracewing, ISBN 9780852445662, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-contents.htm 
• Escrivá, Josemaría (1987), Furrow, Princeton: Scepter Publishers, ISBN 0906138132, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/furrow-contents.htm 
• Escrivá, Josemaría (2003), The Forge, Princeton: Scepter Publishers, ISBN 0933932561, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_forge-contents.htm 
• Escrivá, Josemaría; Balaguer, Jose (2002), Conversations with Monsignor Josemaría Escrivá, Princeton: Scepter Publishers, ISBN 9781889334585, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/conversations-contents.htm 
• Escrivá, Josemaría (1981), Friends of God, Princeton: Scepter, ISBN 0906138027, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/friends_of_god-contents.htm 
• Escrivá, Josemaría (1982), Christ Is Passing by, Sydney: Little Hills Press, ISBN 0933932049, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/christ_is_passing_by-contents.htm 
• Escrivá, Josemaría (1989), In Love with the Church, Lincoln: London, ISBN 0906138264, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/in_love_with_the_church-contents.htm 
• Escrivá, Josemaría (2001), Holy Rosary, Princeton: Scepter, ISBN 1889334448, http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/-contents.htm 

See also

• Opus Dei
• The Way (book)

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

• Patron Saints Index: St Josemaría Escrivá (primary source)
• St Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei
• Documents of the Holy See about Opus Dei and its founder
• Writings of Josemaría Escrivá
• ODAN Opus Dei Awareness Network (opposition)
• Letter from Escriva to Franco
• Josemaria Escrivá and Nazism
• EWTN webpage, containing biography, spiritual writings, video-audio presentation
• Comments by Popes on Josemaría Escrivá
• Interview with Cardinal Julian Herranz about Josemaría Escrivá
• Josemaría Escrivá's Crusade for Holiness: The Life and Times of Opus Dei Founder
• Most recent accounts of favors received
• St. Josemaría Escrivá Historical Institute, Rome