Biography
Spanish ecclesiastic, the founder of a Catholic sect "Opus Dei" (God's
Work) in Spain. Escriva de Balaguer y Albas, marques of Peralta, Monsignor
Josemaria, known as "El Padre." His organization spread around the world
to some 80,000 members, doing service and benefits and becoming wealthy in
their endeavors. His devotees feel that he is a Saint.
Escriva had a difficult childhood with family dissension and he left
home early. Devout, he felt that he had a mission to serve and he built
his power base as the charismatic founder of a lurid, elitist and
power-hungry fundamentalist Catholic sect. He had five siblings: Carmen
(1899-1957) and Santiago (1919-1994), plus three younger sisters who died
when they were small children. His parents, Jose and Dolores, gave their
children a deep Christian education. In 1915, his dad’s business failed
and the family moved to Logrono. It was there as a teenager that Josemaria
for the first time sensed his vocation. Moved by the sight of footprints
left in the snow by a barefoot friar, he sensed that God was asking
something of him, though he did not know exactly what it was. He thought
becoming a priest would help him discover and fulfill this calling from
God, so he began to prepare for the priesthood, first in Logrono and later
in Saragossa. Josemaria's father died in 1924, leaving him as head of the
family. After his ordination in 1925, he began his ministry in a rural
parish, and subsequently continued it in Saragossa. In 1927, Fr.
Josemaria's bishop gave him permission to move to Madrid to obtain his
doctorate in law.
On 10/02/1928, Fr. Josemaria received his mission from God while on
spiritual retreat – the founding of Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in
daily work and in the fulfillment of the Christian's ordinary duties. In
1946 Fr. Josemaria took up residence in Rome where he obtained a doctorate
in Theology from the Lateran University and was appointed by Pope Pius XII
as a consultor to two Vatican Congregations, as an honorary member of the
Pontifical Academy of Theology, and as an honorary prelate. He traveled
often throughout Europe and to Mexico and Latin America.
Opus Dei accumulated several banks, business ventures in the press,
media, private schools and universities, and became a powerful lobby
worldwide and within the Vatican. The members of the sect are mainly
recruited from among the upper and middle-classes with methods remarkably
similar to that of cult brainwashing. The organization became famed for
merciless proselytizing of its followers through practices such as
self-mortification, enforced celibacy and rigid disciplines. Critics feel
that the sect is a coercive, secretive, conservative and ambitious
organization, created by an ill-tempered, manipulative and controversial
figure. "They are a danger to society," said Javier Sainz Moreno, a
finance and tax law professor at Madrid's Autonomous University. He claims
the organization has enriched itself in a string of murky financial deals.
Opus Dei's reputation for elitism started during the 1939-75 dictatorship
of Gen. Francisco Franco. Many of the technocrats in Franco's later
governments belonged to the movement, and are widely credited with helping
bring about Spain's economic boom of the 1960s. Today, Opus Dei runs IESE,
one of the nation's leading business schools; and the University of
Navarra, which Escriva founded in 1952. Two of Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar's children went to Opus-run schools.
Escriva died 6/26/1975, Rome. On 5/17/1992 pilgrims from some 60
counties, more than 200,000 people, jammed St. Peter's Square to watch the
Pope beatify him, the final step before Sainthood as declared by the Roman
Catholic Vatican. Pope John Paul II declared Josemaria Escrivà de Balaguer
a Saint, Rome, 10/06/2002, 10.24 MEDT, Rome (Bordoni from Italian TV)
Sainthood came just 27 years after his death, one of the shortest waiting
spans in the Vatican's history.
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What Do You Think?
The pope has just declared him a saint, many others say he was a hot
tempered, Catholic fundamentalist cult leader who practiced brainwashing
and mortification of the flesh. This is the fastest canonization in
history, which is a testament to the power of his Opus Dei (God's work)
organization around the Vatican. Opus Dei is founded on the principle of
offering up one's daily work in the world (and one's entire salary) to
God. It has amassed quite a fortune and 84,000 adherents. This is one of
the most controversial canonizations in history. The Pope seems to want to
send a message about how modern professionals can live devoted to God.
- With five planets in Capricorn it is no wonder that he named his
organization "God's work". There are many other work and
mortification of the flesh configurations in the chart. Let's list
them.
- Where does the devotion to God come from in his chart?
- Why now? He has Sun, Moon, Saturn, Pluto and Uranus all at 17-18
degrees but none of them are being hit by any major planets.
View Others'
Answers
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