Commentary by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

Pope Francis has made a strong and forceful move against the entire work of Opus Dei, by quitely issuing a Motu Proprio on Wednesday of this week, and declaring it to go into effect immediately.

The news is being glossed over across the web, so it is important the I speak to that directly.

Click the image to the right to find out Zenit News has spun the story.

It has long been wondered who controls Zenit. Now you know.

Now look how Catholic News Service has spun the same story, below:

There is an old saying, “Thou doest protest too much!”, which based on the line from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, Act III, spoken by Queen Gertrude: where one vociferously affirms something excessively so as not to be believed by the cogent observer. — Can we expect Pope Francis to encounter stronger opposition from Opus Dei? — Methinks so.

Pope Francis by his apostolic authority just changed the Code of Canon Law. This means his decision will have lasting effect for decades. And we should all pay attention.

Note, that this Motu Proprio is the first canonical act of Pope Francis’ papacy to modify the Code of Canon Law, as far as I know.* The text is already available in Italian, here:

Commentary on the Alterations of Canons 295 and 296

On account of the historic nature of this act, I will provide a commentary.

First, this is not the first juridical act of Pope Francis’ authentic Papacy, since his juridically valid election on January 30 of this year. He has issued a number (9) of Motu Poprios on various juridical themes, especially on the reform of the Penal Code.

So, Wednesday’s Motu Proprio is minor in comparison, but it will impact directly Opus Dei since it regards the canons on Personal Prelatures.

The Motu Proprio is textually a very dry document, evidently written by canonists, as it contains no theological explanation or reason for its promulgation.

CANON 295

The first canon which it alters is canon 295 §1. Here is the text of the new and old canons, and my English translation of each:

OLD CANON 295 §1:

Prelatura personalis regitur statuis ab Apostolica Sede conditis, eique praeficitur Prelatus ut Ordinarius proprius, cui ius st nationale vel internationale seminarium erigere necnon alumnos incardinare, eosque titolo serviti praelaturae ad ordines promovere.

NEW CANON 295 §1 — With Changes in Bold Face

Praelatura personalis, quae consociationibus publicis clericalibus iuris pontificii cum facultate incardinandi clericos assimilatur, regitur statutis ab Apostolica Sede probatis vel emanatis eique praeficitur Praelatus veluti Moderator, facultatibus Ordinarii praeditus, cui ius est nationale vel internationale seminarium erigere necnon alumnos incardinare, eosque titulo servitii praelaturae ad ordines promovere.

ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

OLD CANON 295 §1

A personal prelature is ruled by statutes established by the Apostolic See, and is presided over by a Prelate as its own Ordinary, whose right it is to erect a national and-or international seminary and also to incardinate its students, and promote them to orders by a title of service to the prelature.

NEW CANON 295 §1

A personal prelature, which is likened to public clerical co-associations of pontifical right, having the faculty to incardinate clerics, is ruled by statutes approved and/or emanating from the Apostolic See and is presided over by a Prelate as if its Moderator, endowed with the faculties of an Ordinary, whose right it is to erect a national and/or international seminary and also to incardinate its students, and promote them to orders by a title of service to the prelature.

As regards Canon 295 §2,

OLD LATIN

Praelatus prospicere debet sive spirituali institutioni illorum, quos titulo praedicto promoverit, sive eorundem decorae sustentationi.

NEW TEXT

Utpote Moderator facultatibus Ordinarii praeditus, Praelatus prospicere debet sive spirituali institutioni illorum, quos titulo praedicto promoverit, sive eorundem decorae sustentationi.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION of the New Version:

Inasmuch as a Moderator endowed with the faculties of an Ordinary, the Prelate ought to look after both the spiritual instruction and the due support, of those whom he has promoted by the aforesaid title.

My Remarks on changes to Canon 295 §1 §2

Pope Francis has made a major change in the legal status of all personal prelatures by defining what they are and making clear that they are only the likenesses of other canonically erected priestly associations, which have the right to erect their own seminaries and incardinate their members.

This is a big blow to Opus Dei, since it has put them on a juridical plane which will or would be inferior to the Society of St. Pius X, if they are reconciled eventually to the Church, since they will apply as a priestly fraternity.

The emphasis Pope Francis has placed with the words, “likened” and “as if”,  and “inasmuch as” shows clearly that he considers personal prelatures transitory juridical entities which must be subordinated to all other groups in the Church, from Dioceses to the smallest kind of public associations.

He has also explicitly denied that they have an Ordinary in the proper sense, by conceded that their Moderator has the faculties of a Bishop, but not episcopal dignity per se.

From the changes to this one Canon, I forsee that the next moderator of Opus Dei will not be allowed to be a Bishop.

I will also remark that the text of the Motu Proprio seems to have been redacted by an English speaker, who has imposed upon the Latin text a style of capitalization not found either in the Code nor in Latin.

CANON 296

OLD LATIN TEXT

Conventionibus cum praelatura initis, laici operibus apostolicis praeflaturae personalis sese dedicare possunt; modus vero huius organicae coopeationis atque praecipua officia et iura cum illa coniuncta in statutis apte determinentur.

NEW VERSION

Servatis can. 107 praescriptis, conventionibus cum praelatura initis, laici operibus apostolicis praelaturae personalis sese dedicare possunt; modus vero huius organicae cooperationis atque praecipua officia et iura cum illa coniuncta in statutis apte determinentur.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE NEW VERSION

Having observed the prescriptions of canon 107, according to those conventions initiated with the prelature, laymen can dedicate themselves to the apostolic works of the prelature; however, the manner of this organic cooperation as well as its chief offices and the rights conjoined to them, are to be aptly determined in their statutes.

My remarks on changes to Canon 296

By the reference to Canon 107, which specifies that all laypeople are subject to the pastor of the local parish and to the bishop of the local diocese or apostolic administration, Pope Francis has struck a mortal blow to the independence of apostolic activities of all Opus Dei lay members throughout the world.

They now must have the consent and approval of their local pastors, whether the pastor of the parish in which they reside or have a permanent or temporary domicile, as well as the Ordinaries of the dioceses in those places.

IN SUMMARY

It appears that decades of complaints by local Bishops against the abusive intrusion of Opus Dei have at last been heard. Opus Dei has been demoted from an entity superior to every other, to the least of all of those in the Church, and their lay members have been placed under the spiritual care and authority of the local pastors of the Church, constituted in accord with Apostolic Tradition.

Finally, reflecting on these changes, it seems to me that the recent remarks of Pope Francis against clergy and seminarians who go into the parishes to teach ideology, may have been directed directly at Opus Dei, and not at their rivals, the Traditionalists, against whom nearly all news sources framed that interview. Indeed, by issuing a Motu Proprio which goes into effect immediately, he has apparently acted in such a way as to prevent a counter wave of lobbying against this move.

And this might shock my readers, but I can at last say, that I totally agree with at least one juridical act of Pope Francis. He has done the right thing and in a way which is both charitable and decisive. He has applied the proper cure, without rehashing all the dirty laundry. — I nevertheless pray that all who have been injured by Opus Dei in any way bring their complaints even more forcefully to the public pervue, so that the entire Church might see how right this move was.

** The reform of the Penal Section of the Code in April of this year, was ideated throughout his antipapacy. It’s promulgation during his authentic pontificate had little or no effect on its composition, so there is a strong argument that its promulgation lacked due consent of the office holder.