Power and Mystery

This Sunday, Pope John Paul II is set to declare the Spanish-born priest Josemaría Escrivá a saint. The canonization ceremony in St. Peter’s Square — expected to draw some 250,000 faithful — will in effect bestow the church’s most sacred honor on the movement Escrivá founded in 1928: Opus Dei, the conservative lay group that preaches strict Christian piety as the only path through the storms of modern life. It will be an unusually public moment for an organization that has long been accused of wrapping its power in a shroud of secrecy. And the holy recognition will also fuel speculation about another much-discussed church mystery: How much influence does Opus Dei wield in deciding who will be the next Pope?

That question is being asked with increasing frequency by Catholics of all ranks, as the frailty of the 82-year-old Pontiff — who has close ties to Opus Dei — makes papal succession an urgent topic of whispered conversation. But church secrecy renders the precise answer unknowable. The cardinals who vote in the conclave to select a new Pope remain forever bound by a vow of silence on all matters related to their choice — before, during and after the sequestered election inside the Sistine Chapel.

Make no mistake — the cardinals themselves are thinking hard about papal succession, says vaticanista Giancarlo Zizola, who has written several respected books on Vatican politics. “They talk about it — with great prudence and always with great affection for John Paul, but they do talk about it.” And Opus Dei, which boasts a core group of highly accomplished lay professionals and well-placed clergy, is known to have the access to privately influence these scarlet-clad princes of the church. “Opus Dei is the only group well-organized enough, working within the power structure of the Roman Curia, [the central Vatican administration], that can make a difference” in how cardinals vote, says Zizola.

Though Opus Dei takes pride in its influential members and friends in the church, the idea that the group is trying to sway a future conclave is offensive, says Archbishop Julián Herranz, the highest ranking Opus Dei member in the Roman Curia. “There are some who say there is an Opus Dei lobby,” he says in his office overlooking St. Peter’s Square. “That lobby doesn’t exist.” Herranz, who has worked in Rome for 40 years and now heads the Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, says Opus Dei has “no hidden agenda. The only policy is the message of Christ.”

Father Escrivá, who died in 1975, founded Opus Dei (Latin for “God’s Work”) to promote the idea that lay Catholics can achieve holiness in their everyday lives. Herranz — who left behind his medical studies to join Escrivá’s fledgling movement, and eventually the priesthood, in Madrid — says the strictly traditionalist group is based on a “very modern” idea: “Opus Dei teaches that a religious man can’t separate himself from reality.”

The current Pope, who does not belong but has supported the group since his days in Poland, has opened the gates for Opus Dei’s widespread acceptance. In 1982, John Paul bestowed on the organization the unique status of “personal prelature,” which grants Opus Dei unusual independence from the normal church hierarchy. Today, the organization includes some 82,000 lay members and 1,800 clergy.

But the Pope’s blessing and Escrivá’s rapid rise to sainthood have not convinced some critics. Many progressives in the church say the conservative group, with its strict adherence to personal piety (some lay members take vows of celibacy and practice self-flagellation), can lead to an intolerant brand of Catholicism. Others complain that the group’s tendency not to reveal its membership list fosters a climate of secrecy and litism. And Opus Dei suffered a p.r. setback when FBI spy Robert Hanssen, arrested in Virginia in February of last year, turned out to be a member.

Still, the group is trying to become more open, and much of its basic data — such as a newsletter of activities and a list of all its active clergy — is now easily accessible. It is here that one can begin to measure the organization’s potential influence in shaping a future conclave. Though Opus Dei has far fewer priests than the Jesuits (who have some 15,000), each group has the same number of clergy working in the Curia — six. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, considered among the most influential laymen in the church, is a longtime member. Bankers, politicians, and lawyers are well represented in Opus Dei chapters around the world. The group is particularly strong in Latin America, where the church’s strength is growing and which many believe will supply John Paul’s successor.

Of course, it is the 120 or so voting-age (under 80 years old) cardinals alone who elect the Pope. And though Opus Dei claims just one such member — Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima, Peru — its influence can be found among an array of other cardinals. Some, like Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, would be more likely to play kingmaker inside a conclave because of their pivotal vantage point in Rome. Others, like Mexico City Archbishop Norberto Rivera Carrera and recently named Milan Archbishop Dionigi Tettamanzi, are thought to be candidates to become the next Pope.

Father John Wauck, a Chicago native and Opus Dei priest who teaches at the group’s Santa Croce University in Rome, says the organization is not lobbying for a particular candidate. But he concededs that it is inevitable that the group’s members — like other church factions — will use their access to cardinals to push their agendas. “Whether you want to call it politics or not, Opus Dei would have influence in that way,” Wauck says. “If you’re a cardinal and you think highly of Opus Dei, their approval of someone will be a point in his favor.”

Vatican expert Zizola believes the group is focusing on a handful of potential candidates — and will do its best to see one of them become Pope. “They are very, very powerful,” he says. John L. Allen Jr., author of the recently released book Conclave about the papal selection process, thinks the group inevitably causes a stir but doesn’t buy the conspiracy theories, because many Opus Dei members themselves don’t agree on papal candidates. “There’s no plot to hijack the future of the church,” Allen says.

Most good Catholics, regardless of their doctrinal leanings or personality preferences, ultimately believe that when the Sistine Chapel’s doors are locked, it is the Holy Spirit that has the final say on who becomes Pope. And the Spirit works in mysterious ways.