(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV is reportedly about to break up Opus Dei into independent parts, according to InfoVaticana, a Spanish outlet with ties to the personal prelature.
Reforms have been finalized which would “mean the definitive break of the original structure,” two independent sources told Letters from Leo. The sources say the rupture will be instigated by the pope within a few weeks.
The new statutes would reportedly split Opus Dei into three separate parts:
- A Clerical Prelature, made up only of Opus Dei’s incardinated priests, now “significantly reduced”;
- The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, comprised of diocesan clergy who wish to partake in Opus Dei’s charism, now no longer affiliated with the prelature;
- A Lay Faithful Association, a now fully independent association for all lay members including numeraries, associates, supernumeraries, and cooperators, who have previously been included under the prelature.
Thus, Opus Dei will “cease to exist as [a unified] juridical and spiritual entity.”
In an email obtained by LifeSiteNews, the Opus Dei Communications Office stated that the InfoVaticana article “is more of an opinion piece rather than a news article, citing anonymous sources and signed with a pseudonym.”
“As the Prelate has said, a proposal for the reform of the statues was presented to the Holy See in June, and we are awaiting a response. There are no new developments in this regard.”
Pope Francis previously initiated structural reform of Opus Dei, issuing a motu proprio in 2022 stipulating that it would no longer be led by a bishop, saying that “a form of government based more on charism than on hierarchical authority is needed.”
This article was updated on October 18.