Members of Opus Dei will meet in Rome, Italy, in April to reflect on the statutes of the Prelature and adjust them to Pope Francis’ motu proprio, “Ad charisma tuendum”.

This Extraordinary General Congress, convened by the Prelate of Opus Dei, Mons. Fernando Ocáriz, in October 2022, will take place in the Italian capital from April 12th to 17th.

Precisely, 274 Opus Dei faithful from around the world will gather in Rome with the Prelate and his vicars to reflect on the statutes of the Prelature and adapt them to the motu proprio, where Pope Francis asked to renew some points of the document that defines the mission and regulates the life of the Prelature. In the paper mentioned above, Pope Francis invited the Opus Dei to promote its evangelizing action and “to spread the call to holiness in the world, through the sanctification of work and family and social commitments.”

This motu proprio modified two articles of the Apostolic Constitution Ut sit (by which Opus Dei was erected as a Prelature in 1982) to adapt them to the regulations recently introduced by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium on the Roman Curia.

In addition, in its third article, it adds that the Opus Dei Statutes must be “conveniently adapted at the proposal of the Prelature itself, to be approved by the competent bodies of the Apostolic See.” It should be noted that Mons. Ocáriz had previously requested the participation of all faithful of the Prelature who wished to make specific suggestions on the subject.

In a message released on March 30th, the top leader of the Opus Dei explained that “the suggestions were studied in Rome, with the help of experts, to present specific proposals to the Congress.”

“Those that did not refer to the request of the Holy See contained in the motu proprio may be taken into consideration in the coming weeks of work, once they are convened, and will serve to prepare the Ordinary General Congress of 2025,” he reported.

At the upcoming Congress, 126 women and 148 men will participate, of whom 90 are priests. Additionally, they will arrive in Italy from all five continents.

On April 12th, before the meetings begin, the Prelate will preside over a Mass. Later, the congress participants will be divided into working groups to address proposals for adapting some of the points that make up the Opus Dei Statutes.

The work and conclusions of these days will be presented later to the Dicastery for the Clergy, the body of the Holy See responsible for personal Prelatures. Later, the Holy See will communicate the definitive changes in the Statutes approved by Pope Francis. Mons. Fernando Ocáriz also recalled that “all General Congresses are extraordinary moments of unity of the entire Work, and of the Work with the Holy Father and with the whole Church.”

On the Opus Dei website, a section dedicated to the Congress has been opened, where documents from the Pope and the Holy See can be found, as well as messages from the Prelate, some questions and answers about the Congress and the motu proprio.