Francis’ Unpublished Letters on Opus Dei: “Mafia-Like Intrigues”
ElPais.com published on September 3 two private, handwritten letters from the late Pope Francis to Bishop Ángel Pérez Pueyo of Barbastro-Monzón, Spain, concerning his dispute with Opus Dei over the shrine Torreciudad.
“Don’t give in!” Francis wrote to Pérez Pueyo on July 13, 2023.
The dispute began in January 2020, when Opus Dei approached the bishop to propose changing the arrangements governing Torreciudad. Bishop Pérez Pueyo refused to sign anything. After three years of talks, on July 17, 2023, he removed the rector of Torreciudad and appointed a diocesan priest in his place.
This was the first public confrontation between Opus Dei and the bishop - and came just four days after Francis wrote his letter.
Talks continued until October 9, 2024, when Francis intervened in the shrine by appointing an extraordinary commissioner, Spanish Archbishop Alejandro Arellano, dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. The move was understood as support for the bishop.
Several days later, Francis sent …More
What a bizarre thing to say about a daughter when the father is supposed to be a celibate priest.
Whatever the merits of this case are, Jesuits and Opus Dei seem to be natural born enemies. Josemaria Escriva once said, "I would rather one of my daughters died without receiving the Last Rites than to receive them from a Jesuit."