List of prominent members of Opus Dei
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This is a list of prominent Opus Dei members. It is intended to include people whose membership is documented in published sources.
Contents |
[edit] Government
- Ruth Kelly - Minister for Women and Equality (2006 - Present), Labour Party (center-left) in the United Kingdom. John L. Allen, Jr. states that she is a supernumerary member in his book, Opus Dei.
- Paola Binetti - Senator-elect in Italy (2006). A numerary member. Binetti belongs to a party -- La Margherita (“The Daisy”) -- which includes Christian Democrats, Socialists, Greens and even some ex-Communists.[1]
- Antonio Fontán - President of the Senate of Spain in 1977-1979. A journalist who advocated free elections and trade unions, and was persecuted by Franco. He helped draft Spain's new democratic constitution after Franco.
- Alberto Ullastres (d. 2001) - Minister of Trade (1957-1965). He is one of the several members of Opus Dei who were appointed by Franco as ministers (Spain under Franco).
- Laureano López Rodó (d. 2000) - Technological Secretary of the State Department (Spain under Franco); Minister of Foreign Affairs (1973-1974)
- Mariano Navarro Rubio (d. 2001) - Treasury Department (1957-1965; Spain under Franco)
- José María Albareda (d. 1966) - Secretary General and head of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas). He was close friend of Escrivá and one of the first numerary members of Opus Dei.
- Jesus Estanislao - Secretary of Economic Planning and subsequently Finance Secretary of the Philippines under Corazon Aquino (1989-1992), a numerary member of Opus Dei, who started Opus Dei in the Philippines.[2]
- Joaquín Lavín - politician in Chile, twice defeated in his bid for the presidency of Chile. He is a member of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI) party and former mayor of Santiago and Las Condes municipalities of capital Santiago. He served in Pinochet's government. [3]
- Robert Hanssen - FBI agent who was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia.[4] His treason has been described as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history." He reportedly left the Opus Dei after his arrest.
[edit] Writing and Journalism
- Joaquin Navarro Valls (born November 16, 1936, Cartagena, Spain) was a journalist who later served as the Director of the Vatican Press Office, taking the post in 1984. A numerary member.
- Robert Duncan (Journalist) - a noted journalist; an ombudsman for foreign press in Spain; an executive board member for Spain's oldest and largest foreign press body, the Club Internaciónal de Prensa; editor for Spero News[1] [5]
- Rafael Calvo Serer (d. 1988) - editor and founder of Diario Madrid who was hounded into exile for his criticism of Franco, who closed the publication. Although Messori states that Calvo, by working underground, helped to bring democracy to Spain,[6] some historians claim[citation needed] that he was fired from his position in a governmental agency for supporting the throne pretender Don Juan (father of today's King Juan Carlos). He did not oppose Francoism, but Franco himself about Franco's succession (see Preston 623-3, 663 and 671).
- Antonio Fontán (born 1923) - journalist who advocated free elections and trade unions in Spain under Franco. Later served as President of the Senate and helped draft Spain's new democratic constitution.[6]
- Francis Fernandez Carvajal - wrote In Conversation with God, which has sold over two million copies in several languages, including Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Romanian, Slovakian and Polish. It consists of over 450 meditations, one or more for every day of the year, as well as three meditations for each Sunday, corresponding to the three year cycle in the Catholic lectionary.
[edit] Academia
- John F. Coverdale, law professor at Seton Hall University.[7]
- Scott Hahn - he is known for his conversion story Rome Sweet Home and his theology books The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth, First Comes Love: Finding Your Family in the Church and the Trinity. He recounts his membership in Opus Dei in Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei
- Bernardo Villegas - Senior Vice-President of the University of Asia and the Pacific.[2]
- Mariano Artigas - received Templeton Foundation Award in 1995 for his work on science and religion. He wrote The Mind of the Universe: Understanding Science and Religion and fifteen other books on science and religion.
- Jose Orlandis - historian who is known for his work Short History of the Catholic Church.[8]
[edit] Social work
- Tony Zweifel (d. 1989), a Swiss engineer who patented several inventions. He founded and served as director of the Limmat Foundation [2], a foundation that supports social projects all over the world with a majority of women as project beneficiaries.[9] His process of beatification has been opened.[10] A numerary.
- Margaret Ogola, medical director of the Cottolengo Hospice in Nairobi for HIV-positive orphans and Kenyan author. A supernumerary with four children, she heads the Commission for Health and Family Life for the Kenyan bishops' conference.[11] Her novel The River and the Source, which follows four generations of Kenyan women in a rapidly changing country and society, won the Africa Region Commonwealth Award for Literature. Interested in women's empowerment, she is also Vice-President of Family Life Counselling (Kenya).
[edit] Business
- Luis Valls - From 1972-2004, he was President of Banco Popular, the third biggest bank in Spain.
[edit] Clergy
- Saint Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei (d. 1975)
- Alvaro del Portillo y Diez de Sollano, (d. 1994), Prelate of Opus Dei (1975-1994) and Titular Bishop of Vita
- Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, Prelate of Opus Dei and Titular Bishop of Cilibia (since 1994)
- Juan Luis Cardinal Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima, former Archbishop of Ayacucho o Huamanga, Peru
- Julián Cardinal Herranz Casado, President of the Dicastery for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts
- Archbishop José Horacio Gomez, of San Antonio, Texas. Fortune Magazine listed him as one of the top 50 most influential Latinos in the US.
- For other members of the clergy, please see Opus Dei: Priestly Society of the Holy Cross
[edit] References
- ^ Daniel Mansueto: Labels Don't Apply: An Interview with Paola Binetti, Godspy Magazine, July 26, 2006
- ^ a b Ma. Ceres P. Doyo: Opus Dei in RP: It began with 3 Harvard boys, Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 18, 2006, p A1
- ^ Bloomberg.com: Opus Dei, Vilified in `Da Vinci Code,' Runs Global MBA Schools, April 26, 2006
- ^ CNN: An In-Depth Look At Opus Dei: A Conservative Catholic Group, May 18, 2001
- ^ Allen says he is a member in his book, Opus Dei.
- ^ a b Messori, Vittorio (1997). Opus Dei, Leadership and Vision in Today's Catholic Church. Regnery Publishing. ISBN 0-89526-450-1.
- ^ John F. Coverdale: The Vocation to Opus Dei, 1994
- ^ He recounts his early years in Opus Dei in his book Años de Juventud en el Opus Dei
- ^ Limmat-Stiftung: FAQ 9: Why are the majority of project beneficiaries women?, accessed December 03, 2006
- ^ Opus Dei Information Office: Toni’s Life, accessed December 03, 2006
- ^ John L. Allen: A journey to Africa: confronting AIDS, relations among religions, and the challenges of poverty, National Catholic Reporter, vol 4 no 4, September 17, 2004
