Fernando Ocáriz Braña

Monsignor
Fernando Ocáriz Braña
Prelate of Opus Dei

Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz
Church Roman Catholic
See Opus Dei
Installed 23 January 2017
Term ended Incumbent
Predecessor Javier Echevarría Rodríguez †
Successor Incumbent
Orders
Ordination 1971
Personal details
Born (1944-10-27) 27 October 1944
Paris, France

Fernando Ocáriz Braña (born 27 October 1944) is a Roman Catholic priest and monsignor who serves as the fourth and current Prelate of Opus Dei. He is widely published in philosophy and has been a consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1986.

Life, studies and work

Fernando Ocáriz Braña was born in Paris on 27 October 1944 to José Ocáriz Gómez and María Dolores Braña, and is the youngest of eight children. He studied Physics at the University of Barcelona, where he graduated in 1966.

In the 1960s, as a theology student, he lived in Rome alongside Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. He received a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in 1969 and a doctorate in theology from the University of Navarra in 1971.

He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1971, and was especially involved in ministry to young people and to university students during the first years of his priesthood.

Since 1986, he has been a consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as other departments of the Roman Curia: the Congregation for the Clergy (since 2003) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization (since 2011). He has also been a member of the Pontifical Theological Academy since 1989. In 2009, it was announced that he would participate in the doctrinal discussions between the Society of St. Pius X and the Holy See.

In the early 1980s, Ocáriz was among the professors who began the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, where he was a tenured professor (now Emeritus Professor) in Fundamental Theology.

Ocáriz was appointed Vicar General of the Prelature of Opus Dei on 23 April 1994. In 2014, he was named Auxiliary Vicar of Opus Dei.

He became the provisional head of Opus Dei upon the death of the then Prelate of Opus Dei, Javier Echevarria, in December 2016. He was elected the new prelate of Opus Dei on 23 January 2017, and on the same day was appointed by Pope Francis as such.

Prelate of Opus Dei

A few weeks after his election, on 14 February 2017, Ocariz transmitted to the members of the prelature the conclusions of the General Congress of Opus Dei, outlining the main priorities of the prelature.[1]

Among the priorities, the foremost place was given to the centrality of the Person of Jesus Christ. Ocariz explained that this means:

On the process of formation, he stressed, aside from the supernatural means:

On the Catholic Church, Ocariz pointed to:

On new apostolic challenges, the prelate specified:

On the family, the priorities are:

On the youth, Ocariz stressed the importance of this apostolate:

Writings

He has written a number of philosophical and theological works, specializing in the areas of fundamental theology, christology, ecclesiology and the questions regarding the spirit of Opus Dei.

References

  1. ↑ http://opusdei.us/en-us/document/letter-of-the-prelate-14-february-2017/
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Javier Echevarría Rodríguez		 Prelate of Opus Dei
23 January 2017 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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