Opus Dei may have to seek new status under canon law, says spokesman

ROME – A leading member of Opus Dei and its spokesman in the UK has suggested that in light of revisions made recently by Pope Francis to the nature of “personal prelatures”, a status Opus Dei has held under Church law since 1982, the group may be forced to seek another category that better reflects its inner identity.

“If, in the end, it turns out the Church decides that lay people cannot form part of a prelature, then Opus Dei cannot be a prelature and it would have to find something else,” said Jack Valero, spokesman for Opus Dei in Great Britain.