A Personal Prelature’s Legal Position According to the Documents Issued by Pope Francis from 2022-2023. Part II

The legal status of the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei, which was established in 1982, has changed due to the documents issued by Pope Francis from 2022-2023. This was permitted by the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, the motu proprio Ad charisma tuendum, and the motu proprio modifying canons 295 and 296 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. As a result, this Prelature lost its status as an ecclesiastical circumscription and hierarchical structure. It has been equated with a clerical public association of the faithful under the pontifical right. The Prelate lost his position as an Ordinary and became a Moderator with the faculties of an Ordinary. The lay faithful, who, together with the incardinated clergy, organically participated in this community through incorporation, ceased to be members of the Prelature in the strict sense. However, they can still cooperate with it on the basis of a canonical contract. These significant changes in the legal position of the Opus Dei are to be reflected in the Statutes, which are to then be approved by the Apostolic See.