Teachings of Opus Dei - Studies About St. Josemaria's Teachings

Studies About St. Josemaria's Teachings

Escriva's teachings were analyzed, studied and endorsed in a theological symposium held in Rome, Holiness and the World. Together with an address by John Paul II, several theologians contributed their studies, including the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Georges Cottier, Theologian of the Papal Household, and noted American moral theologian Prof. William May.

Some critics belittle the writings of the founder, saying that they are "less than scintillating." In Opus Dei in the United States, Jesuit scholar, Fr. James Martin (1995), says that Escriva's maxims range "from traditional Christian pieties...to sayings that could easily have come out of Poor Richard’s Almanack." Critics also say that the teachings are Escriva-centred.

In contrast, Catholic officials, specifically the Vatican's theological consultors for Escriva's canonization gave another assessment of Escriva's works. One said that Escriva is "like a figure from the deepest spiritual sources"; another stated that he "possesses the force of the classic writers, the temper of a Father of the Church."

Thus, these teachings do not lie outside mainstream traditional Roman Catholic spiritual and ascetic theology. According to Le Tourneau in What is Opus Dei?, these teachings "belong to the common patrimony of the Catholic Church, throwing a special light on secular realities." These teachings then form a lay spirituality, and help build the spirit or culture which is practised in the Work.