Romana

From April 23 to May 5, the 10th Ordinary General Congress of Opus Dei was held. In accordance with the statutes of the prelature, the general congress must be convened in an ordinary session every eight years: In 2017, it met on the occasion of the election of the current Prelate.

The program initially planned, in accord with the established procedure, consisted in the renewal of the central government positions of the prelature and, after an assessment of the progress of Opus Dei's activities throughout the world since the previous congress, the proposal of guidelines for pastoral action in the coming years, within the framework of the centenary of Opus Dei (2028-2030). On this occasion, the latter included the study of the suggestions gathered in the conclusions of the regional assemblies held in all the circumscriptions of Opus Dei throughout 2024. In addition, at the suggestion of the Dicastery for the Clergy, the work of adapting the statutes of Opus Dei, which the Holy See, in collaboration with the prelature itself, is currently carrying out, was to be presented.

However, the death of Pope Francis two days before the start of the sessions, on April 21, led the Prelate to decide, in agreement with the General Council and the Central Advisory, to limit the congress to the renewal of positions^[1] and, with the positive opinion of the congress participants, that the study of other issues would be concluded later by the new Council and Advisory.^[2]

A total of 279 numerary members of Opus Dei (127 women and 152 men, including 95 priests) from five continents participated in the congress: Africa (6.8%), North and South America (37.3%), Asia (5.7%), Europe (48.7%), and Oceania (1.4%). Their ages ranged from 37 to 91. The minimum age to be a congress person, according to the current statutes of Opus Dei, is 32. They are appointed by the Prelate of Opus Dei after hearing the opinion of the central governing councils, which have a deliberative vote, and the regional councils (in each case, the Commission or Regional Advisory corresponding to the constituency of the congress person whom the Prelate wishes to appoint).

The general congress gave a favorable opinion on the appointments of Monsignor Mariano Fazio as auxiliary vicar of the prelature (a position which has been renewed) and of priests Javier del Castillo and José Andrés Carvajal as vicar general and vicar priest secretary, respectively. The other members of the General Council and the Central Advisory were also appointed by the Prelate during the congress.

Monsignor Mariano Fazio (Buenos Aires, 1960) has a degree in History from the University of Buenos Aires and a PhD in Philosophy from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome). Before being ordained a priest in 1991, he lived for seven years in Ecuador, where he was a professor of Philosophy of Law and a writer for the newspaper El Telégrafo. He then taught courses on various subjects at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, where he was the first dean of the Faculty of Communication and, between 2002 and 2008, rector. He has subsequently been regional vicar of Opus Dei in Argentina, vicar general of the Prelature, and, since 2019, auxiliary vicar. He is the author of some twenty books, including works on the history of ideas, essays on modern literature, and profiles of some of the great figures of the contemporary Church.

Rev. Javier del Castillo, born in Mexico City in 1975, grew up in various cities in Mexico and the United States. He studied at Cooper Union, a university in New York. After obtaining a degree in electrical engineering in 1998, he worked for a time at Symbol Technologies. He moved to Rome in 2000 to pursue ecclesiastical studies. After obtaining a doctorate in philosophy, in 2005 he was ordained a priest. He served as chaplain at several secondary schools in the Washington, D.C. area and in Chicago before being appointed delegate vicar of Opus Dei in the Midwest. In 2022, he became regional vicar for the United States, and in 2024 for the United States and Canada.

Rev. José Andrés Carvajal (Murcia, Spain, 1970), who holds a degree in Law (University of Alicante, 1993) and a doctorate in Canon Law, has been a priest since 1999. For some twenty years he worked in the prelatic curia of Opus Dei (holding, among other positions, those of judicial vicar and chancellor) and collaborated closely with Bishop Javier Echevarría, whom he accompanied on practically all his trips from 2010 until his death in 2016. In 2017 he moved to Ecuador as regional vicar. He later became delegate for the region of Colombia and Ecuador. During those years, he was chaplain for various educational institutions and collaborated directly with the local episcopate as a canon lawyer. He returned to Spain in 2023 as vicar of Opus Dei in the Madrid East delegation, a position he held until his appointment as vicar priest secretary of the Prelature.

The new General Council of the Prelature of Opus Dei also includes Josemaría Sánchez Blanco (1979), a Spanish communications graduate; Brazilian Marcelo Valenga (1979), an industrial engineer, and American Andrew Laird (1985), a lawyer, as vice-secretaries; and the Spaniard Ángel Gómez Montoro (1960), professor of constitutional law, and Mexican José Chávez (1970), an accountant, as prefect of studies and general administrator, respectively.

In the Central Advisory, the new central secretary is María Julia Prats Moreno (Terrassa, Spain, 1964). An industrial engineer from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, she completed an MBA at IESE (Barcelona) and a doctorate at Harvard University. She has been a full professor at IESE (University of Navarra) for many years, as well as a visiting professor at several European and American universities. From 2013 to 2017, she was a member of the council of the prelature of Opus Dei’s delegation for Catalonia and Andorra. Between 2022 and 2024, she traveled to various circumscriptions of the prelature to assist in the restructuring of tasks of direction in each area.

The following also form part of the Central Advisory: as secretary, María Díaz Soloaga (1970) from Spain, an aeronautical engineer; as vice-secretaries, Nicola Waite (1979) from the United Kingdom, a graduate in English literature and Hispanic studies; Fernanda Zaidan Lopes (1986) from Brazil, a chemist; and Teddy Nalubega (1984) from Uganda, an engineer specializing in renewable energy; as prefect of studies, Kathryn Plazek (1988) from the United States, with a degree in English literature and Eastern European and Russian studies; as prefect of auxiliary numeraries, Ana Casero Palmero (1984) from Spain, with a degree in law and business administration; and as central procurator for resource administration, Florencia Carloni (1982) from Argentina, an economist.

Other appointments made during the general congress, which, like the previous ones, are reported in the corresponding section of the Prelate section in this issue of Romana, are those of the delegates from each region of the Prelature. At the same time, the Prelate also appointed the prefect for spiritual formation, the agent of prayers, and the chancellor of the Prelatic Curia.

The general congress took place in two phases: the men and women delegates met separately and at different times. In both cases, once the appointments had been made, there was time for an exchange of ideas on the issues that had been the focus of attention in each region during the work weeks of the previous year. However, as had been decided, this reflection remained outside the scope of the congress, without reaching any conclusions officially approved by vote, pending further study of these issues under the direction of the Prelate.

^[1] Cf. Message from the Prelate dated April 21, included in the section From the Prelate.

^[2] Cf. Message from the Prelate dated June 11, included in the section From the Prelate.