This is, as the kids say, a BFD. Via Letters From Leo:
A report from InfoVaticana — a Spanish outlet with close Opus Dei ties — claims that Pope Leo XIV is on the verge of approving new statutes that would effectively dismantle Opus Dei as it exists today.
In Rome and at Opus Dei’s headquarters, no one denies that the Holy See’s intervention is imminent.
Two independent sources tell Letters from Leo that the text of the reforms is finalized and its promulgation is only weeks away.
According to the leaks, the changes would “mean the definitive break of the original structure” that St. Josemaría Escrivá envisioned for the organization.
As you may know, Opus Dei is ungodly influential in the Republican party -- and the Supreme Court. This is a much bigger deal than it sounds, and would carry on the attempts of Pope Francis to rein them in.
Progress had been slow, and many observers suspected Opus Dei was waiting out Francis’s pontificate in hopes that a new pope might go easier on them.
In fact, when Francis died in April 2025, Opus Dei promptly postponed its long-planned extraordinary congress that was supposed to enact the reforms.
Citing the need for mourning, the Prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz, abruptly scaled back that meeting to only the “minimum necessary” business — basically just renewing leadership positions — and deferred all discussion of statute changes “to be studied later.”
This move was widely seen as an attempt to wriggle out of the reforms that the late Pope Francis had set in motion. By stalling the process, Opus Dei’s leadership appeared to bet that Leo XIV would be more sympathetic or at least give them a fresh start.
Even if you don't understand, or don't GAF, Opus Dei is the power equivalent of the Federalist Society in the Catholic Church, and just as corrupt. (Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society is a major player in both.)
Watch for the wingers to start with a whisper campaign, and then a full-fledged assault on Pope Leo -- just as they did with Pope Francis, labeling him the Anti-Pope. And not to go all Dan Brown, but Pope Leo better make sure he can trust his security guards.
