We are not religious

We proceed in this way with special care when it is a question of vocations to the religious state. From the first moment of the foundation of Opus Dei, I have seen the Work as an institution whose members cannot be religious, nor live ad instar religiosorum – in the manner of religious – nor be equated with religious in any way.

Veneration for the religious state

And this is not because of any lack of affection for religious, whom I love and venerate with all my heart; so much so, my children, that I can repeat with absolute sincerity, referring to these souls, the very words of St Paul to the faithful of Philippi: testis enim mihi est Deus, quomodo cupiam omnes vos in visceribus Iesu Christi (Phil 1:8); God is my witness how much I love you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

We deeply venerate and respect the priestly and religious vocation, and all the immense work that religious have done and will do in the service of the Church. For this reason, anyone who did not have this spirit would not be a good son or daughter of mine.

But at the same time, we repeat that because our call and our apostolate are an invitation to remain in the world, and because our apostolic tasks are carried out in and from secular activities, they are totally different from the vocation and apostolate entrusted to religious.