Figures and context. The beginning of Opus Dei in Argentina

On May 24, an online workshop was held at graduate "Figures and Context: The beginning of Opus Dei in Argentina". Speakers at the event included Francesc Castells, Roberto Dante Flores and Roberto Bosca, who shared their research and analysis of the first steps of Opus Dei in the country. Twenty academics from different countries participated in the activity: Argentina, Spain, Italy, Peru and Uruguay.

Roberto Bosca opened the event with his discussion paper "Culture, politics, the Church and Opus Dei in Argentina and the world". Bosca drew a picture of status of the initial chronology in which Opus Dei established a stable presence in Argentina, analyzing these four scenarios in a diachronic and synchronic perspective, both locally and internationally.

Francesc Castells opened the workshop with a discussion paper entitled "Biographical notes on Ignacio Echeverría". He was a Spanish priest who arrived in Argentina in 1951, and was the Consiliary of this country between 1957 and 1962. He provided a detailed account of the life and pastoral contributions of this Spanish priest.

Roberto Dante Flores dealt with "The beginnings of the Opus Dei aggregates in Argentina". In his discussion paper, he explained the use of methodological resources employed in his research, such as prosopography, oral history, and macro and micro history. He also analyzed how the young Argentinean aggregates made their own and radiated the Christian message of Opus Dei, in the midst of the socio-cultural and religious change of a "long decade", from the end of the 1950s to the beginning of the 1970s.

The workshop provided a deeper understanding of the historical and social context of Opus Dei in Argentina, offered the possibility of discussing the sources and provisional objectives reached by these investigations and provided the participants with a broader understanding of the beginnings of the Work in the country.