Opus Dei, a research
The aim is to investigate the protagonism of Opus Dei, from the beginning of the Spanish post-war period until the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, from unpublished sources and from a broader perspective than the usual political approach , hegemonic in historiography.
During this period, the number of Opus Dei members and the initiatives they created in Spain grew: a dozen university residences, some secondary schools Education and the Estudio General de Navarra, approved in 1960 as the University of Navarra. The institution constituted itself as a notorious Catholic organization active in the world educational, through these entities or through its members present in the university world.
A project of research that aims to investigate the protagonism of Opus Dei, from the beginning of the Spanish post-war period until the beginning of the Second Vatican Council.
This protagonism implies:
To know the volume of its institutional demography, the variety of men and women, the sociology of the members, the typology of the initiatives undertaken, etc., aspects that have hardly been studied.
To analyze its corporate self-perception and that of its components, and other religious and political visions, which are precisely related to that expansion. The established narrative underlines that the diary of Opus Dei and its followers was cultural, political and economic domination, against those who sought to liberalize and modernize Francoism.
To address the importance of the women of Opus Dei. On the one hand, it has been pointed out their pioneering character in the face of the narrow juridical and social framework of Franco's regime. On the other hand, it has been insisted that the institution's gender speech only reaffirmed Franco's proposal of being an "angel of the home" subordinated to the male.
GOALS
In connection with the development of the Work:
- To define quantitatively the volume of Opus Dei's membership and work.
- To specify the prosopographical, geographical, institutional, sociological and sociocultural facets of the members.
- Explain which corporate institutions were promoted by the women and men of Opus Dei.
Regarding perceptions about Opus Dei:
- To study the views on the institution in other Catholic religious actors, such as the hierarchy and the Spanish clergy, Catholic Action, or Marian Congregations.
In relation to the women of Opus Dei:
- To analyze the gender speech of the women of the Work from inside and outside the institution.
- To show the prominence that women achieved during this period, in the processes, stages and growth of the Work.
- To compare their gender ideals with those of other Catholic and/or political institutions in order to establish relationships with contemporary models of femininity.
03 | 10 | 2023
The first steps of women in Opus Dei (1930-1950)
28 | 06 | 2023
Women in Opus Dei: Catholic context, speech gender and achievements
13 | 06 | 2023
Workshop on the history of Opus Dei
05 | 06 | 2023
Workshop on "Perceptions, women and the expansion of Opus Dei, 1939-1965".
26 | 05 | 2023
Mexican women and their contribution to Opus Dei expansion
15 | 05 | 2023
Tomás Alvira, a goldsmith of the Education