Fernando Ocáriz Braña
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Fernando Ocáriz Braña (born 27 October 1944) is a priest of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
who has been the prelate of Opus Dei since 2017. Ocáriz is the fourth person to head Opus Dei since its founding in 1928. He is widely published in philosophy and has been a consultor of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible ...
since 1986.


Life, studies and work

Fernando Ocáriz Braña was born in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
on 27 October 1944 to José Ocáriz Gómez and María Dolores Braña, and is the youngest of eight children. He joined Opus Dei on 7 September 1961. He studied
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
at the
University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...
, where he graduated in 1966. In the 1960s, as a theology student, he lived in Rome alongside
Josemaría Escrivá Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness ...
, the founder of Opus Dei. He received a licentiate in theology from the
Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pont ...
in 1969 and a doctorate in theology from the
University of Navarra , image = UNAV.svg , latin_name = Universitas Studiorum Navarrensis , established = 17 October 1952 , type = Private, Roman Catholic , chancellor = Fernando Ocáriz Braña , president = María Iraburu Eliz ...
in 1971. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1971, and was especially involved in ministry to young people and to university students during the first years of his priesthood. Since 1986, he has been a consultor of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible ...
, as well as other departments of the Roman Curia: the
Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardi ...
since 2003 and the
Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization (Latin: ''Pontificium Consilium de Nova Evangelizatione''), also translated as Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia whose cre ...
since 2011. He has also been a member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology since 1989. In 2009, it was announced that he would participate in the doctrinal discussions between the Society of St. Pius X and the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
. In the early 1980s, Ocáriz was among the professors who began the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, where he was a tenured professor (now Emeritus Professor) in Fundamental Theology. Ocáriz was appointed Vicar General of the Prelature of Opus Dei on 23 April 1994. In 2014, he was named Auxiliary Vicar of Opus Dei. He became the provisional head of Opus Dei upon the death of the prelate of Opus Dei, Javier Echevarria, in December 2016. He was elected prelate of Opus Dei on 23 January 2017, and on the same day Pope Francis confirmed that appointment.


Prelate of Opus Dei

A few weeks after his election, on 14 February 2017, Ocariz transmitted to the members of the prelature the conclusions of the General Congress of Opus Dei, outlining the main priorities of the prelature. Among the priorities, the foremost place was given to the ''centrality of the Person of Jesus Christ''. Ocariz explained that this means: *Go deeper into contemplative prayer in the midst of the world, and to help others to walk in paths of contemplation; *Rediscover the value of ascetical means; *Reach whole person: intelligence, will, heart, relationships with others; *Foster inner freedom, to do things out of love; *Help to think, so decide with personal responsibility; *Trust in the grace of God, to be on the alert against voluntarism and sentimentality *Express the ideal of the Christian life without confusing it with perfectionism, accepting one's own weakness and that of others; *Practice hopeful abandonment, based on divine filiation On the process of formation, he stressed, aside from the supernatural means: *Clear, positive, encouraging tone *Encouraging active participation *Showing practical impact to lead towards unity of life *Attitudes such as humility, joy, generosity and sincere interest in others On the Catholic Church, Ocariz pointed to: *Developing mutual appreciation among the faithful of the church *Dealing closely with bishops and priests *Collaborating in catechesis, premarital courses, social work, in parishes or other places that need it On new apostolic challenges, the prelate specified: *All to be protagonists of new culture, new legislation, new fashion *Continuous self-improvement in gift of tongues and empathy *Getting and training experts *Developing a personalized plan of formation *Training opinion leaders *Full support to educational work *Starting new educational center to reach both children and parents On the family, the priorities are: *Support for the mutual love of spouses and the Christian life of the family *Shaping public opinion in favor of large families On the youth, Ocariz stressed the importance of this apostolate: *Teaching prayer *Teaching values of friendship, study, reading, professional excellence, fortitude, temperance, service *Teaching the youth to give reason for their faith and value total self-giving to God, and vocation to form a Christian family *Developing attractive ways to continue dealings with graduates (former parents and students): young professionals, single or newly married *Professionalizing alumni associations *Performing works of mercy, spiritual and corporal *Deep study of social doctrine of the church, through courses and conferences *Promoting research with international impact


Writings

He has written a number of philosophical and theological works, specializing in the areas of fundamental theology,
christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...
, ecclesiology and the questions regarding the spirit of Opus Dei. *Hijos de Dios en Cristo, Pamplona 1969 *Hijos de Dios en Cristo. Introduccion a una teología de la participación sobrenatural, Pamplona 1972 *La Santisima Trinidad y el Misterio de muestra Deificacion..., Scripta Theologica 6 (1974) 363-390 *Introducción al marxismo, Prensa española, EMESA, Barcelona 1976 *Il Marxismo: ideologia della rivoluzione, Ares, Milano 1977 *Perspectivas para un desarrollo teológico de la participacion sobrenatural y de su contenido essentialmente Trinitario, in: "Atti del Congresso Internazionale" n. 3 Napoli 1979, 183-193 *Amor a Dios, amor a los hombres, ed.4: Madrid 1979 *Filiación divina, GranEncRialp X (1979) 116-118 *El marxismo: teoría y prática de una revolución, ed. 5: Madrid 1980 *La elevación sobrenatural como re-creación en Cristo, in: AA. VV., Prospettive Teologiche Moderne, Libreria Edtrice Vaticana 1981, (Atti del'VIII Congresso Tomistico Internationale; Studi Tomistici, 13), 281-292 *La filiacion divina, realidad central en la vida y en la enseñanza de Mons. Escrivá de Balaguer, in Mons. Escrivá de Balaguer y el Opus Dei: en el 50 aniversario de su fundación, ed.2: Pamplona 1985 Scripta Theologica 13 (1981) 513-552 *Lo Spirito Santo e la libertà dei figli di Dio, in: Atti del Congresso Internazionale di Pneumatologie, Lib. Ed. Vaticana 1982, 1239–1251 *Partecipazione dell' essere e soprannaturale, in: Essere e libertà, Studi in onore di Cornelio Fabro, Rimini 1984, S. 141-154 *La mediazione materna (Riflessione teologica sull'Enc. Redemptoris Mater), Romana III/5 (1987) 311-319 *La nota teologica dell'insegnamento dell'«Humanae vitae» sulla contraccezione, Anthropotes 4 (1988) 25-44 *María y la Trinidad, Scripta Theologica 20 (1988) 771-798 *La competenza del Magistero della Chiesa «in moribus», in: Pontificio Istituto Giovanni Paolo II per Studi su Matrimonio e Famiglia Università Lateranense. Centro Accademico Romano della Santa Croce Università di Navarra, «Humanae Vitae» 20 Anni Dopo. Atti del II Congresso Internazionale di Teologia Morale (Roma, 9–12 novembre 1988), Milano 1989, p. 125-138 *Tomás de Aquino, también hoy, resp. C. Fabro, F. Ocáriz, C. Vansteenkiste, A. Livi, Ed. Universidad de Navarra, ed. 2: Pamplona 1990 *Il prelato dell'Opus Dei è vescovo: significato ecclesiale e teologico dell'ordinazione, Studi Cattolici 35 (1991) 22-29 *Teologia Fondamentale (Prima Parte), Roma 1991 *El misterio de Jesucristo. Lecciones de cristología y soteriología, EUNSA, Pamplona 1991; 1993 *Sul primato teologico della S. Scrittura secondo S. Tommaso d'Aquino, in: Storia del tomismo (fonti e riflessi), Atti del IX Congresso tomistico internazionale, Lib. Ed. Vat., Vaticano 1992, S. 7-12 *Teologia Fondamentale I, Ateneo Romano della Santa Croce, Roma 1992 *God as Father, Scepter 1998 *Dichiarazione Mysterium Ecclesiae, 24. 6. 1973: testo e commenti, Congregazione per la dottrina della fede, commenti F. Ocáriz, S. Nagy, Lib. Ed. Vat., Vaticano 1993 *L' Opus Dei nella Chiesa, ecclesiologia, vocazione, secolarietà; resp. P. Rodríguez, F. Ocáriz, J.L. Illanes, Casale Monferrato 1993 *La Revelación en Cristo y la consumación escatológica de la historia y del cosmos, in: Izquierdo, C.; Alviar, J. J.; Balaguer, V.; González-Alió, J. L.; Pons, J. M.; Zumaquero, J. M. (Hrsg.), Dios en la palabra y en la historia. XIII Simposio Internacional de Teología de la Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona 1993, 377-385 *La vocación al Opus Dei como vocación en la Iglesia, in: El Opus Dei en la Iglesia: introducción eclesiológica a la vida y el apostolado del Opus Dei, Pedro Rodriguez, Fernando Ocáriz, José Luis Illanes, Rialp, Madrid 1993, p. 135-198 *Questioni di teologia fondamentale, Ateneo Romano della Santa Croce, Roma 1993 *Questioni su tradizione e magistero, dispense ad uso degli studenti, Ateneo Romano della Santa Croce, Roma 1993 *Vivir como hijos de Dios. Estudios sobre el Beato Josemaría Escrivá, Eunsa, Pamplona 1993 *El Opus Dei en la Iglesia, Rialp, Madrid 1993 *El Beato Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y la teología, Scripta Theologica 26 (1994) 977-991; italienisch: Il beato Josemaria Escrivá de Balaguer e la teologia, Romana 9 (1993) 264-274; Divinitas 38 (1994) 107-119 *The Mystery of Jesus Christ: a Christology and Soteriology textbook, Four Courts Press, Blackrock 1994 *Vocazione alla santità in Cristo e nella Chiesa, Ateneo Romano della Santa Croce. Santità e mondo. Atti del Convegno teologico di studio sugli insegnamenti del beato Josemaría Escrivá (Roma, 14-14 ottobre 1993) Citta del Vaticano 1994, 27-42 *Delimitación del concepto de tolerancia y su relación con el principio de libertad, Scripta Theologica 27 (1995) 865-884 *God, the Church and the World (Interview by Rafael Serrano), Midwest Theological Forum 2013


References


External links

*Van Biema, David (13 April 2006)
"The Ways of Opus Dei"
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Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
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Con el papa sobre Opus Dei y Fernando Ocáriz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocariz Brana, Fernando 1944 births Catholic philosophers Catholic clergy scientists 20th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Pontifical Lateran University alumni University of Barcelona alumni Opus Dei members University of Navarra alumni Living people Prelates of Opus Dei Pontifical University of the Holy Cross faculty