I would like to insist on the question of secular institutes. I have read a study by a well-known canonist, Dr Julian Herranz, which affirms that some secular institutes are secret and others are practically indistinguishable from religious orders since their members wear habits and give up their professional work to dedicate their lives to the same aims as religious, up to the point of having no objection to being considered religious. What do you think about this?

The study of secular institutes which you mentioned has been widely read and discussed by specialists in the field. Dr Herranz undoubtedly brings to bear a great deal of evidence to support the thesis he personally defends, but I prefer not to comment on the conclusions he draws. I can only say that that way of acting has nothing whatsoever to do with Opus Dei. The Work is not secret and neither its activities nor the life of its members make it in any way comparable with religious orders. The members of Opus Dei, as I just said, are workaday citizens, exactly the same as other citizens, who practise freely any honest profession or occupation.