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Various sources assume that a solid enmity places most religious orders, and especially the Jesuits, in opposition to Opus Dei. Do these rumours have any foundation at all, or are they one of those myths which people build up when they are not well acquainted with a problem?

We are not religious. We bear no resemblance to religious nor is there any authority on earth which could require us to be religious. Yet in Opus Dei we venerate and love the religious state. I pray every day that all venerable religious will continue to offer the Church the fruits of their virtues, their apostolic works, and their holiness. The rumours you spoke of are just that — rumours. Opus Dei has always enjoyed the admiration and the sympathetic goodwill of religious of many orders and congregations, especially of cloistered monks and nuns, who pray for us, write to us often, and make our work known in a thousand ways because they appreciate the meaning of our life: contemplatives in the midst of the cares of the secular city.

The Secretary General of Opus Dei, Alvaro del Portillo, was a friend of the last General of the Jesuits. I am equally close to the present General, Father Arrupe, and I have a high regard for him.

Misunderstandings, if they should occur, would show a lack of Christian spirit, for our Faith calls for unity, not for rivalries or divisions.

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