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Opus Spiritus Sancti... PRIESTS, SISTERS, LAY PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE ...
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Welcome to the Community of Apostolic Christians, the Secular Institute of Diocesan Priests and the Secular Institute of Men in the Opus Spiritus Sancti
The Opus Spiritus Sancti is a federation of five communities within the Catholic Church: Community of Apostolic Christians Secular Institute of Diocesan Priests Secular Institute of Women Apostolic Life Community of Sisters Apostolic Life Community of Priests Secular Institute of Men (developing) This community of priests, sisters and lay people was founded in Mammolshain, Germany in 1950. All communities share a common spirituality while each has its own international leadership and organizational structure. It is our hope to live as the Church in miniature. We participate in the missionary work of the world church, and we want to live in a spirit of community. We wish to be a catalyst for the renewal of God‘s people. Thus, we pray and work for the coming of a New Pentecost on earth so that God may be all in all. A Secular Institute of Men. The founder of the Opus Spiritus Sancti communities, Father Bernhard Bendel from the Diocese of Limburg, Germany, envisioned the establishment of a Secular Institute of Men as a parallel community to the Secular Institute of Women. Such a Secular Institute of Men began in 1979 when a German medical doctor prayed his first dedication in the community. He was working in a leprosy hospital in India and both he and another Indian man who joined the community, were eventually ordained to the priesthood. The community did not grow at that time because of a failure to recruit further vocations, perhaps also because Father Bendel died in January 1980, shortly after the Secular Institute of Men began, and was no longer able to offer them his guidance and support. In recent years, Fr. Tom Flanagan, International Leader of the Secular Institute of Priests in the OSS, has received numerous inquiries from single men interested in joining Opus Spiritus Sancti. He currently has a list of fifteen men who are interested in a secular institute of men. This has led him to the conviction that we are called to rebuild this community. Though it is primarily intended as a community for non-ordained men, it is possible for clerics also to belong, as long as the necessary canonical requirements are fulfilled. The importance of secular institutes was affirmed by St. John Paul II when he said: "Now it is necessary to know and make known this vocation that is so relevant and, I should say, so urgent, the vocation of persons who consecrate themselves to God by practicing the evangelical counsels and strive to immerse their whole lives and all their activities in that special consecration, creating in themselves a total availability to the Father's will and working to change the world from within” (3/5/83, source unknown). If you or someone you know would like more information about this newly forming community, please contact Fr. Flanagan through the “contact us” drop down menu. Other communities of the Opus Spiritus Sancti have their own websites. Therefore, the following website presents only the two established communities, Community of Apostolic Christians Secular Institute of Diocesan Priests and the becoming community, Secular Institute of Men. |
SIP International council, opening liturgy and meeting Lilongwe, Malawi
CAC members, Gulu, Uganda, Africa
CAC Formation Days, Tamil Nadu, India
CAC members and guests from Tuguegarao, Philippines
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