Centennial Masses Celebrated Throughout the World

Masses in Honor of the Centennial of Blessed Josemaria Escriva's Birth Were Celebrated in Cities All Around the World in the Past Two Weeks

Cardinal George, at Centennial Mass in Chicago

Masses in honor of Blessed Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, were celebrated during the past two weeks in cities all over the world. The occasion was the one hundredth anniversary of Blessed Josemaria's birth on January 9, 1902.

In Chicago, where Opus Dei first came to the United States more than 50 years ago, 2000 people came to a Mass for Blessed Josemaria celebrated by Francis Cardinal George. "The spirituality of Blessed Josemaria is a true Christian humanism," said the Cardinal. "Opus Dei respects every area of human endeavor: the life of the mind and life of the heart and the life of the hand."

Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor was the chief celebrant for a Centennial Mass attended by 1800 at Westminster Cathedral in London.

At the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi, a commemorative Mass was celebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio for India. In his homily, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri expressed his happiness that the canonization of Blessed Josemaria could occur soon because of the Pope's recent approval of a second miracle.

Jaime Cardinal Sin, presiding at a Centennial Mass in Manila, told those in attendance: "Blessed Josemaria and his message are not only for Opus Dei, but for the whole Church."

Commemorative Masses were celebrated in a number of U.S. cities in addition to Chicago. In Washington, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Vatican's Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., presided at a Mass at the National Shrine attended by around 1800. In St. Louis, Archbishop Justin Rigali was the chief celebrant at a centennial Mass. Auxiliary Bishop John Wester celebrated a Mass in San Francisco for around 1500.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Masses in commemoration of the centennial of Blessed Josemaria's birth were celebrated in Boston, Houston, Indianapolis, Iowa City, Manchester (NH), Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Diego, among others.

Westminster Cathedral, London: Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and concelebrants

In other parts of the world, centennial Masses were celebrated in Rome, Moscow, Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Nagasaki, Riga, Warsaw, Vilnius, Almaty, Brussels, Sydney, Moscow, Jerusalem, Cologne, and many other cities.

Blessed Josemaria dedicated his life to teaching that men and women of every walk of life can find holiness in and through their ordinary work in the world. Born in Spain on January 9, 1902, he died in Rome in 1975 and was beatified in 1992 by Pope John Paul II. On Dec. 20, 2001, the Vatican announced the approval of the miracle required for his canonization.

Centennial Mass at Westminster Cathedral, London. (L to R) Msgr. Nicholas Morrish, Bishop Victor Guazzelli, Bishop Arthur Roche, Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop Michael Bowen, Msgr. John Armitage