View source for Fernando Ocáriz Braña

{{Short description|Spanish priest and prelate of Opus Dei}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{family name hatnote|Ocáriz|Braña|lang=Spanish}} {{BLP sources|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader|type=Priest|honorific-prefix=[[Monsignor]]|name=Fernando Ocáriz Braña|title=[[Opus Dei|Prelate of Opus Dei]]|image=Mons. Ocariz.jpg|alt=|caption=Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz|church=[[Catholic]]|archdiocese=|diocese=|see=[[Opus Dei]]|appointed=23 January 2017|term_start=|enthroned=27 January 2017|term_end=|predecessor=[[Javier Echevarría Rodríguez]]|successor=|ordination=15 August 1971|ordained_by=[[Marcelo González Martín]]|consecration=|consecrated_by=|rank=<!--   Personal details   -->|birth_name=Fernando Ocáriz Braña|birth_date={{Birth date and age|df=yes|1944|10|27}}|birth_place=[[Paris]], [[France]]|death_date=|death_place=|previous_post={{unbulleted list|Vicar General of Opus Dei (1994–2014)|Auxiliary Vicar of Opus Dei (2014–17)}}|coat_of_arms=|motto=|alma_mater={{unbulleted list|[[Pontifical Lateran University]]|[[University of Navarra]]}}}} '''Fernando Ocáriz Braña''' (born 27 October 1944) is a priest of the [[Catholic Church]] 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]] since 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biografía de Mons. Fernando Ocáriz|url=https://opusdei.org/es/article/fernando-ocariz/|access-date=2022-12-09|website=Opus Dei|language=es}}</ref>

== Life, studies and work ==
Fernando Ocáriz Braña was born in [[Paris]] 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.<ref name="opusdei">{{cite web|url=http://opusdei.ca/en-ca/article/interview-palabra-fernando-ocariz-prelate-opus-dei/|title='The Church's vitality depends on a complete openness to the Gospel'|publisher=Opus Dei|access-date=21 August 2018}}</ref>

In the 1960s, as a theology student, he lived in Rome alongside [[Josemaría Escrivá]], the founder of Opus Dei. He received a licentiate in theology from the [[Pontifical Lateran University]] in 1969 and a doctorate in theology from the [[University of Navarra]] 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]], as well as other departments of the Roman Curia: the [[Congregation for the Clergy]] since 2003 and the [[Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization]] 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 [[Dialogue between the Society of St. Pius X and the Holy See|doctrinal discussions]] between the [[Society of St. Pius X]] and the [[Holy See]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz is the New Chancellor of Strathmore University|url=https://strathmore.edu/news/monsignor-fernando-ocariz-is-the-new-chancellor-of-strathmore-university/|access-date=2022-12-09|website=Strathmore University|language=en-US}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mons. Fernando Ocáriz, nuevo Gran Canciller|url=https://strathmore.edu/news/monsignor-fernando-ocariz-is-the-new-chancellor-of-strathmore-university/}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.-->|title=Monsignor Ocariz confirmed as new prelate of Opus Dei|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/35290/monsignor-ocariz-confirmed-as-new-prelate-of-opus-dei|agency=[[Catholic News Agency]]|date=23 January 2017|access-date=31 July 2021}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name="opusdei2">{{cite web|url=http://opusdei.us/en-us/document/letter-of-the-prelate-14-february-2017/|title=Letter from the Prelate|date=14 February 2017|publisher=Opus Dei|access-date=21 August 2018}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* Van Biema, David (13 April 2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20071209020405/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1183492-4,00.html "The Ways of Opus Dei"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''.
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.conelpapa.com/quepersigue/opusdei/ocariz.htm Con el papa sobre Opus Dei y Fernando Ocáriz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219180920/http://www.conelpapa.com/quepersigue/opusdei/ocariz.htm|date=19 December 2007}}

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