Editing Josemaría Escrivá (section)

===Mission as the founder of Opus Dei===
A prayerful retreat helped him to discern more definitely what he considered to be God's will for him, and, on 2 October 1928, he "saw" [[Opus Dei]] ({{langx|en|Work of God}}), a way by which Catholics might learn to sanctify themselves by their secular work.<ref name=Burger>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-real-st.-josemaria-escriva-and-the-film-version/ |title=Burger, John. "The Real St. Josemaria Escriva and the Film Version", ''National Catholic Register'', May 16, 2011 |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-date=April 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418173241/http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-real-st.-josemaria-escriva-and-the-film-version/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He founded it in 1928, and Pius XII gave it final approval in 1950. According to the decree of the [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints]], which contains a condensed biography of Escrivá, "[t]o this mission he gave himself totally. From the beginning his was a very wide-ranging apostolate in social environments of all kinds. He worked especially among the poor and the sick languishing in the slums and hospitals of Madrid."<ref name="ACF" />

During the [[Spanish Civil War]], Escrivá fled from Madrid, which was controlled by the anti-clerical [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]]s, via [[Andorra]] and [[French Third Republic|France]], to the city of [[Burgos]], which was the headquarters of General [[Francisco Franco]]'s [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] forces.<ref>{{Harvnb|Berglar|1994|pp=135–145}}</ref> After the war ended in 1939 with Franco's victory, Escrivá was able to resume his studies in Madrid and complete a doctorate in law, for which he submitted a thesis on the historical jurisdiction of the [[abbess]] of [[Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas|Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas]].<ref name="Rocca">{{citation|first=Giancarlo|last=Rocca|title=Gli studi accademici di s. Josemaría Escrivá y Albás|language=it|journal=Claretianum|volume=49|pages=241–297|year=2009|url=http://www.opuslibros.org/libros/Rocca_est.htm}} (available in Italian and Spanish)</ref>

The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, affiliated with Opus Dei, was founded on Sunday, 14 February 1943.  Escrivá relocated to [[Rome]] in 1946. The decree declaring Escrivá "Venerable" states that "in 1947 and on Monday, 16 June 1950, he obtained approval of Opus Dei as an institution of pontifical right. With tireless charity and operative hope he guided the development of Opus Dei throughout the world, activating a vast mobilization of lay people ... He gave life to numerous initiatives in the work of evangelization and human welfare; he fostered vocations to the priesthood and the religious life everywhere... Above all, he devoted himself tirelessly to the task of forming the members of Opus Dei."<ref name="ACF" />