Editing Josemaría Escrivá (section)

==Personality and attitudes==
{{POV section|date=May 2025}}
===Attitudes in general===
One of the persons who knew Escrivá best was the Bishop of Madrid, where Opus Dei was initiated, Bishop Leopoldo Eijo y Garay, for Escrivá would visit and report to him quite frequently and the two established a very strong friendship. In a 1943 report to Rome, the bishop stated: "The distinctive notes of his character are his energy and his capacity for organization and government; with an ability to pass unnoticed. He has shown himself most obedient to the Church hierarchy -- one very special hallmark of his priestly work is the way he fosters, in speech and in writing, in public and in private, love for Holy Mother Church and for the Roman Pontiff." Bishop Eijo y Garay wrote to the Jesuit Provincial of Toledo, Carlos Gomez Martinho, S.J. in 1941: "Fr. Escrivá is an exemplary priest, chosen by God for apostolic enterprises; humble, prudent, self-sacrificing in work, docile to his bishop, of outstanding intelligence and with a very solid spiritual and doctrinal formation." Eijo y Garay told an officer of the [[FET y de las JONS|Falange]] that "[T]o think that Fr. Josemaría Escrivá is capable of creating anything secret is absurd. He is as frank and open as a child!" {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}

[[Viktor Frankl]], an Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist, founder of "[[logotherapy]]", and a Nazi concentration camp survivor, met Escrivá in Rome in 1970 and later wrote of "the refreshing serenity which emanated from him and warmed the whole conversation", and "the unbelievable rhythm" with which his thought flowed, and finally "his amazing capacity" for getting into "immediate contact" with those with whom he was speaking. Frankl went on: "Escrivá evidently lived totally in the present moment, he opened out to it completely, and gave himself entirely to it."<ref>The Tablet: [http://www.thetablet.co.uk/articles/4627/ How Escrivá changed my life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032906/http://www.thetablet.co.uk/articles/4627/ |date=2016-03-05 }}, 19 January 2002</ref><ref>Joan Baptista Torelló, [http://www.istmoenlinea.com.mx/articulos/23709.html?PHPSESSID=224e812b99ad4b7f4824bfc42513d369 Recuerdo de Víktor E. Frankl] (in Spanish), ''Archivo histórico'', '''48''' (286), septiembre/octubre 2006</ref>

According to [[Álvaro del Portillo]], who was Escrivá's closest collaborator for many years, there was one basic quality of Escrivá "that pervaded everything else: his dedication to God, and to all souls for God's sake; his constant readiness to correspond generously to the will of God."<ref name="del Portillo 1996">{{Harvnb|del Portillo|Cavalleri|1996}}</ref> Pope [[Paul VI]] summarized his opinion of what he termed the "extraordinariness" of Escrivá's sanctity in this way: "He is one of those men who has received the most charisms (supernatural gifts) and have corresponded most generously to them."

"The first impression one gets from watching Escrivá 'live'", [[John L. Allen Jr.]] writes after watching some movies on the founder of Opus Dei in 2005, "is his effervescence, his keen sense of humor. He cracks jokes, makes faces, roams the stage, and generally leaves his audience in stitches in off-the-cuff responses to questions from people in the crowd."<ref>Mitch Finley review of [http://explorefaith.org/books/opusdei.html ''Opus Dei'' by John L. Allen Jr.] at explorefaith.org, 2005</ref>

Critics, such as Spanish architect [[Miguel Fisac]], who was one of the earliest members of Opus Dei and who associated with Escrivá for nearly twenty years before ending his relation with Escrivá and Opus Dei, have given a very different description of Escrivá as a pious but vain, secretive, and ambitious man, given to private displays of violent temper, and who demonstrated little charity towards others or genuine concern for the poor.<ref name="Fisac1">Miguel Fisac, [http://www.opuslibros.org/escritos/miguel_fisac.htm "Nunca le oí hablar bien de nadie"], in ''Escrivá de Balaguer - ¿Mito o Santo?'' (Madrid: Libertarias Prodhufi, 1992); {{ISBN|84-7954-063-X}}</ref> According to British journalist [[Giles Tremlett]], "biographies of Escrivá have produced conflicting visions of the saint as either a loving, caring charismatic person or a mean-spirited, manipulative egoist".<ref>[[Giles Tremlett]], [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/05/spain.gilestremlett "Sainthood beckons for priest linked to Franco"], ''[[The Guardian]]'' (UK), 5 October 2002.</ref> French historian Édouard de Blaye has referred to Escrivá as a "mixture of mysticism and ambition".<ref>{{Harvnb|Blaye|1976|pp=262}}</ref>

===Towards God===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Benedictxvistjosemariastatue.jpg|frame|left|Benedict XVI blessing a statue of the founder of Opus Dei at an outside wall of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]].{{deletable image-caption|Tuesday, 16 July 2019|F4}}]] -->

====Prayer====
On the centennial of Escrivá's birthday, Cardinal Ratzinger (who became [[Pope Benedict XVI]]) commented: "I have always been impressed by Josemaría Escrivá's explanation of the name 'Opus Dei': an explanation ... gives us an idea of the founder's spiritual profile. Escrivá knew he had to found something, but he was also conscious that what he was founding was not his own work, that he himself did not invent anything and that the Lord was merely making use of him. So it was not his work, but Opus Dei (God's Work). [This] gives us to understand that he was in a permanent dialogue, a real contact with the One who created us and works for us and with us... If therefore St Josemaría speaks of the common vocation to holiness, it seems to me that he is basically drawing on his own personal experience, not of having done incredible things himself, but of having let God work. Therefore a renewal, a force for good was born in the world even if human weaknesses will always remain."<ref>[[Joseph Ratzinger]]: [http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfjosma.htm St Josemaría: God Is Very Much At Work In Our World Today], ''L'Osservatore Romano'', 9 October 2002, pg. 3</ref>

In his canonization homily, Pope John Paul II described Escrivá as "a master in the practice of prayer, which he considered to be an extraordinary 'weapon' to redeem the world...It is not a paradox but a perennial truth; the fruitfulness of the apostolate lies above all in prayer and in intense and constant sacramental life." In John Paul II's ''Decree of Canonization'', he refers to the five brief prayers or aspirations of Escrivá through which "one can trace the entire life story of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá. He was barely sixteen when he began to recite the first two aspirations [''Domine, ut videam!'', Lord, that I might see! and ''Domina, ut sit!'', Lady, that it might be!], as soon as he had the first inklings of God's call. They expressed the burning desire of his heart: to see what God was asking of him, so that he might do it without delay, lovingly fulfilling the Lord's will.<ref>cf Lk 18:41</ref> The third aspiration [''Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam!'', All together with Peter to Jesus through Mary!] appears frequently in his writings as a young priest and shows how his zeal to win souls for God went hand in hand with both a firm determination to be faithful to the Church and an ardent devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God. ''Regnare Christum volumus!'' We want Christ to reign!:<ref>cf 1 Corinthians 15:25</ref> these words aptly express his constant pastoral concern to spread among all men and women the call to share, through Christ, in the dignity of God's children. God's sons and daughters should live for the purpose, to serve Him alone: ''Deo omnis gloria!'' All the glory to God!"<ref>cf [[Canon of the Mass|Roman Canon]], Major Doxology and minor elevation</ref><ref>Romana: [http://en.romana.org/?s=1.0&n=33&ID=1 Towards the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá], '''33''', July–December 2001, pg. 136</ref>

During the thanksgiving Mass for the canonization of St. Josemaría, [[John Paul II]], said: "In the Founder of Opus Dei, there is an extraordinary love for the will of God. There exists a sure criterion of holiness: fidelity in accomplishing the divine will down to the last consequences. For each one of us the Lord has a plan, to each he entrusts a mission on earth. The saint could not even conceive of himself outside of God's plan. He lived only to achieve it. St Josemaría was chosen by the Lord to announce the universal call to holiness and to point out that daily life and ordinary activities are a path to holiness. One could say that he was the saint of ordinary life."<ref name="JPII-2002">{{Harvnb|Pope John Paul II|2002}}</ref>

Not all Catholic commentators, however, were impressed equally by Escrivá's spirituality.  For instance, the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] theologian [[Hans Urs von Balthasar]] wrote in an article of 1963 that Escrivá's ''The Way'' provided an "insufficient spirituality" to sustain a religious organization and that the book was hardly more than "a little Spanish manual for advanced [[Scout (Scouting)|Boy Scouts]]".<ref name="Balthasar">{{citation|first=Hans Urs|last=von Balthasar|title=Integralismus|language=de|journal=Wort und Wahrheit|volume=18|pages=737–744|year=1963}}. Published originally on 23 November 1963 in the periodical ''[[Neue Zürcher Nachrichten#Supplements|Neue Zürcher Nachrichten-Christliche Kultur]]''. An English translation is available [https://theologyandsociety.com/integralismus/ here]</ref> Von Balthasar also questioned the attitudes towards prayer described by ''The Way'', declaring that Escrivá's use of prayer {{quote|moves almost exclusively within the circle of the self, of a self that must be great and strong, equipped with [[Paganism|pagan]] virtues, apostolic and [[Napoleon]]ic. That which is most necessary, which is the contemplative rooting of the [[Logos (Christianity)|Word]] "on good soil" (Matthew 13:8), that which constitutes the aim of the prayers of the saints, of the great founders, the prayer of a [[Charles de Foucauld|Foucauld]], is something one will search for in vain here.<ref name="Balthasar" />}}
Von Balthasar repeated his negative evaluation of ''The Way'' in a television interview from 1984.<ref name="Allen 2005 64">{{Harvnb|Allen|2005|p=64}}</ref>

Similar criticism of Escrivá's spirituality has been stated by other commentators: for instance, according to [[Kenneth L. Woodward]], a journalist who specializes in articles about the Catholic Church, "to judge by his writings alone, Escrivá's was an unexceptional spirit, derivative and often banal in his thoughts, personally inspiring, perhaps, but devoid of original insights", whose book ''The Way'' reveals "a remarkable narrowness of mind, weariness of human sexuality, and artlessness of expression."<ref name="Woodward-Book-TheWay">{{citation|last=Woodward|first=Kenneth L.|title=Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why|publisher=Touchstone|year=1996|isbn=978-0-684-81530-5|page=385}}</ref>

====Towards the liturgy====
Escrivá conceived the Mass as the "Source and summit of the Christian's interior life," a terminology which was later used by the [[Second Vatican Council]].<ref name="VDP"/> Escrivá strove to obey whatever was indicated by the competent authority regarding the celebration of Mass and "[h]e took all necessary steps to ensure that the prescriptions of Vatican II, notably in the area of the liturgy, were applied within Opus Dei."<ref>Francois Gondrand, At God's Pace, Scepter, London-Princeton, 1989, p. 287</ref> As his prayer was much integrated with traditional liturgy, Escrivá found the transition difficult and asked Echevarría to help him with respect to the new rites. Although he missed the practices of the old rites, especially some gestures such as the kissing of the [[paten]] (a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold the Eucharist), he prohibited his devotees to ask for any dispensation for him "out of a spirit of obedience to ecclesiastical norms... He has decided to show his love for the liturgy through the new rite", commented Echevarría. However, when [[Annibale Bugnini]], Secretary of the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy, learned of Escrivá's difficulties, he granted Escrivá the possibility of celebrating the Mass using the old rite. Whenever Escrivá celebrated this rite, he did so only in the presence of one Mass server.<ref name="Echevarría Rodríguez 2000">{{Harvnb|Echevarría Rodríguez|2000}}</ref><ref>''"Other priests&nbsp;— such as Blessed Padre Pío and Blessed Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei&nbsp;— continued to use the old Mass privately in preference to the new rite."''<br /> [http://www.latinmassireland.org/thelatinmass/what_is_the_latin_mass.html Latin Mass Society of Eire-Ireland. Member of Una Voce International, a lay organization approved by the Holy See] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927134231/http://www.latinmassireland.org/thelatinmass/what_is_the_latin_mass.html |date=2007-09-27 }}</ref>

Vladimir Felzmann,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/4774|title=Latest News about Catholicism and Christianity in The Tablet|website=www.thetablet.co.uk|access-date=20 November 2017}}</ref> a priest who worked as Escrivá's personal assistant before quitting Opus Dei in 1981,<ref name="Miller">Annabel Miller, [http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/4774 "Muscular Catholicism"], ''[[The Tablet]]'', 17 November 2001</ref> stated in an interview for ''[[Newsweek]]'' that Escrivá was so distraught by the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council that he and his deputy, [[Álvaro del Portillo]], "went to Greece in 1967 to see if [they] could bring Opus Dei into the [[Greek Orthodox Church]]. Escrivá thought the [Catholic] church was a shambles and that the Orthodox might be the salvation of himself and of Opus Dei as the faithful remnant."<ref name="Woodward" />  Felzmann says that Escrivá soon abandoned those plans as impracticable. Flavio Capucci, a member of Opus Dei and the postulator of the cause for Escrivá's [[canonization]], denies that Escrivá ever contemplated quitting the Catholic Church.<ref name="Woodward" />  This was also denied by the information office of Opus Dei, which stated that Escrivá's visit to Greece in 1966 was done in order to analyze the convenience of organizing Opus Dei in that country, and that Escrivá even brought back [[icon]]s as presents for Pope Paul VI and [[Angelo Dell'Acqua]] (then the substitute to the [[Secretariat of State (Holy See)|Vatican Secretary of State]]), whom he had informed of the visit beforehand.<ref name="Felzmann-EP" />

====Mortification====
Escrivá taught that "joy has its roots in the form of a cross", and that "suffering is the touchstone of love", convictions which were represented in his own life.<ref name="BIOG">{{Harvnb|Gondrand|1990}}, {{Harvnb|Le Tourneau|1987}}, {{Harvnb|Vázquez de Prada|2001}}, {{Harvnb|Berglar|1994}}</ref> He practiced [[Mortification of the flesh|corporal mortification]] personally and recommended it to others in Opus Dei. In particular, his enthusiasm for the practice of self-[[flagellation]] has attracted controversy, with critics quoting testimonies about Escrivá whipping himself furiously until the walls of his cubicle were speckled with blood.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hutchison|2006|p=93}}</ref> Both the practice of self-mortification as a form of penance, and the conviction that suffering can help a person to acquire sanctity, have ample precedent in Catholic teaching and practice. Referring to Escrivá, John Paul II stated in ''Christifideles omnes'':{{quote|During the Spanish Civil War he personally experienced the fury of anti-religious persecution and gave daily proof of heroism in a constant priestly activity seasoned with abundant prayer and penance. It did not take long before many came to consider him a saint. When the war was over many bishops invited him to preach retreats to their clergy, thereby greatly contributing to the renewal of Christian life in Spain. Many religious orders and congregations also requested his pastoral services. At the same time, God allowed him to suffer public attacks. He responded invariably with pardon, to the point of considering his detractors as benefactors. But this Cross was such a source of blessings from heaven that the Servant of God's apostolate spread with astonishing speed.<ref name="ACF">{{Harvnb|Angelo Cardinal Felici|1990}}</ref>}}

===Towards the Virgin Mary===
[[File:Univnavarrefairlove.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Mother of Fair Love, a gift of Josemaría Escrivá to the [[University of Navarra]]: John Paul II stated: "Love for our Lady is a constant characteristic of the life of Josemaría Escrivá."]]
Pope John Paul II stated on Sunday, 6 October 2002, after the Angelus greetings: "Love for our Lady is a constant characteristic of the life of Josemaría Escrivá and is an eminent part of the legacy that he left to his spiritual sons and daughters." The Pope also said that "St. Josemaría wrote a beautiful small book called ''The Holy Rosary'' which presents spiritual childhood, a real disposition of spirit of those who wish to attain total abandonment to the divine will".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2002/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20021007_opus-dei.html|title=To the pilgrims who had come for the Canonization of Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (October 7, 2002) {{!}} John Paul II|website=www.vatican.va|access-date=2019-12-04}}</ref>

When Escrivá was 10 or 11 years old, he already had the habit of carrying the rosary in his pocket. As a priest, he would ordinarily end his homilies and his personal prayer with a conversation with the Blessed Virgin. He instructed that all rooms in the offices of Opus Dei should have an image of the Virgin. He encouraged his spiritual children to greet these images when they entered a room. He encouraged a Marian apostolate, preaching that ''"To Jesus we go and to Him we return through Mary"''. While looking at a picture of the [[Virgin of Guadalupe]] giving a rose to San [[Juan Diego]], he commented: "I would like to die that way." On 26 June 1975, after entering his work room, which had a painting of the [[Virgin of Guadalupe]], he slumped on the floor and died.<ref name="BIOG"/>

===Towards people===
"Escrivá de Balaguer was a very human saint", preached John Paul II. "All those who met him, whatever their culture or social status, felt he was a father, totally devoted to serving others, for he was convinced that every soul is a marvellous treasure; indeed, every person is worth all of Christ's Blood. This attitude of service is obvious in his dedication to his priestly ministry and in the [[magnanimity]] with which he started so many works of evangelization and human advancement for the poorest persons."<ref name="JPII-2002"/>

Former numerary María del Carmen Tapia (born 1925), who worked with Escrivá for 18 years inside the organization, seven as his secretary, wrote in her book, ''Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei'', that Escrivá often became angry, and that as secretary in charge of recording his words and actions, she was not allowed to record anything negative that she witnessed. She stated she was subjected to abusive words from Escrivá, who called her filthy names, and then screamed during this meeting with both men and women present, upbraiding a member who helped Tapia send letters. She was kept prisoner in the headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome from November 1965 until March 1966. "I was held completely deprived of any outside contact with the absolute prohibition to go out for any reason or receive or make telephone calls or to write or receive letters. Nor could I go out for the so-called weekly walk or the monthly excursion. I was a prisoner."<ref>[[Matthew Fox (priest)|Fox, Matthew]]. ''The Pope's War''. Sterling Ethos: New York (2011); {{ISBN|978-1-4027-8629-7}}</ref>

However, some of his devotees say that, through him, Opus Dei has been able to better the quality of life of many women, and refer to his respect for women and his interest in improving their lives.<ref name="BIOG"/> Historian [[Elizabeth Fox-Genovese]], a Catholic convert, asserted that "Opus Dei has an enviable record of educating the poor and supporting women, whether single or married, in any occupation they choose."<ref name="BIOG"/>

===Towards his family===
Opus Dei's founder modified his name in several ways over the course of his life. In the church records of the cathedral at Barbastro, he appears as having been baptized four days after birth with the name José María Julián Mariano, and his surname was spelled Escriba.<ref name="Walsh-name">{{Harvnb|Walsh|2004|pp=13}}</ref>  As early as his school days, José Escrivá had "adopted the rather more distinguished version spelled with a "v" rather than a "b."<ref>{{Harvnb|Walsh|2004|pp=14}}</ref> His name is spelled Escrivá in the memento of his first Mass. According to critics like Luis Carandell<ref name="Carandell-name">Luis Carandell, ''Vida y milagros de Monseñor Escrivá de Balaguer, fundador del Opus Dei''. The relevant passage is available in Spanish [http://www.opuslibros.org/libros/Carandell/estetica_apellido.htm here].</ref> and Michael Walsh<ref name="Walsh-name" /> a former Jesuit priest, he also adopted the use of the conjunction ''y'' ("and") joining his father's and mother's surnames ("Escrivá y Albás"), a usage which he says is associated with aristocratic families, even though that has been the legal naming format in Spain [[Spanish naming customs#The particle .E2.80.9Cy.E2.80.9D .28and.29|since 1870]].

On 16 June 1940, the Spanish ''[[Boletín Oficial del Estado]]'' ("Official State Bulletin") records that Escrivá requested of the government that he be permitted to change his "first surname so that it will be written Escrivá de Balaguer". He justified the petition on the grounds that "the name Escrivá is common in the east coast and in [[Catalonia]], leading to harmful and annoying confusion".  On 20 June 1943, when he was 41 years old, the registry book of the Barbastro cathedral and the baptismal certificate of José María were annotated to represent "that the surname Escriba was changed to Escrivá de Balaguer".<ref name="Carandell-name" />  [[Balaguer]] is the name of the town in Catalonia from which Escrivá's paternal family derived.

One of the earliest members of Opus Dei, and a friend for many years, the architect Miguel Fisac, who later quit Opus Dei, said that Escrivá found it embarrassing to have his father's family name since his father's company became bankrupt, that he had a "great affection for the aristocracy", and that, when Escrivá was a chaplain at the Foundation of Santa Isabel in Madrid, he would often meet aristocratic visitors who would ask, upon learning that his name was Escrivá, whether he belonged to the noble Escrivá de Romaní family, only to ignore him when they learned that he did not.<ref name="Fisac1" /> According to Vásquez de Prada, a writer, Opus Dei member, and official biographer who produced a three-volume biography of Escrivá, the act had nothing to do with ambition but was motivated rather by fairness and loyalty to his family.<ref name="VDP"/> The main problem is that in Spanish the letters ''b'' and ''v'' are pronounced in the same way and therefore bureaucrats and clerics had made mistakes in transcribing the Escrivá family name in some official documents throughout the generations. Defenders of Escrivá have also argued that the addition of "de Balaguer" corresponded to a practice adopted by many Spanish families that felt a need to distinguish themselves from others with the same surname but proceeding from [[Spanish naming customs#The particle .E2.80.9Cde.E2.80.9D .28of.29|different regions]] and consequently having different histories.

Escrivá's younger brother Santiago stated that his brother "loved the members of his family" and took good care of them.<ref name="SANTIAGO">{{Cite web|url=http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1992/05/17/061.html|work=Conocer el Opus Dei|author=Santiago Escrivá|date=17 May 1992|title=Mi hermano Josemaría|publisher=[[Diario ABC|ABC (Madrid)]]|access-date=2007-07-14}}</ref> When their father died, he says, Escrivá told their mother that "she should stay calm, because he will always take care of us. And he fulfilled this promise." Escrivá would find time in his busy schedule to chat and take a walk with his younger brother, acting like a father towards him. When the family transferred to Madrid, he obeyed the instructions of their father that he obtain a doctorate in Law. "Thanks to his docility to this advice", says Santiago, "he was able to support the family by giving classes in Law, and with this he acquired a juridical mentality ... which would later be so necessary to do Opus Dei." Escrivá also modified his first name. From José María, he changed it to the original Josemaría. Biographers state, that around 1935 [age 33], "he joined his first two names because his single love for the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph were equally inseparable".<ref name="VDP"/>

===Towards his country===
Many of his contemporaries recount the tendency of Escrivá to preach about patriotism as opposed to nationalism.<ref>{{Harvnb|Escrivá|1987|loc=Maxim 315}} ''"Love your own country: it is a Christian virtue to be patriotic. But if patriotism becomes nationalism, which leads you to look at other people, at other countries, with indifference, with scorn, without Christian charity and justice, then it is a sin."'' [http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/furrow-point-315.htm Furrow]</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Escrivá|2002|loc=Maxim 525}}. ''"To be 'Catholic' means to love your country and to be second to no one in that love. And at the same time, to hold as your own the noble aspirations of other lands.&nbsp;— So many glories of France are glories of mine! And in the same way, much that makes Germans proud, and the peoples of Italy and of England..., and Americans and Asians and Africans, is a source of pride to me also. Catholic: big heart, broad mind."'' [http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-525.htm Excerpt from ''The Way'']</ref>

Critics have alleged that Escrivá personally, as well as the organization of Opus Dei, were associated originally with the ideology of "National Catholicism", particularly during the [[Spanish Civil War]] and the years immediately after it, and that they were therefore also closely associated with the authoritarian regime of [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]]. According to [[Catalonia|Catalan]] sociologist Joan Estruch:

{{quote|More than "a classic of the spirituality of all time", Escrivá de Balaguer is at bottom ''a child of his time'': he is the product of a specific country, a specific epoch, a specific church. These are the [[Francoist Spain|Spain of General Franco]] and the church of [[Pope Pius X]]. If Opus Dei had "never seen the need to bring itself up to date", as Escrivá maintained, Opus would today be a [[paramilitary]], pro-[[Fascism|fascist]], [[Modernism in the Catholic Church|antimodernist]], [[Integrism|integralist]] (reactionary) organization.  If it is not, it is because it has evolved over time, just as the Catholic Church, the Franco regime, and Msgr. Escrivá himself evolved.<ref>{{Harvnb|Estruch|1995|p=65}}</ref>}}

Estruch cites, for instance, the fact that the first edition of Escrivá's ''The Way'', finished in [[Burgos]] and published in [[Valencia, Spain|Valencia]] in 1939, had the dateline ''Año de la Victoria'' ("Year of the Victory"), referring to Franco's military triumph over the [[Republican Faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] forces in the civil war,<ref>{{Harvnb|Estruch|1995|p=61}}</ref> as well as a prologue by a pro-Franco bishop, Xavier Lauzurica, which ended with the admonition to the reader to "always stay vigilant and alert, because the enemy does not sleep. If you make these maxims your life, you will be a perfect imitator of Jesus Christ and a gentleman without blemish. And with Christs like you Spain will return to the old grandeur of its saints, wise men, and heroes."<ref>{{Harvnb|Estruch|1995|p=96}}</ref> Escrivá preached personally to General Franco and his family during a week-long spiritual retreat at the [[Royal Palace of El Pardo|Pardo Palace]] (Franco's official residence) in April 1946.<ref>{{Harvnb|Allen|2005|p=58}}</ref>

[[Vittorio Messori]] says that the ties between Escrivá and Francoism are part of a [[black legend]] propagated against Escrivá and Opus Dei.<ref name="MESSORI" /> Allen states that based on his research Escrivá could not be said to be ''pro-Franco'' (for which he was criticized for not joining other Catholics in openly praising Franco) nor ''anti-Franco'' (for which he was criticized for not being "pro-democracy"). According to Allen, there is no statement from Escrivá for or against Franco.<ref name="ALLENBOOOK"/> Escrivá's devotees and some historians have emphasized his personal effort to avoid partiality in politics. Professor [[Peter Berglar]], a German historian, asserts that Franco's [[falangists]] suspected Escrivá of "internationalism, anti-Spainism and Freemasonry" and that during "the first decade of Franco's regime, Opus Dei and Escrivá were attacked with perseverance bordering on fanaticism, not by enemies, but by supporters of the new [[Spanish State]]. Escrivá was even reported to the ''Tribunal for the Fight against Freemasonry''".<ref>{{Harvnb|Berglar|1994|pp=180–181}}</ref>

===Awards and honors===
Escrivá received several awards:
*The Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise (1951)
*The Gold Cross of St. Raymond of Penyafort (1954)
*The [[Order of Isabella the Catholic|Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic]] (1956)
*The [[Order of Charles III|Grand Cross of Charles III]] (1960)
*Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Zaragoza (Spain, 1960)
*The Gold Medal by the City council of [[Barbastro]] (1975).

Some biographers have said that Escrivá did not seek these awards, that they were nevertheless granted to him, that he accepted them due to charity to those who were granting these, and that he did not give the slightest importance to these awards.<ref name="BIOG" />  Journalist Luis Carandell, however, recounts testimonies about how members of Opus Dei paid for the insignia of the Grand Cross of Charles III to be made from gold, only to have Escrivá angrily reject it and demand instead one encrusted with [[Diamond (gemstone)|diamond]]s. Carandell holds that this episode was part of a larger pattern in Escrivá's life of ambition for social prestige and the trappings of wealth.<ref>Luis Carandell, "La otra cara del beato Escrivá", ''Cambio 16'', March 1992. Available in Spanish [http://www.opuslibros.org/prensa/luis_carandell.htm here].</ref> Sympathetic biographers, however, insist that Escrivá taught that material things are good, but that people should not get attached to them and should serve only God.  It is reported that he declared that "he has most who needs least" and that it took only 10 minutes to gather his possessions after his death.<ref name="BIOG"/>