Montefalco School for Women: An Opus Dei Institution in Mexico

This article examines education of women within Opus Dei by focusing on educational model used within Montefalco (1) School for Women. As part of Opus Dei's work, school obeys and is fully integrated with organization's guiding ideology referred to as of God or just the Work. (2) This study is based on my previous work (3) on Opus Dei's clergy as well as on fieldwork and archival work. I also used interviews with women who were associated with different charismatic (divine) categories of this religious group as well as ample literature published by Opus Dei. I begin with some of historical context for this organization in Mexico. Obeying orders of founding priest, Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer y Albas, first group of Spanish women associated with Opus Dei arrived in Mexico in March 1950. They were expressly charged with care and management of all housing used by organization's members (4). Opus Dei had been in Mexico since 1948, doing proselytizing work on behalf of organization. This group of women was called Opus Dei's feminine section, and was made up of three young women who were under orders of Guadalupe Ortiz de Landazuri. From time it was created, the has been characterized by its support of theological directives coming from Vatican (5) that promote masculine and feminine identities based on gender difference and principles of complementarity of men and women. (6) These identities were developed within core of institution--the founding priest occupied a hegemonic space as institution's patriarch, a role now exercised by clergy. It is men, as priests and members, who occupy positions of power and control. Women occupy secondary places and their function is to reproduce institution's ideology and gender roles within education. Women are in charge of administrative and housekeeping duties for institution's houses, visitors' accommodations, schools, retirement centres and so on. Opus Dei is a conservative organization that promotes an ideology of social conformity that is justified as way in which spiritual peace can be achieved by its followers. (7) It reaffirms social differences by demanding an uncritical adherence to productive and reproductive functions of men and women that do not change their position in society. To achieve harmony and avoid conflict, difference in terms of gender, social class and ethnicity is handled by separating men from women, rich from poor, and whites from indigenous persons. These daily practices show how ideology of the is based on a hierarchical social order that is authoritarian, sexist, classist and racist. The Opus Dei in Mexico, given its religious position and conservative ideology, identifies with upper echelons of country's ecclesiastical hierarchy and politically aligns itself with right wing governments. In recent past however, it has managed to maintain good relations with PRI (8) governments. It rejects theology of liberation, (9) claiming that it is discriminatory, while maintaining a preference for upper class catholic members (10). When we take a closer look at educational practices of the Work of God by focusing on Montefalco School for Women, we can appreciate way in which gender intersects with other social categories like class and ethnicity. (11) The way in which this intersectionality manifests itself within practices of school can be seen in particular roles that women are assigned depending on their social class, their status within the Work, and their ethnicity. Upper class women maintain social order through their philanthropic role formalized via a women's board called, Asociacion Cultural Universal, A.C. (Universal Cultural Association) where numerary and supernumerary (12) members are in charge of fundraising for school as well as manage and plan activities related to it. …

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