Pope Francis has issued a motu proprio changing the juridical status of Opus Dei.

The document Ad Charisma Tuendum, released on July 22, amends the apostolic constitution Ut Sit, with which Pope John Paul II established Opus Dei as the first (and to date only) personal prelature in the Church in 1982.

Under the terms of the new document, Opus Dei will responsible to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Clergy, rather than (as at present) the Dicastery for Bishops. The prelate of Opus Dei will no longer be eligible to become a bishop.

Pope Francis explained that the new canonical structure was designed to ensure “a form of governance based on charism more than on hierarchical authority.” He encouraged Opus Dei to be guided by the charism of its founder, St. Josemaria Escriva, in spreading “the call to holiness in the world, the sanctification of work and family and social commitments.”