 "Opus Dei" is Latin for "Work of God"; hence the organization is often referred to by members and supporters as "the Work".Opus Dei was founded in Spain in 1928 by Catholic saint and priest Josemaría Escrivá and was given final Catholic Church approval in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.John Paul II made it a personal prelature in 1982 by the apostolic constitution "Ut sit"; that is, the jurisdiction of its own bishop covers the persons in Opus Dei wherever they are, rather than geographical dioceses.