This week, Opus Dei launched a new website to serve as a centralized hub for the Opus Dei Youth Project, which was launched in January of this year.
With a primary focus on encouraging youth to lead a life of faith in their everyday lives, the website publishes various media resources curated for youth.
On Jan. 15, 2024, Opus Dei announced their new project entitled "Youth," aimed at forming and engaging the young members of the Catholic Church through online content.
This bilingual initiative seeks to be readily accessible to English and Spanish speakers around the world.
The new youth website is the next big step in providing young people with content designed to help form their spiritual lives.
05/06/2024
Since January, many of these resources have been shared across Opus Dei social platforms such as Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube. Now, the Youth website, housed on the general Opus Dei website under the “Youth” tab, is a home for children and teens to interact with content “for young people, by young people.”
Currently, the website contains four sections: "Saint Raphael", "For Prayer," "The World & I," and "I Believe."
The "Saint Raphael" section, named after the archangel who helped form young Tobias in the Bible, offers training and guidance for visitors with the formation created by Opus Dei.
Likewise, "For Prayer" shares resources that can help guide one’s prayer. "The World & I" has videos, case studies, and articles that show how young people around the world live for Christ in their daily lives. Lastly, the "I Believe" section specifically focuses on teaching the Catholic faith.
Rachael Ottenbreit, an editor for the Opus Dei website shared that “the different sections of the website are meant to reach the totality of the person: heart, hands and head. There’s conversation with God, the heart; relationships and action, the hands; and understanding the faith, the head.”
When asked what inspired the creation of this website and the greater Opus Dei Youth Project, Ottenbreit said that the young people currently in their formation programs were consulted.
They expressed a desire to access more “inspiration from other youth trying to live holy lives, material for prayer, food for thought, [and] explanations of doctrinal questions for themselves and their friends.”
Ultimately, the launch of this website is an effort to support young people in their pursuit of God in the current age of the internet, media, and the postmodern world.
Ottenbreit acknowledged that this is highly talked about by Pope Francis and said, “If it’s one of the Pope’s priorities, it’s one of our priorities.”
