By Wikipedia on Opus Dei, version of November 27, 2006
John Paul II established Opus Dei as a personal prelature of the Catholic Church on 28 November 1982.
This legal framework, the Pope said, is "perfectly suited" to Opus Dei's "true nature and theological characteristics": a unified, secular, international body of priests and lay people, both men and women, sharing the same vocation with no distinctions, under the governance of one head.
Being a part of the Church's hierarchical structure, like a diocese, indicates that Opus Dei is an integral part of the Church itself, and not a mere product of voluntary association.
Personal prelatures, similar to dioceses and military ordinariates, are under the governance of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops. These 3 types of ecclesiastical structures are composed of lay people served by their own secular clergy and prelate. Unlike dioceses which cover territories, personal prelatures —like military ordinariates— take charge of persons as regards some objectives regardless of where they live.
As to "what the law lays down for all the ordinary faithful", the lay members of Opus Dei, being no different from other Catholics, "continue to be ... under the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop", in the words of John Paul II's Ut Sit.
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