A personal prelature is a Roman Catholic organization of clergy and laypeople who are governed by a prelate. The prelate is assisted in his pastoral role by priests and deacons. Personal prelatures have jurisdiction over people rather than a geographic area, as in a diocese.
Opus Dei (founded 1928) is an example of a personal prelature and is in fact the only established personal prelature in the Catholic Church. The particular structure of personal prelatures was formalized in canon law in 1983.