Álvaro del Portillo

For nearly forty years, Álvaro del Portillo was the closest collaborator of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, who nicknamed him "Saxum" (the Rock). In Rome, he took on numerous responsibilities in the service of the Holy See, notably during the Second Vatican Council as an expert and secretary of the Commission on the Discipline of the Clergy, contributing to the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis. He also participated in the revision of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Upon the founder's death in 1975, he was unanimously elected to succeed him. Under his leadership, Opus Dei was established as a personal prelature by John Paul II on November 28, 1982. Álvaro del Portillo became its first prelate and was ordained a bishop by John Paul II on January 6, 1991. He also encouraged numerous social, educational, and medical initiatives, such as the Campus Bio-Medico University in Rome.

Msgr. Álvaro del Portillo passed away suddenly in Rome on March 23, 1994, at the age of 80, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Pope John Paul II went personally to Villa Tevere to pray before his remains, hailing him as a "good and faithful servant." His reputation for holiness spread rapidly, leading to the official opening of his cause for beatification and canonization on January 21, 2004. On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, declaring him Venerable.

The miracle required for his beatification was approved by Pope Francis on July 5, 2013. It concerns the scientifically inexplicable healing of José Ignacio Ureta Wilson, a Chilean newborn who suffered a prolonged cardiac arrest of more than thirty minutes in 2003. After the prayers of his parents asking for the intercession of Álvaro del Portillo, the baby's heart began to beat normally again without any sequelae. The beatification ceremony was celebrated on September 27, 2014, in Madrid, presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato on behalf of Pope Francis, before more than 200,000 faithful.

The spirituality of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo is marked by humility, inner peace, and absolute fidelity to the Church, the Pope, and the charism of Opus Dei. He embodied the universal call to holiness in the midst of the world. His legacy is perpetuated through the development of the prelature and the many charitable works he inspired. His liturgical feast day is set for May 12, the anniversary of his first communion received in 1921 in Madrid.