NEL CENTENARIO DELLA NASCITA DI MONS. ALVARO DEL PORTILLO

VIR FIDELIS MULTUM LAUDABITUR (PROV. 28:20)

Mercoledì 12 marzo 2014

Mons. Álvaro del Portillo, nella vita dell’ John F. Coverdale

PROVISORY TEXT

Anyone with even a superficial knowledge of the history of Opus Dei will immediately recognize that in 45 minutes it is impossible to do justice to Alvaro del Portillo’s unique role in that story. At best we can hope to touch on the principal themes and to highlight a few of his contributions. In attempting to do that, I will adopt a mixed chronological/thematic approach, dividing his life into major periods and exploring the principal topics that characterize each period.

To begin at the beginning, nothing suggests that during the year between his joining Opus Dei and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War St. Josemaría singled out Alvaro for a special role in Opus Dei. He was obviously a talented young man who was beginning to develop a deep interior life, but the same could be said of other people who comprised Opus Dei at the time.

During the months St Josemaría spent crowded into a small room in the Legation of Honduras with other members of the Work, Juan Jiménez Vargas was the person with whom he spoke most frequently and intimately. During that period, however, the Founder had ample opportunities to talk with Alvaro and to come to appreciate that there was something special about his faith, his unwavering cheerfulness, and his commitment to God in Opus Dei.

In the year and a half between the time when St. Josemaría left the legation and the end of the war, he gradually focused more and more on Alvaro as a key collaborator. The

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most obvious indicator of this is his beginning to refer to him as “Saxum,” but we may be reading too much back into the use of that appellation. He did not apply it only to del Portillo. To the best of my knowledge the first time he used it in writing was in a letter addressed jointly to del Portillo and Vicente Rodríguez Casado dated February 13, 1939. At the end of June, 1939 writing to Álvaro, Vicente, and Eduardo Alastrue he applied the term to all : “I know that you are behaving well and that I have in the three of you three rocks. Saxum!” It is true that during the first half of 1939 he used the term Saxum several times in writing to del Portillo alone and that he described his hopes for his long and fruitful service to God in the Work. To determine the exact significance of all of this, it would be necessary to review Escrivá’s correspondence for this period with other members of the Work to determine how distinctive his treatment of Alvaro actually was.

Whatever the answer to that question, we have other indications of St. Josemaría’s increasing confidence in del Portillo. He began to look to him for advice, for instance on the delicate question of asking his mother and sister to take charge of the housekeeping in the residence Opus Dei hoped to reopen in Madrid at the end of the war. He also shared with him, as he did with Juan Jiménez Vargas, intimate details of his own interior life. Walking along the banks of the Arlazon River he told him that for many days he had been dwelling in the wound of Christ’s right hand, noticing the flow of His blood and being purified by Our Lord. The Founder also came to realize that Alvaro’s unwavering dedication and enthusiasm made him someone he could count on to help other members of the Work. In January 1939, for instance, he wrote to him: “These days I have been insistently asking our Lord that he give back their enthusiasm for the things of the Work to those members of our family who perhaps do not feel it now. Help me to ask for this and to achieve it.”

Del Portillo’s demobilization in September 1939 marked the beginning of his close collaboration with St. Josemaría in the development and governing of Opus Dei. In October 1939, Escrivá named him Secretary-General of Opus Dei. This appointment, which was the beginning of his formal collaboration with St. Josemaría in the government of Opus Dei, made him its second-ranking authority.

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As Secretary-General he was in charge in Madrid whenever the Founder was away. In the early 1940s, that was about 1/3 of the time. Whatever issues needed to be resolved, Álvaro’s guiding principle was to do what Escrivá would do if he were present. When he was uncertain what the Founder’s answer would be he responded, “I’ll get back to you. I’m going to ask the Father.”

In the immediate post-war years Alvaro also played a leading role in the financial affairs of Opus Dei and with setting up and furnishing new centers. The Work’s rapid expansion was favored by the fact that, unlike the advisors who had suggested closing DYA because it was not financially viable, he enthusiastically supported the Founder’s plans for opening new centers whose cost far exceeded Opus Dei’s limited resources.

During these years, Del Portillo also bore along with the Founder the full brunt of the calumnies against the Work. On a number of occasions when Escrivá was unavailable, Alvaro had to deal with ecclesiastical authorities who were troubled by accusations that reached them. His calm and obvious good faith more than once contributed to calming the waters.

Alvaro was the first person to whom St. Josemaría entrusted the task of giving spiritual guidance to other members. He also frequently headed up trips to outlying cities to spread Opus Dei’s message and to give support and formation to new members. As we all know, Alvaro was the first member whom St. Josemaría asked if he would be willing to be ordained.

He was also the person to whom St. Josemaría turned when it became necessary to obtain the Holy See’s nihil obstat for the diocesan erection of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross. After helping the Founder draw up the necessary papers, he cheerfully agreed to go to Rome and carry out the necessary negotiations. He was a layman in an environment in which an archbishop was nobody, but he carried out quickly and effectively a mission which was crucial to the development of Opus Dei.

These specific tasks that don Alvaro carried out in these early years contributed greatly to the development of Opus Dei. At least as important, however, is the fact that his complete availability, full identification with the spirit of the Work, and confidence in

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the Work’s divine origin provided the Founder with the support he needed. We may mistakenly think of St. Josemaría as a pillar of steel who needed only God’s grace and his own strength of character to stand up to the many difficulties he had to face. That is, however, false. He was indeed a holy man with a strong character, but he also needed human affection and support. He got them from many people, including from Bishop Eijo y Garay, but above all from don Alvaro. Bishop Echeverría has testified that he often observed how the Founder and don Alvaro helped each other “mutually, infecting each other with good humor and especially with the conviction that God does not abandon his creatures.”

His ordination in 1944 begins a new chapter in del Portillo’s contributions to the history of Opus Dei. He became even more deeply involved in giving spiritual direction both to members of the Work and to young people who came into contact with its apostolates. He also contributed to their formation with meditations, retreats, and classes, as well as with his example.

His most important service from the time of his ordination until the death of St. Josemaría may well be the one about which we know least, namely his service as his confessor and companion. The very special graces which God gave to Escrivá demanded a confessor who himself had a deep interior life, someone whose spiritual life was in harmony with his own and who had the intelligence and humility to guide him both in day- to-day events and in reacting to the mystical graces God gave him. In St. Teresa of Avila’s autobiography we see how difficult it can be to find such a confessor. St. Josemaría found such a confessor in don Álvaro who was constantly at his side and gave him advice not only in confession but whenever he thought it necessary.

He brought to this task immense affection and veneration for Escrivá and a clear conviction of Escrivá’s unique role as founder. But he also brought to it the fortitude needed to make whatever demands were necessary to the point of provoking Escriva’s comment “Thank you, Lord, for putting at my side my son Álvaro who loves me so much that he doesn’t overlook anything.”

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Along with Jose Luis Muzquiz and Jose Maria Hernandez de Garnica, don Alvaro developed a style of being a priest of Opus Dei. St. Josemaría is of course a model for priests of Opus Dei, but these three had to show how his example could be imitated by priests who were not the Founder and did not have his character and temperament. This, it seems to me, is the significance of the well-known anecdote about St. Josemaría’s asking don Alvaro to take up smoking so no one would think that priests of the Work cannot smoke. Smoking or not smoking is trivial, but the Founder’s request reflects his conviction that later generations would look to don Alvaro and the other two to learn how to be a priest of Opus Dei.

Don Alvaro’s role in obtaining both the initial and final approval of the Holy See is well known. Although it was a vital contribution to the development of Opus Dei, I would like to stress here only one aspect of it, namely his decision to tell the founder that the only way to bring the negotiations to a prompt conclusion was for him to come to Rome. For someone with don Alvaro’s affection for the Father, awareness of his central and irreplaceable role in the life of the Work, and intimate knowledge of his precarious health to ask him to make the trip required extraordinary fortitude as well as a clear sense of what was at stake. It is hard to imagine how without don Alvaro’s decision to call St. Josemaría to Rome Opus Dei could have progressed along the path to an appropriate legal status in the Church.

During the 15 years between his return to Rome in 1946 and the beginning of the second Vatican Council, Don Alvaro played many key roles in the development of Opus Dei. The best known is perhaps his vital contribution to the acquisition and construction of Villa Tevere. He had the magnanimity and vision to support Saint José Maria in his desire for a representative headquarters which would serve Opus Dei well for hundreds of years. Lesser men would have advised that such a headquarters would have to wait until later when Opus Dei had grown and had more resources. Don Alvaro, however, seems never to have wavered in his commitment to the project St. Josemaría envisioned, despite the fact that its burden fell directly on his shoulders. His capacity for work and for dealing with people made it possible to carry out what would otherwise have been an impossible project.

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During this same decade and a half, Don Alvaro contributed in decisive fashion to the establishment and growth of Opus Dei in Italy. He established broad goals, participated personally in establishing and carrying out apostolate with University students, and gave formation to those who joined the Work. Thanks in large part to his efforts, Opus Dei soon had an effective apostolic presence in Italy.

Even more important was his contribution to the establishment of the Roman College of the Holy Cross which would provide formation to future priests and directors of the Work. Despite the lack of money and space, Don Alvaro not only laid the foundations for the Roman College but oversaw its rapid growth, reaching 150 students by the time he stepped down as its head. As rector, he played a very active role in the formation of the first students, passing on to them the spirit of Work , an attitude of complete identification with the Founder, and a sense of urgency in developing the apostolate.

While carrying on these tasks, each of which could easily have been a full-time job, Don Alvaro continued to fulfill his duties both as Secretary General of the Work and as the founder’s indispensable collaborator in many tasks of government. It is not surprising that during one of his many bouts of illness, St. Josemaría asked people to pray for his recovery because the Work did not have the whole group of people who would be needed to replace him.

The opening of the Second Vatican Council marked a new period in don Alvaro’s life. He did not cease to fulfill his many duties in Opus Dei, but he added to them a number of demanding tasks, particularly as the Secretary of the commission which eventually drafted the decree Presbyterorum ordinis. That decree is, of course, of special importance for Opus Dei because of its call for the creation of personal prelatures. It seems logical to assume that Don Alvaro made an important and perhaps decisive contribution to the passage on personal prelatures. The Council Fathers’ call for the creation of personal prelatures had, however, been foreshadowed in some ways in the Prelature of Pontigni, better known as the Mission de France. Bishop Marty, a member of the Commission that drafted Presbyterorum ordinis, was intimately familiar with the Mission de France of which he would be appointed prelate in 1965. So we cannot simply assume that don Alvaro was solely responsible for this aspect of the decree. Further study is needed to

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determine with precision the nature and extent of his contribution. Perhaps Cardinal Herranz will illuminate us on that issue tomorrow.

At a much less specific but important level, the contacts don Alvaro made during the Council helped to give Opus Dei a more visible presence in the life of the Church both in Rome and throughout the world. Many bishops and other churchmen, who perhaps knew little about Opus Dei as an institution came to know, and respect don Alvaro who became in their minds the visible symbol of Opus Dei.

During the decade from the end of the second Vatican Council to the death of Saint Josemaría, don Alvaro continued to play the same key roles in the life of Opus Dei that he had played previously. In addition, during Saint José Maria’s extensive catechetical trips he was always a quiet presence in the background, providing support, answering questions, and providing an example of how to be an outstanding son of the Father. As one member of the Work in Mexico wrote, “Don Álvaro has also impressed all of us. He is always at the Father’s side, with a fidelity and refinement in dealing with him that is the best example we could hope for…. We could not fail to notice the support and the affection he gives the Father. (…) He has given us a model of how to deal with the Father.” .

During the final years of the founder’s life, Don Alvaro, together with Don Javier, provided discrete but vital care which made it possible for Saint Josemaría to continue carrying on his task of governing Opus Dei relatively unimpeded by deteriorating health. We will never know which of the treasures that have come down to us from the final years of his life would not exist had he not been able to count on Don Alvaro’s help and support, but it seems safe to assume that they are many.

The death of St. Josemaría opened an entirely new chapter in the history of don Alvaro’s contributions to Opus Dei. In the difficult days immediately following the Founder’s death, he dedicated himself to serving, “supporting everyone with fortitude and an extraordinary peace,” as Bishop Echeverría would write. Thanks in no small part to don Alvaro’s calm strength and firm faith, Opus Dei weathered the Founder’s death without trauma or difficulties. The Work as a whole and each of its members simply drew close

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around don Alvaro, re-enforcing the unity which was already one of Opus Dei’s defining characteristics

After his election as President General, don Alvaro saw as his principal duty fostering and passing on the spirit of the Founder in “fidelity and continuity.” Within that overall framework, he faced, as will every successor of St. Josemaría, the challenges of guiding Opus Dei, of promoting the zeal and good spirit of all of its members, of deciding on priorities in its apostolates, and above all of being the Father of this small portion of the Church, fostering a sense of fraternity and filiation which would maintain in Opus Dei the family spirit with which it was born.

In addition to these challenges common to all the successors of St. Josemaría down the ages, del Portillo faced a number of unique challenges. He had to develop for the first time an approach to being the head of Opus Dei without being its Founder. He had to complete the process of finding an adequate place for Opus Dei in the Church’s legal structure. He had to annotate the entries St. Josemaría had made off and on over a number of years in series of notebooks where he had noted down important events in his own spiritual life and in the life of Opus Dei. He had to prepare for publication a number of books which Escrivá had written but had been unable to finalize. And finally, he had to take at least the initial steps to prepare for the eventual canonization of the Founder.

In the rest of this presentation, we will explore some of these contributions that Álvaro made to the development of Opus Dei. Before looking at specific accomplishments, however, I would like to stress two background factors which color all of his concrete achievements: first, his own interior life of prayer and sacrifice and second his paternity.

During a pilgrimage which he made to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Poland in 1979, he said, “We have come to pray, and to pray, and then to pray some more.” That phrase aptly summarizes not only the days of that pilgrimage but the years in which he headed Opus Dei . Don Álvaro put into practice each day right up to the end of his life the plan of life he had learned at the beginning of his vocation to Opus Dei and which he struggled to fulfill with ever greater love and attention.

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Far from thinking that his responsibilities as the head of Opus Dei meant that he no longer had time for piety, he felt that his new obligations made it all the more necessary to pray. During substantial periods of his life, he arrived half an hour early for the morning meditation in order to have more time to pray. He made frequent pilgrimages to shrines of our Lady both in and around Rome and when traveling outside of Italy. On a long car trips, he frequently prayed many parts of the rosary. No matter what problem he faced, don Alvaro’s first reaction was to pray and to ask others to pray. In this regard, the three Marian years which he declared are especially significant.

The second factor which forms the background of don Alvaro’s years as head of Opus Dei is his paternity. St. Josemaría had been very much “the Father” and his fatherhood had marked to an extraordinary degree the life of Opus Dei and of its individual members. But he had also been the Founder. During his lifetime, there was no difference between the two roles. The Father was the Founder, and the Founder was the Father. Del Portillo faced the challenge of being the Father without being the Founder. He responded to that challenge with what Cardinal Herranz described as “dynamic fidelity.”

In addition to needing to find a way of being the Father without being the Founder, don Alvaro faced the challenge of expressing his paternity of the head of Opus Dei in ways that suited his character and temperament. St. Josemaría was an ebullient extrovert with a great capacity to love and to manifest his love. He had won the adherence and affection of the members of Opus Dei not only through his spiritual message but also through the warmth and affection which he poured out on them. The Spanish saying “love is repaid with love” was manifestly verified in Opus Dei during his lifetime. His sons and daughters responded in kind to his warm human affection.

Del Portillo also had a big caring heart, but he was much more quiet and reserved than Escrivá and had to find ways to express fatherhood that were compatible with his temperament. His remarkable success in doing so was due not only to his own efforts but also to the care with which St. Josemaría had prepared the transition. For years he had urged his sons and daughters to love his successor even more than they loved him. They took that message very seriously and responded enthusiastically to the news of don Alvaro’s selection as the new Father. One person wrote: “This is marvelous! I realize now,

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although I always knew it, that the Father, the President General, is always the Father. I don’t know how to distinguish in my affection or in my desire to be a good son, between the Father who is with God in heaven, and the Father we now have on earth.” Another wrote to del Portillo, “If our Father has won for you the grace to love us as he loved us, I can assure you that he has obtained for us the grace to love you as we loved him. And even more, because he told us we should love you more, and if he said so, it is possible.”

For his part, del Portillo manifested his paternal love and concern in all sorts of ways, big and small: in generous prayer and penance, in tiny gestures, and in the effort to transmit the spirit of the Work. Time does not permit documenting the many ways in which Don Álvaro manifested his warm human affection for his sons and daughters. We cannot, however, fail to say something about his efforts to transmit to them both in person and in writing the spirit of the Work.

Don Alvaro realized from the beginning that informal get-togethers with small numbers of people were an integral part of the life of Opus Dei and an essential way in which he as the Father could communicate its spirit. He had no qualms about his ability to continue this tradition. At first, however, he did not think that he could continue the tradition established by St. Josemaría of get togethers with large numbers of people

When the members of the General Council urged him to meet with the large number of students who came to Rome for the UNIV conference, he had serious misgivings but agreed to try saying, “I won’t do the work. It will be the Holy Spirit who works in souls.” Although the tone and style of the meeting were in some ways very different from those of previous years, it had the intimate warmth of a family reunion. The students sensed del Portillo’s genuine interest and affection and responded with their own affection. Many had the sensation that, as one of them said, “although there were lots of people at that get-together, I felt like the Father was speaking to me alone, in private, looking straight into my heart and communicating to me all the depth and demandingness of his own life.”

Although he continued to think that he lacked the natural gifts needed for talking effectively with large numbers of people, the results of the UNIV meeting convinced del Portillo that the Holy Spirit would make up for whatever he might lack. For most of the

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rest of his life, trips to different countries to meet with as many people as possible in an informal setting of questions and answers would be an important vehicle for transmitting the spirit of the Work to hundreds of thousands of people, and more important for tightening bonds between members of the Work and the Father.

Don Alvaro also worked diligently at maintaining contact with his son and daughters in writing. In addition to a multitude of personal letters and postcards, he wrote often to all the members of the Work. During the first decade in which he headed the Work, the letters he directed to all the members were normally triggered by some specific event or occasion. In February 1984 he began to write a monthly letter on the first of each month. Those letters often contained reflections on upcoming feasts in the life of the Church or on anniversaries of events in the life of Opus Dei, but he wrote each month, even when there was no special event to commemorate. His letters were written to help the members of the Work deepen their interior life and improve their apostolic activities. Without fail, they ended with a request for prayers for himself and for his intentions. Between 1975 and his death in 1994, del Portillo wrote 176 pastoral letters. In print they run to a total of almost 1500 pages and are an eloquent testimony of his paternal concern for his sons and daughters in Opus Dei.

The atmosphere of prayer and paternity we have just briefly illustrated form the essential background for all of don Alvaro’s achievements which will be the subject of the rest of this paper. We will first outline the growth and development of Opus Dei that took place under his leadership and then offer a few comments on his two unique accomplishments, namely the beatification of the Founder and bringing to a successful close the process of giving Opus Dei a suitable legal status in the Church.

Del Portillo’s tenure coincided with difficult years in the life of the Church during which many Church institutions saw their numbers shrinking. Despite this unfavorable environment and thanks in no small part to his prayer and constant encouragement, Opus Dei continued to expand numerically, geographically, and in the range of its apostolic activities.

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Opus Dei grew from 60,000 members at the Founder’s death to 78,000 at del Portillo’s death. During the same time, approximately 800 members of Opus Dei were ordained priests. Numerical growth was accompanied by geographic expansion. When del Portillo succeeded Escrivá, Opus Dei had centers in thirty-two countries. During the nineteen years that don Alvaro governed Opus Dei, it began stable apostolic activities in twenty new countries.

Both in countries where Opus Dei was just getting started and in countries where it was well-established, don Alvaro urged its members and directors to think big and to spread their apostolate as quickly as possible to new areas and new types of activities. He particularly encouraged activities designed to alleviate poverty and suffering. Under his leadership members of Opus Dei founded a significant number of social service centers and training schools in poverty stricken areas around the world. On Friday afternoon we will have the opportunity to hear about some of those activities.

He also focused on education. With his stimulus and support, groups of parents established many new primary and secondary schools in countries all over the world and developed already existing schools. At the university level, in addition to encouraging the development of the University of Navarre , the Pan-American University, and the he oversaw the foundation of new universities in Columbia, Argentina, Chile, and the Philippines. He was particularly closely involved in the project for a university-level institution in Rome, the Campus Bio-Medico about which we will also hear on Friday.

Don Alvaro realized that it was essential for universities to carry on cutting-edge research, among other reasons to “demonstrate that belief in God does not paralyze or block reason, the capacity to know reality and to advance human life.” As Grand Chancellor of the University of Navarre, he inspired the creation of the Center of Applied Medical Research. The center would build on existing programs of theoretical and clinical research, but creating a world-class research center would require investments of personnel and money that dwarfed what the University had available. Del Portillo insisted, nonetheless, that there had to be a way. Thanks to creative partnerships with national and international pharmaceutical and medical device companies, the necessary resources were eventually

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found. Today more than 300 scientists and physicians are carrying on research at the center focusing on genetic therapy, hepatology, cardiovascular science, oncology and neurosciences.

Finally, don Alvaro increased the ecclesial presence of Opus Dei by promoting institutions that serve the needs of the Church in a very direct way. Of these, the most important is the University that has organized this congress. When don Alvaro decided in 1983 to move forward with the project St. Josemaría had long cherished of an instituition of higher ecclesiastical studies in Rome, he was well aware of the formidable obstacles it would face, but he was confident that this was something God was asking of him, in part because Pope John Paul II had made it clear that he would welcome the project. Don Alavaro said on one occasion, “It is obvious that there are difficulties, but we count on our Lord’s help. We cannot allow ourselves to be moved by a false objectivity which would lead us to focus on the difficulties of the project (the lack of money, the lack of understanding on the part of some other people, etc.) and forget that on the other side of the balance is the grace of God which is more powerful.” Thanks to his faith and determination, the University of the Holy Cross is today the splendid reality we all see.

A major landmark in the history of Opus on don Alvaro’s watch was the beatification of the Founder. Obviously don Alvaro played a central role in all aspects of this process, but I would like to underline just two. First, many Cardinals and bishops, as well as people from all walks of life who had known the Founder or had read his writings, would have written spontaneously to the Pope requesting that he be canonized. Don Alvaro, however, also encouraged the writing of postulatory letters. For instance, he asked Father Joseph Muzquiz, whose love of travel he knew well, to visit bishops in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Upper Volta (today, Burkina Faso) to talk with them about the Founder and to suggest that they might write to the Holy See. Thanks in significant part to don Alvaro’s energetic and prompt efforts to encourage the writing of postulatory letters, the Holy See eventually heard from from more than a quarter of the hierarchy in the world. Concretely 69 Cardinals, 241 archbishops, 987 bishops, and 41 General Superiors of religious orders wrote requesting the opening of the process. They

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were joined by heads of state and of government, leading figures in the world of culture, the arts, science, and finance, and by many ordinary men and women from all around the world.

The second factor I would like to stress with regard to the beatification of the Founder, is suggested by don Alvaro’s responded to someone who asked why process had gone forward so quickly. He replied that it was due to the fact that the Founder was very holy and to computers. I think we can safely add that it was also due to the fact that don Alvaro promptly mobilized the necessary resources (including computers) and constantly urged those involved to meet demanding deadlines.

To cope with the huge amount of material collected both in the years immediately following the founder’s death and by the tribunals formed in Rome and Madrid to take testimony, don Alvaro organized a team of theologians, canonists, historians, and computer experts, headed by Father Flavio Capucci, the Postulator of the Cause. Don Alvaro’s background in engineering may have led him to recognize early on that computers could make a major contribution to the process.

He followed the team’s work closely and set demanding deadlines for the various phases of the task. In June 1988 the 6,000 page positio was completed. Cardinal Palazinni , the head of the Congregation for Causes of the Saints commented, “I do not know of any other document of this sort that is as complete, as extensive, and as analytic as this. It is the fruit of the extraordinarily rigorous critical methodology of the entire cause of beatification of the Founder of Opus Dei.” He might have added that it was a reflection of the care and interest which don Alvaro put into the process and of the extraordinarily high standards which he set for everyone involved in it.

The final landmark contribution of Don Alvaro to Opus Dei’s history that I would like to touch upon is his successful piloting of the Work to its definitive juridical status as a . The effort to obtain for Opus Dei a legal status that reflected its true nature required all of del Portillo’s fortitude, patience, supernatural outlook and ability to persuade people.

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In the years immediately following Escriva’s death, don Alvaro felt it would be inappropriate to press the matter for fear of giving the appearance that he was trying to introduce far-reaching changes in Opus Dei. He decided the time had arrived in June 1978 when Pope Paul V I urged him to move forward, but before anything could be done the Holy Father died. This was only the first in a long series of setbacks which Don Alvaro bore with remarkable equanimity.

Pope John Paul I was anxious to resolve the question of Opus Dei’s legal status, but his sudden death again brought matters to a halt. Don Alvaro responded to this new setback by praying repeatedly a short prayer he had learned from Escrivá, Omnia in bonum [Everything is for the good], a condensed version of Saint Paul’s admonition to the early Christians at Rome that “for those who love God, all things work together unto good.” (Rom.8:28)

Pope John Paul II immediately showed his interest in solving the problem of Opus Dei’s legal status, but even with his backing , four more years of disappointments , prayer, sacrifice, and work and still lay ahead. In the first place, prayer. As a way of invoking the help of Our Lady and of preparing for the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Women’s branch of Opus Dei, del Portillo proclaimed a new Marian year in Opus Dei. He asked all the members of the Work to “introduce the Virgin more deeply into everything and for everything.” Whenever he was in Rome, del Portillo himself went each day to some church dedicated to Our Lady to pray the rosary. Whenever he traveled outside of Rome, he made a point of a visiting local shrines and churches dedicated to Mary. According to Bishop Echeverría, the number of shrines and churches he visited was literally in the hundreds.

Throughout the four years it would take to reach a solution, Del Portillo accepted setbacks with fortitude, good humor, and confidence that God would eventually solve the problem. In June, 1979, for instance, the Cardinals of the Congregation for Bishops decided that the requested transformation was not justified. Technically, the decision was a dilata, that is to put the matter off to an unspecified later date, but it was a polite way of saying no. Del Portillo did not allow himself to be discouraged by this turn of events and continued not only praying but working diligently.

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On July 13, he wrote to Pope John Paul II suggesting that the dilata should be interpreted not as a command to stop work on the project but as an invitation to Opus Dei to continue studying and preparing its statutes. In the meantime, he traveled to various countries to meet with key figures and to clarify what was at stake. By mid July, 1979, he had succeeded in convincing the members of the Congregation that further study was needed. Going well beyond that, he converted into avid supporters both the Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Baggio, and the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal König. Cardinal König later wrote, “At first, I had thought that it was merely a caprice, and that there was no need to open up a new juridical path in the Church. Nonetheless, thanks to his explanations, I realized that Opus Dei was such a new phenomenon that it needed a new legal suit. I came to be an advocate of del Portillo’s intention among my fellow Cardinals.”

Over the next three years, there would be numerous other delays . The spirit with which don Alvaro reacted to all of these difficulties is reflected in his answer to a question about how things were going:

It’s going very well, my son. … If God sometimes wants to put off the concrete realization of what he has already granted us, he does it to test and strengthen our faith, our hope, and our love, to purify our humility, to strengthen our spirit…. It is going very well. We are praying a lot. If our Lord puts off giving it to us, that is very good because we come closer to him and are very united. In the meantime, let this unanimous petition continue rising to heaven.

Even after publication of the official announcement that Pope John Paul II had created the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, don Alvaro had to fight off a danger that threatened to vitiate what St. Josemaría and he had struggled for so many years to achieve. In fact during the period between the November 1982 announcement and the delivery of the Papal Bull in March 1983, a number of canonists declared that under the new Code of Canon Law, which was published in January 1983, the lay faithful of prelatures were not really members of the prelatures. Had this interpretation prevailed it would have undermined the entire structure of Opus Dei. Don Alvaro reacted vigorously

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writing to the Deputy Secretary of State, “It would be a shame to send a Bull with inaccurate expressions which would oblige me to have recourse to the Holy Father to rectify them because they would subvert the organic reality of the Work. In addition it would be bad for the authority of the Holy Father himself if the Bull did not agree with the recent Declaration [on personal prelatures] which has already been published all over the world, has been well received everywhere, and which clearly indicates that the Declaration was approved by the Pope.”

The final text of the Bull, which was exceucted in a solemn ceremony on March 19, 1983 did not contain any of the inaccurate expressions del Portillo had feared. The delivery of the Bull brought to a close the decades-long process of finding an appropriate legal home for Opus Dei.

Don Alvaro liked to apply to the Work’s status as a prelature the words of Chapter Seven of the, Book of Wisdom “venerunt autem mihi omnia bona pariter cum illa.” We might conclude with the thought that those same words could well be applied to don Alvaro’s tenure as head of Opus Dei.

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