MIRACULOUS MIRACLES™

Saint — Bl. Álvaro del Portillo

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Bl. Álvaro del Portillo
March 11, 1914 AD, Madrid, Kingdom of Spain — March 23, 1994 AD, Rome
Spanish priest; first successor of St. Josemaría Escrivá as head of Opus Dei
Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace, Rome, Italy — Opus Dei mother-church, Italy
Feast
May 12 (date of beatification)
Canonized
Beatified September 27, 2014 by Pope Francis
Life

Álvaro del Portillo Diez de Sollano was born on March 11, 1914 at Madrid to a noble Portillo family. In 1935, at the age of 21, Álvaro met St. Josemaría Escrivá (see his existing entry) and joined the nascent Opus Dei — becoming one of the earliest Opus Dei members.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), Álvaro survived multiple assassination-attempts by the Republican militias. Ordained priest in 1944, Álvaro became the personal secretary of St. Josemaría — the 40-year Escrivá-Portillo collaboration.

Álvaro participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) as peritus.

On the death of St. Josemaría on June 26, 1975, Álvaro was elected first successor of St. Josemaría as head of Opus Dei — the first successor.

In 1982, Pope St. John Paul II established Opus Dei as the Personal Prelature — the unique canonical structure created by the Second Vatican Council and established for Opus Dei. Álvaro was consecrated Prelate-Bishop in 1991.

He died at Rome on March 23, 1994 — after returning from the Holy Land pilgrimage. Beatified September 27, 2014 by Pope Francis.

Miracles & Phenomena

  • The Opus Dei Prelature

    Bl. Álvaro del Portillo's 19-year leadership of Opus Dei (1975–1994) — including the 1982 establishment of Opus Dei as the Personal Prelature by Pope St. John Paul II — established the late-20th-century Catholic lay-sanctification-of-ordinary-work tradition.

Relics
  • Body
    Relics of Bl. Álvaro del Portillo
    Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace, Rome, Italy — Opus Dei mother-church

    His relics rest at the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace in Rome.

Iconography
  • Portillo with St. Josemaría

    The Spanish priest beside St. Josemaría Escrivá at the Opus Dei Roman residence — the iconography of Catholic Opus Dei tradition.

Patronages
Prelature of Opus DeiCatholic 20th-century lay-Catholic sanctification of ordinary work
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