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September 29, 2014

Opus Dei leader, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, beatified in Madrid

A woman holds an image of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo during his beatification ceremony in Madrid Sept. 27. Tens of thousands of people from around the world attended the beatification Mass for the former Opus Dei leader, who died in 1994.

MADRID - A Spanish bishop who worked as an engineer before becoming first prelate of the Opus Dei movement has been beatified in his native Madrid.

Published in International
July 13, 2012

As sainthood cause moves forward, Opus Dei's first prelate Bishop del Portillo praised

Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, the first Opus Dei prelate, was recently declared "venerable" by the Vatican, moving his cause for sainthood a step forward. He is pictured in an undated handout photo. As a young man, he worked as an engineer in Spain and was ordained a priest at age 30. After the death of St. Josemaria Escriva in 1975, Father del Portillo was elected as the head of Opus Dei.

NEW YORK - The late Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, the first prelate of Opus Dei who has been declared "venerable" by the Vatican, offered "an example of faithfulness" as a layman, priest and bishop, according to the postulator for his sainthood cause.

"Many people all over the world were convinced that he was a saintly man and invoked his intercession with a view to obtaining favors from heaven," said Msgr. Flavio Capucci in an interview after the Vatican Congregation for Saints' Causes said in a June 28 decree signed by Pope Benedict XVI that Bishop del Portillo heroically lived Christian virtues and should be considered venerable.

Published in International