- Álvaro del Portillo
Álvaro del Portillo, or Álvaro del Portillo y Diez de Sollano, (
March 11 ,1914 -March 23 ,1994 ), was a Spanishengineer andRoman Catholic bishop . He served as the prelate ofOpus Dei between 1975 and 1994.Life
He was born in
Madrid . He studiedcivil engineering and after obtaining hisdoctorate at theUniversity of Madrid taught at its School of Engineering. He briefly worked with the Bureau of Highways and Bridges in the provinces crossed by the riversJúcar ,Duero andEbro .In 1935, he joined Opus Dei and was subsequently ordained to the
priesthood onJune 25 ,1944 . He continued his studies to obtain two additional doctorates: Philosophy and Letters; and Canon Law. He then dedicated himself exclusively to the ministry and government of Opus Dei as its Secretary General. During the pontificate ofPope Pius XII (1939-1958), he worked in several Dicasteries of theHoly See .In 1963, he was named by
Pope John XXIII as a consultant on the Pontifical Commission for the revision of the Code ofCanon Law .Pope Paul VI named him consultant on several post-Conciliar commissions. In 1975, he was chosen general president of the Opus Dei and successor ofJosemaría Escrivá de Balaguer , and in 1982, theHoly See appointed him as the first Prelate of Opus Dei. In 1991, he wasconsecrated abishop byPope John Paul II .He has written extensively about pastoral and ecclesiological matters that examine among others, the role of the lay faithful in the
Roman Catholic Church , the human side of priestly formation, the dynamics and functionality of pastoral structures. As Prelate, he also served as Grand Chancellor of theUniversity of Piura inPeru .Shortly after his 80th birthday, he returned to
Rome on apilgrimage from theHoly Land . He died shortly thereafter. OnDecember 6 ,2002 , Msgr.Javier Echevarria Rodriguez ordered an investigation into the cause forcanonization of Msgr. del Portillo.Works
*"Faithful and laity in the Church" (1969)
*"On the Priesthood" (1970)
*"Dinamicità e funzionalità delle strutture pastorali"
*"¿Un nuevo Derecho Canónico?"
*"Morale e Diritto"
*"Immersed in God: Blessed Josemaria Escriva, Founder of Opus Dei as Seen by His Successor, Bishop Álvaro Del Portillo" -- by Álvaro Del Portillo and Cesare CavalleriExcerpts from his works
"Authentic joy is based on this foundation: that we want to live for God and want to serve others because of God. Let us tell the Lord that we want nothing more than to serve him with joy. If we behave in this way we shall find that our inner peace, our joy, our good humour will attract many souls to God. Give witness to Christian joy. Show to those around you that this is our great secret. We are happy because we are children of God, because we deal with him, because we struggle to become better for him. And when we fail, we go right away to the Sacrament of joy where we recover our sense of fraternity with all men and women." Homily, 12 Apr 1984; quoted by Francis Fernandez Carvajal in "In Conversation With God", vol.5, p.155
ources
*Bernal, Salvador (August 1999). "Álvaro del Portillo". Scepter Publishers. ISBN 1-889334-18-9
* [http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/p/portillo.htm Spanish biography of Msgr. del Portillo]
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