PORTILLO, ALVARO DEL

Bishop, prelate of personal prelature; b. Madrid, March 11, 1914; d. Rome, March 23, 1994. Alvaro del Portillo held doctorates in civil engineering, history, and canon law. In 1935 he joined opus dei, a predominantly lay organization founded by Josemaria escrivÁ for the spiritual, ascetical, and doctrinal formation of persons in the world. As a close associate and collaborator of Escrivá, del Portillo remained with him during much of the Spanish civil war (1936–39).

After the civil war, del Portillo worked with Escrivá to rebuild Opus Dei in Spain and foster its spread elsewhere. As a layman, he traveled to Rome in 1943 on the founder's behalf in order to introduce the new organization to Pope Pius XII and curial officials and to prepare for the establishment there of its international headquarters. On June 25, 1944, del Portillo became one of the first three members of Opus Dei to be ordained as a priest.

Del Portillo was secretary general of Opus Dei from 1940 to 1947 and again from 1956 to 1975. From 1947 to 1950 he was counselor (regional director) of Opus Dei in Italy, and from 1947 to 1956 also served as its procurator general. He was first rector of the Roman College of the Holy Cross, a position he held from 1948 to 1953. He often accompanied Escrivá on trips to prepare for or consolidate the apostolic work of Opus Dei in Europe and, between 1970 and 1975, in Latin America.

In the preparatory phase for the Second Vatican Council, del Portillo was president of the preparatory commission for the laity and was among the first 100 periti to be named. During Vatican II he served as secretary for the Commission on Clerical Discipline and the Commission of the Christian People.

Beginning in the 1950s, successive popes—Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II—named del Portillo a consultor to various dicasteries and other bodies of the Holy See. Among these were the Congregation for Religious, the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for the Clergy.

Personal Prelature. Following Escrivá's death in Rome on June 26, 1975, a general congress of Opus Dei on Sept. 15, 1975 unanimously elected del Portillo to head the association of the faithful as its founder's first successor.

During the next 19 years, Opus Dei grew from approximately 60,000 members to approximately 77,000 while beginning apostolic activities in 21 new countries in Latin America, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and Asia. In the United States, where it was introduced in 1949, the number of cities with centers of Opus Dei rose from eight to seventeen, and apostolic activities were begun in several other places.

Another major initiative of Opus Dei during these years was the establishment in 1984 of the Roman Atheneum of the Holy Cross, with faculties in theology, canon law, and philosophy.

By the Apostolic Constitution Ut sit (Nov. 28, 1982) Pope John Paul II created the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, the first personal prelature of the Church, and named del Portillo its first prelate. Pope John Paul II ordained del Portillo titular bishop of Vita on Jan. 6,1991. Finally, in 1992, a cherished goal of del Portillo's was realized when, on May 17th, Pope John Paul II beatified Escrivá.

In 1994, del Portillo suffered a heart attack and died in the early morning of March 23.

Bibliography: p. berglar, Opus Dei: Life and Work of Its Founder Josemaria Escrivá (Princeton 1994). d. le tourneau, What Is Opus Dei? (Dublin 1987). a. del portillo, Faithful and Laity in the Church (Shannon, Ireland 1972); On Priesthood (New Rochelle NY 1974); Meeting the Press: Two More Interviews on Opus Dei (New Rochelle NY 1984); Intervista sul Fondatore dell'Opus Dei, a Cura di Cesare Cavalleri (Milan 1992).

[r. shaw]