July 10 - Opus Dei bishop to be beatified after newborn's miracle cure

Pope Francis has approved the beatification of Venerable Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, the second leader of Opus Dei, after recognizing the miraculous healing of a newborn who had suffered major cardiac arrest.

On July 5, Pope Francis signed a decree recognizing a miracle obtained through the intercession of Bishop del Portillo.

The miracle involves the August 2003 healing of Chilean newborn Jose Ignacio Ureta Wilson. A few days after his birth, the boy suffered a 30-minute period of cardiac arrest and a major hemorrhage. The medical team treating the baby thought he had already died, but his parents prayed for healing through the intercession of the bishop.  The baby’s heart started to beat again and he recovered to live a normal life, the Opus Dei Information Office reports.

Bishop Javier Echevarria, the present head of Opus Dei, said in a statement that Bishop del Portillo was Saint Josemaria Escriva’s “best support” and “a most faithful collaborator of John Paul II. Many churchmen and lay people from all over the world have told me how much good this faithful priest did to them. And they all agree in this: that it was easy for them to love him, to trust his advice, because they sensed his sincere and priestly interest for their souls,” Bishop Echevarria said July 5.

He prayed that Bishop del Portillo would transmit to Catholics his loyalty to God, the Church, the Pope, St. Josemaria, and his friends. “I ask that he may transmit to us his special love for the family and his passionate love for the priesthood, as well as his tender and simple piety, which had such a Marian flavor,” he added.