by Bernie English
THE STORY of two men who played a key role in the founding of the Opus Dei foundation will be told at an evening organised by the Limerick Historical Society this Monday May 12, in Mary Immaculate College.
St. Josemaría founded the order in 1928, and the man, soon to be beatified by the Catholic Church, who was constantly at his side throughout the founding years was Alvaro Del Portillo who was elected to succeed Saint Josemaría at the helm of Opus Dei in 1975 and who will be Beatified in Madrid on September 27 next.
Both he and the Founder of Opus Dei worked and developed the embryonic apostolic foundation through the difficult years of the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, putting down roots in countries all around the world in the aftermath of those cataclysmic events.
This presentation will deal with the events surrounding this phenomenon insofar as they relate to the life of Bishop Alvaro. It will look at how both Saint Josemaría and Alvaro del Portillo promoted the message of holiness in the middle of the world in war-torn Spain and later in many differing cultures across five continents.
