Romana

On August 7, 2008, the Tribunal of the Prelature of Opus Dei ended the investigative stage on the life and virtues of Bishop Álvaro del Portillo. The ceremony, which took place in the John Paul II Auditorium of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, was presided over by the Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarría. It is customary in the Church that when the holiness of a bishop is being studied, it is his own circumscription that carries out the corresponding investigation.

The Prelate of Opus Dei, as the competent bishop for investigating the cause of Bishop Álvaro del Portillo, asked the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints that, in addition to the Tribunal of the Prelature, the diocese of Rome also be authorized to take part in the process. Therefore, two equally competent tribunals were opened for the investigative phase. During the past four years, both tribunals have collected evidence concerning the holiness of Don Álvaro. Besides examining the writings of the Servant of God and other documents, testimony was taken from numerous witnesses regarding the first successor to St. Josemaría as head of Opus Dei.

The work of the Tribunal of the Vicariate of Rome closed with a ceremony in the Lateral Palace on June 26, 2008. Cardinal Camillo Ruini presided in one of his last public acts as Vicar of the Pope for the diocese of Rome.

With the conclusion of the investigatory phase, the preparation of the Positio super vita et virtutibus begins, a synthesis of the person's life and Christian virtues. The Positio will be presented to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints by the postulator of the Cause, Msgr. Flavio Capucci. After studying the evidence, the Congregation will give its decision about the heroicity of the virtues of the Servant of God.