On the evening of December 12 the Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarría completed his earthly pilgrimage and gave up his soul to God. It was the end of a life lived for others, and lived in this manner right up to his dying breath, as those who accompanied him in his last hours were to report later. The life of ‘The Father’, as in Opus Dei we fondly term the Prelate, was marked by two virtues in particular, according to Msgr Fernando Ocáriz, the Auxiliary Vicar of Opus Dei: dynamic fidelity and generous dedication to each person with whom he came in contact. Msgr Ocáriz spoke of these two facets of the late Prelate’s life in a recent interview with the Spanish magazine Palabra. Speaking of his loyalty to the Church, the Pope, to Opus Dei and its faithful, and to his own friends as a consequence or expression of his fidelity to Jesus Christ, he said that ‘His whole existence, from the time of his admission to Opus Dei long ago in 1948, was marked by this human and supernatural virtue, which grew over time thanks to his close contact firstly with St Josemaria and then with Bl. Alvaro del Portillo, with whom he collaborated for many years in the government of the Prelature.” Bishop Echevarría’s life was characterised by, in Msgr Ocáriz words, “his generous dedication to each person who asked his advice, guidance or prayers, or who simply greeted him in passing on a corridor.”
In this issue of Position Papers we include an excerpt from a lenghty interview he did with the Spanish journalist Pilar Urbano, prior to his appointment as Prelate in 1994.
On December 22, Msgr Fernando Ocáriz, auxiliary vicar of Opus Dei, publicly convoked the Congress that will elect Bishop Javier Echevarría’s successor as head of the Prelature. On January 21, a plenary session of the Council for women in the Prelature will be held in Rome, which will present to the Congress a list of suggestions for candidates. The voting of the elective Congress will begin on January 23. The name of the person chosen will be sent to Pope Francis, since the confirmation of the Roman Pontiff is required.