SAXUM—the Latin word which means rock. This was a nickname given to Don Alvaro del Portillo, by Saint Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. Don Alvaro was the founder’s closest associate and successor. He was the first prelate of Opus Dei when it became a personal prelature, and became a foundational rock for this group that is devoted to sanctity in ordinary life. Don Alvaro was a person of powerful integrity and conviction, humble and faithful, who set aside a promising engineering career to follow the vision of Opus Dei.
After the death of Don Alvaro in 1994, the Prelature of Opus Dei initiated the project, Saxum Conference Center and Saxum Multimedia Resource Center in the Holy Land. The name Saxum pays homage to the nickname given to Don Alvaro by Saint Josemaria for his great fidelity to and fortitude in his work, his vocation and his service to the Church.
Don Alvaro was born in Madrid on March 11, 1914, the third of eight children. He graduated from the School of Civil Engineering in 1941, then worked with the state water authorities, at the same time studying Philosophy and Literature, completing his doctorate in 1944.
In 1935 he joined Opus Dei, receiving formation from the founder, with the spirit corresponding to this new path in the Church. He carried out a wide-ranging work of evangelization, and from 1939 undertook apostolic journeys to various cities in Spain. On June 25, 1944, he was ordained a priest, and in 1946 moved to Rome where he lived alongside the founder in that critical period for Opus Dei which around that time received its first juridical approval from the Holy See. Between 1947 and 1950 he spurred forward the expansion of Opus Dei in Rome, Milan, Naples, Palermo and other Italian cities.
On June 29, 1948 the founder of Opus Dei erected the Roman College of the Holy Cross, an international center for formation of which Don Alvaro was the first rector, teaching moral theology, and in that same year, he obtained a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas. During his years in Rome, the various popes from Pius XII to John Paul II called on him to carry out numerous tasks as a member of, or consultor to various bodies within the Holy See. He played an active role in the Second Vatican Council, was appointed as consultor to the Sacred Congregation of the Council, becoming secretary of the Commission on the Discipline of the Clergy and of the Christian People. After the council, Pope Paul VI appointed him to the post-conciliar Commission for Bishops and regulation of dioceses. He was also for many years consultor for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. To be continued