Bishop Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, the Prelate of Opus Dei, has died at the age of 84 after a lung infection. He had been suffering from pneumonia.
In a statement, Opus Dei said that Bishop Echevarría’s “clinical situation was complicated in the final hours provoking respiratory insufficiency, which resulted in his death.” He received the sacrament of anointing from Mgr Fernando Ocáriz Braña, vicar general of Opus Dei.
The bishop was the third prelate of Opus Dei, following St Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of the organisation, and Blessed Álvaro del Portillo. Like Blessed Álvaro, he was personally chosen by St Josemaría as a successor. Bishop Echevarría and Blessed Álvaro were seen as those closest to the founder, and the bishop's death marks the end of an era for the organisation.
