Last Thursday, September 25, an academic ceremony in homage to the second Chancellor of the University, Bishop Álvaro del Portillo, took place at the classroom Magna of Central Building on the occasion of his beatification. The President, Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero (.mp3), opened the event, which he defined as "the warm-up before a magical weekend", evoking the memory of the times that Bishop Álvaro del Portillo had been at the same classroom.

Professionals and students gathered around the figure of D. Alvaro in an academic act marked by emotion, in which the participants wanted to share with the audience their experience staff with the Blessed. Professor Jaime Nubiola, the nurse Mª Ángeles Sánchez, the Vice President of academic staff María Iraburu and Professor Alejandro Llano shared, together with President, the most university and close visionof the man who was Chancellor of the University between 1975 and 1994. During the ceremony, a video was shown in which Bishop Javier Echevarría, the current Chancellor of the University,spoke about Don Álvaro and his relationship with the academic center.

Vivid interest in the University

Professor Jaime Nubiola (.mp3), who was University Secretary of the University coinciding with Don Alvaro's chancellorship, declared himself"a witness of his paternal closeness. Bishop del Portillo's paternal closeness was evident in his trips to Pamplona - he visited the University up to 24 times - and his"lively interest in everything that concerned the life of the University".

A very patient patient

Bishop Javier Echevarría pointed out in the video shown during the ceremony that Don Álvaro was a"very patient patient. This idea was reaffirmed by Mª Ángeles Sánchez (.mp3), the nurse who accompanied Bishop del Portillo the 14 times he was a patient at Clínica Universidad de Navarra. With emotion she recalled how "it was difficult to know if he was in pain, because he had a permanent smile". Sanchez attributed Don Alvaro's joy to his "withdrawal in God's hands" and to contemplating his illness as "a loving call from God, a caress. Mª Ángeles Sánchez also alluded to the visits that Chancellor made to patients when he was in the clinic. In total he visited some 260 patients," added the nurse, "when he was with each patient no one was left indifferent by his affection and his great capacity for support". Finally, Sanchez pointed out D. Alvaro's "predilection for nurses" and the group's debt for his immense affection.

True union between teachers and students

The Vice President of academic staff,María Iraburu (.mp3), was the representative of those who did not know him but who felt accompanied by him. Iraburu recalled how D. Álvaro wanted "there to be a true union between professors and students", alluding that this union "is a result that is reached when there is a common project ". The common project of"sharing the search for truth in all areas of knowledge" said the vice-dean, who defined it as an "exciting task". Professor Iraburu also recalled the desire of Bishop del Portillo that "God should be explicitly present in the university". The presence of God in the university requires, Iraburu pointed out, "an intellectual reflection on God and the truths of faith, which has to be included in the process of searching for truth and understanding students, to show them the harmony between faith and reason."

A holy man, a true reflection of another saint

Finally, Professor Alejandro Llano (.mp3) approached the figure of D. Álvaro as a man of two cultures. "His original personality had two lifestyles, one literary and the other scientific, which did not exclude each other but rather complemented each other," Llano pointed out. "His elevated natural qualities were between the human and supernatural planes. He was a holy man, a faithful reflection of another saint." The professor wanted to make two suggestions on the eve of the beatification: "try not to lower the level in the Christian style of our behavior". And that "study, the research or the teaching be at the highest level that our limitations allow us", but above all that it be "a service to the truth and to all".

Finally, Bishop Javier Echeverría, through the video released during the ceremony, highlighted the figure of Don Álvaro as an "approachable person". "He knew how to smile and listen, and to spread, with few words, the joy that he carried within him".