Javier Echevarría Rodríguez (14 June 1932 – 12 December 2016) was a Spanish bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Until his death, he was the head of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. He held doctorates in both civil and canon law. Within the Roman Curia, the governing body of the Catholic Church, he was a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. He wrote a number of books on spirituality: Paths to God: Building a Christian Life in the 21st Century, Para servir a la Iglesia, Getsemaní, Eucaristía y vida cristiana. He also wrote his reminiscences of Josemaría Escrivá: Memoria del beato Josemaría. Pope Benedict XVI said on the fiftieth anniversary of Echevarria's ordination in 2005 that his pastoral work "provides effective help to the Church in her urgent evangelization of present-day society" and noted the prelate's concern for "culture and the sciences...the defense of life, the family and marriage, and the formation and pastoral care of young people." Pope Francis lauded his "constant service of love to the Church and souls", underlining his "fatherly testimony of priestly and episcopal life". Formation Echevarría Rodríguez was born in Madrid, Spain, on 14 June 1932. He began work as the personal secretary of Josemaría Escrivá before being ordained a priest of Opus Dei on 7 August 1955. In 1954 Echevarría earned a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum. Echevarría was appointed the Secretary General of Opus Dei in 1975, upon the succession of Escrivá by Álvaro del Portillo as prelate, or head, of Opus Dei. Echevarría later became Vicar General in 1982, when Opus Dei became, on the pope's initiative, a personal prelature. Prelate of Opus Dei With the death of del Portillo on 23 March 1994, a period of mourning followed. Rodríguez was elected by Opus Dei's General Council as the second prelate of Opus Dei. He was subsequently confirmed by the Holy See on 20 April 1994, and was then appointed Titular Bishop of Cilibia by Pope John Paul II on 21 November 1994. He was consecrated a bishop by the pope, with Bishops Giovanni Battista Re and Jorge María Mejía as co-consecrators, on 6 January 1995. When he became prelate he stated that his pastoral priorities were evangelization in the areas of the family, youth and culture. During