 Returning to Ecuador, he obtained the Doctorate in Law from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador.As a student in Italy, Larrea Holguín met Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei, and after this meeting, in 1949, he requested admission into this institution of the Catholic Church.Owing to this, he became the first member of Opus Dei in Ecuador in 1952.