207,380 profiles ranked

Josemaría Escrivá

Spanish priest, writer and Catholic saint · Spain · Religious Figures · Lived 1902 to 1975 · aged 73

Josemaría Escrivá is read about 748 times a day, in 50 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?
Compare

He founded Opus Dei, the Catholic organization built on the idea that ordinary work is a path to holiness - and became one of the church's most polarizing saints, reviled and venerated in nearly equal measure.

Religious FiguresWriter / AuthorLiteratureLawNews BroadcastingReligionSpainEurope

A life in dates

2026Feast day, 26 June.26 June 20261975Died26 June 19751966Hijo Adoptivo de BarcelonaAward1964Grand Cross of the Civil Order of BeneficenceAward1960Grand Cross of the Order of Charles IIIAwardHijo Adoptivo de PamplonaAwardHonorary Doctor of the University of ZaragozaAward1956Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the CatholicAward1954Grand Cross of the Order of St. Raymond of PeñafortAward1951Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the WiseAward1950“You are too calculating. Don't tell me you are young. Youth gives all it can: it gives itself without reserve.”In their words#30

“First, prayer; then, atonement; in the third place, very much 'in the third place', action.”In their words#82

“True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful.”In their words#657

“All the things of this world are no more than earth. Place them in a heap under your feet and you will be so much the nearer to heaven.”In their words#676

“Gold, silver, jewels: dust, heaps of manure. Gratification, sensual pleasures, satisfaction of the appetites: like a beast, like a mule, like a cock, like a pig, like a bull.”In their words#677

1947Hijo Predilecto de BarbastroAward1902Born9 January 1902

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Josemaria EscrivaJosemaria Escriva03028jfNagwaling Rectory Church Diwa Parish Pilar Bataanfvf 0903028jfNagwaling Rectory Church Diwa Parish Pilar Bataanfvf 092 JOSE BALAGUER MEJORADA2 JOSE BALAGUER MEJORADAAltarJoseMariaEscrivaAltarJoseMariaEscrivaBasílica del Voto Nacional Ecuador 892Basílica del Voto Nacional Ecuador 892Biblio unav cedejBiblio unav cedejCampus Universidad Navarra-08Campus Universidad Navarra-08Carlos llano 3Carlos llano 3

In their own words 10

,
Josemaría Escrivá
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. You are too calculating. Don't tell me you are young. Youth gives all it can: it gives itself without reserve.

    1950, #30, Own words

  2. First, prayer; then, atonement; in the third place, very much 'in the third place', action.

    1950, #82, Own words

  3. True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful.

    1950, #657, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Hijo Adoptivo de Barcelona1966
Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Beneficence1964
Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III1960
Hijo Adoptivo de Pamplona1960
Honorary Doctor of the University of Zaragoza1960
Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic1956
Grand Cross of the Order of St. Raymond of Peñafort1954
Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise1951
Hijo Predilecto de Barbastro1947

Family

Parents

Josemaría Escrivá

Brothers and sisters

Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Josemaría Escrivá was ordained a priest in Zaragoza in 1925, then moved to Madrid to pursue a doctorate in civil law. When the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936, he fled Madrid through Andorra and France to Burgos, the rebel Nationalist headquarters under Franco, returning only after the Nationalist victory to complete his doctorate in 1939. His life's work was Opus Dei, the organization he founded to promote everyday holiness among laypeople and priests; his book The Way sold millions of copies in 43 languages. He settled in Rome in 1946 and earned a theology doctorate from the Lateran University in 1955. Opus Dei and Escrivá himself drew fierce controversy - allegations of secrecy, elitism, cult-like behavior, ties to Franco's dictatorship, and financial misconduct followed him, and former members publicly questioned his character even as the Vatican moved him toward sainthood. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 2002 amid considerable contention, leaving Escrivá precisely where he'd long stood: a figure millions venerate and others cannot forgive.

Country
Spain
Category
Religious Figures
Type
Religious Figure
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1902 to 1975 · aged 73

Religious Figures from Spain 6

Saint Dominic63.6Saint Lawrence57.4Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla64.3Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat55.8Pope Callixtus III65.5Joseph of Anchieta55.0

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.