Editing Josemaría Escrivá (section)

===Later years===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Stjosemariagettogethermen.gif|thumb|right|250px|''' Josemaría Escrivá''' in a meeting with men. Pope John Paul II called Opus Dei's founder the "Saint of Ordinary Life."]] -->

According to some accounts, at the age of two he suffered from a disease (perhaps [[epilepsy]]<ref>Luis Carandell, ''Vida y milagros de Monseñor Escrivá de Balaguer, fundador del Opus Dei''. The relevant passage is available in Spanish [http://www.opuslibros.org/libros/Carandell/torreciudad.htm here]</ref>) so severe that the doctors expected him to die soon, but his mother had taken him to [[Torreciudad]], where the Aragonese locals venerated a statue of the [[Virgin Mary]] (as "Our Lady of the Angels"), thought to date from the 11th century. Escrivá recovered and, as the director of Opus Dei during the 1960s and 1970s, promoted and oversaw the design and construction of a major shrine at Torreciudad. The new shrine was inaugurated on 7 July 1975, soon after Escrivá's death, and to this day remains the spiritual center of Opus Dei, as well as an important destination for pilgrimage.<ref>[http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/our-lady-of-torreciudad "Our Lady of Torreciudad"], official Opus Dei website on Escrivá</ref> By the time of Escrivá's death in 1975, the members of Opus Dei numbered some 60,000 in 80 countries.<ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/192421/Saint-Josemaria-Escriva-de-Balaguer Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer]." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2012.</ref> As an adult, Escrivá suffered from [[type 1 diabetes]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Berglar|1994|pp=280}}</ref> and, according to some sources, also epilepsy.<ref>Jesús Ynfante, ''El santo fundador del Opus Dei'', see [http://www.opuslibros.org/libros/Santo_fundador/capitulo_9.htm chapter 9] (in Spanish)</ref>

In 1950, Escrivá was appointed an [[Honorary Prelate|Honorary Domestic Prelate]] by Pope [[Pius XII]], which allowed him to use the title of [[Monsignor]]. In 1955, he received a doctorate of theology from the [[Pontifical Lateran University]] in Rome.<ref name="Rocca"/> He was a consultor to two Vatican congregations (the Congregation for Seminaries and Universities and the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Canon Law]]) and an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. The [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–65) confirmed the importance of the [[universal call to holiness]], the role of the laity, and the Mass as the basis of Christian life.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20021006_escriva_en.html|title=Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (1902-1975)|website=www.vatican.va|access-date=20 November 2017}}</ref>

In 1948 Escrivá founded the Collegium Romanum Sanctae Crucis ([[Roman College of the Holy Cross]]), Opus Dei's educational center for men, in Rome. In 1953 he founded the Collegium Romanum Sanctae Mariae (Roman College of Saint Mary) to serve the women's section (these institutions are now joined into the [[Pontifical University of the Holy Cross]].) Escrivá also established the [[University of Navarre]], in [[Pamplona]], and the [[University of Piura]] (in [[Peru]]), as secular institutions affiliated with Opus Dei.

Escrivá died of cardiac arrest on 26 June 1975, aged 73.

Three years after Escrivá died, the then Cardinal Albino Luciani (later [[Pope John Paul I]]) celebrated the originality of his contribution to Christian spirituality.<ref name="A. Luciani 1978"/>