Romana

Volume 18 (2024) of Studia et Documenta, the journal of the Istituto Storico San Josemaría Escrivá, has been published. It presents, in the main section, various research studies on the supernumerary members of Opus Dei, as well as, in the other sections, other articles, notes and documents that discuss various aspects of the history of Opus Dei.

Milagros Gallardo and John Coverdale provide profiles, respectively, of the Argentinean María Eugenia Ibarguren de Gallardo (1939-1996) and the American Ruth Pakaluk (1957-1998), two supernumeraries from different social and religious backgrounds but with some common traits. Both were mothers of large families, and devoted themselves to altruistic causes and accepted illness and death serenely while still quite young. Alfredo Méndiz describes the work of Tomás Alvira, one of the first supernumeraries of Opus Dei, as director of the Infanta María Teresa School for orphans of the Civil Guard in Madrid between 1950 and 1957. The article focuses on his contribution to improving the living conditions of the students, who often had special emotional and educational needs. The philosopher Francisco Santamaría, in turn, describes the figure of the first supernumerary in Gijón, the businessman Luis Adaro, and his efforts to improve the environment around him. Ana Escauriaza is the author of a biographical profile of Aurora Nieto (1904-1990), a supernumerary from Salamanca, who was a widow and mother of three children, and whose home became an important site for apostolate with young people. Dario Casapiccola, an Argentinean, writes about the incorporation of supernumeraries in Buenos Aires and Rosario between 1950, the year the Work arrived in this country, and 1961. Luis Cano offers reflections on the group of professionals who attended the retreat preached by St. Josemaría in Molinoviejo (Segovia, Spain) during Holy Week in 1949. Finally, María Luisa Galdón and Julio Montero describe the first retreats for Spanish woman supernumeraries, organized in the 1950s.

The Studi e Note section contains five articles. Three focus on the growth of Opus Dei in various geographical areas. Federico M. Requena examines the work of Opus Dei in Washington between 1957 and 1961; Cosimo Di Fazio, the first apostolic expansion in Italy in 1949; and Eliana Fucili, the first steps of the apostolate with women in Argentina. In addition, José Luis González Gullón writes about the names and surnames of the founder of Opus Dei, while Santiago Martínez focuses on the clerical secular institutes that arose during the pontificate of Pius XII.

In the Documenti section, María Jesús Coma and María Eugenia Ossandón have edited the second issue of the series of bulletins called Noticias. While living in Burgos during the Spanish Civil War, the founder of Opus Dei wrote a monthly family bulletin in order to strive to help keep alive the faith of the young people who in previous years had drawn close to the Work. The second bulletin, the most extensive of the series, was written in 1938 and sent to 50 people.

In the Notiziario section, Julio Montero presents a project regarding the Tajamar school, in Vallecas (Madrid), that involves researching and writing a detailed history of this school.

The journal closes with the Sezione bibliografica, with book reviews and a bibliographical list of publications on Alvaro del Portillo, Javier Echevarría and Fernando Ocáriz that appeared between 2014 and 2017.