Venerable Alexia González-Barros

Alexia González-Barros González (7 March 1971 – 5 December 1985) was a Spanish Catholic child who died of cancer in 1985. González-Barros studied in school in Madrid and in her childhood received a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II during her trip to Rome. But in late 1984 she began feeling pains in her arm and back that led to a diagnosis two months later as being a malignant tumor in the vertebral column transforming into spinal cancer. Her siblings and friends remembered her for her piousness and her dedication to practicing holiness in all aspects of life. In 2008 a controversial film was released depicting her life and death; the director maintains that it was a fictional tale that did not depict González-Barros even though it was dedicated to her and drew on some aspects of her life. Her siblings and Opus Dei railed against the film for its perceived slander and inaccuracies that were "unjust". Her beatification process launched in 1991 and she became titled as a Servant of God. Pope Francis later declared her to be Venerable in July 5, 2018 after confirming that the child had lived a life of heroic virtue to a favorable degree. Alexia González-Barros González was born in Madrid on 7 March 1971 as the last of seven children born to the Opus Dei supernumeraries Francisco (d. 30.12.2001) and Moncha (d. 3.2.2006); two of those children died as infants. Francisco and Alfredo were two of her older brothers. On 15 October 1975 she began her schooling in Madrid while her mother would instruct her in catechism. González-Barros made her First Communion in Rome in the Santa Maria della Pace church (where the Opus Dei founder Josemaría Escrivá is buried) on 8 May 1979 and on the following morning attended a papal general audience in Saint Peter's Square. Pope John Paul II was passing to extend his greetings to the pilgrims and she ran up to him from the crowd to hug him; the pope blessed her and kissed her forehead.