Joaquín Navarro-Valls, M.D. (born November 16, 1936, Cartagena, Spain), was the Director of the Holy See Press Office (or Vatican Press Office), taking the post in 1984. His role as the press liaison between the Vatican and the world press corps gave him perhaps the highest visibility of any one person in the Vatican during the long reign of Pope John Paul II, with the exception of the Pope himself. Navarro-Valls, a non-clerical journalist, resigned his post July 11, 2006. Pope Benedict XVI has appointed the Reverend Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., to take his place. On January 20, 2007, it was announced that he will be president of the board of advisers of the Biomedical University of Rome.

Navarro-Valls studied at the Deutsche Schule in Cartagena, and then studied medicine at the Universities of Granada and Barcelona, as well as journalism at the Faculty of Sciences of Communication at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He also took post-graduate studies at Harvard University in the United States. He graduated summa cum laude in Medicine and Surgery in 1961 and took courses for a doctorate in Psychiatry in “Trastornos psiquiátricos en los traumas craneales”. In addition, he taught at the Faculty of Medicine. In 1968, received a degree in journalism and in the science of communication in 1980. He is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian.

Álvaro del Portillo, or Álvaro del Portillo y Diez de Sollano, (March 11, 1914 - March 23, 1994), was a Spanish engineer and Roman Catholic bishop. He served as the prelate of Opus Dei between 1975 and 1994.

He was born in Madrid. He studied civil engineering and after obtaining his doctorate at the University of Madrid taught at its School of Engineering. He briefly worked with the Bureau of Highways and Bridges in the provinces crossed by the rivers Júcar, Duero and Ebro.

In 1935, he joined Opus Dei and was subsequently ordained to the priesthood on June 25, 1944. He continued his studies to obtain two additional doctorates: Philosophy and Letters; and Canon Law. He then dedicated himself exclusively to the ministry and government of Opus Dei as its Secretary General. During the pontificate of Pope Pius XII (1939–1958), he worked in several Dicasteries of the Holy See.

In 1963, he was named by Pope John XXIII as a consultant on the Pontifical Commission for the revision of the Code of Canon Law. Pope Paul VI named him consultant on several post-Conciliar commissions. In 1975, he was chosen general president of the Opus Dei and successor of Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, and in 1982, the Holy See appointed him as the first Prelate of Opus Dei. In 1991, he was consecrated a bishop by Pope John Paul II.