On 17 July 2018, at half past nine in the morning, one of Pedro’s teachers was waiting for us by the entrance to Whitworth Hall of the University of Manchester. She was there to show his family and few of his friends to their places in the front three rows of the auditorium. At ten o’clock on the dot, the teaching staff began their procession, led by the Associate Vice-President of the university. With the proceedings now under way, the Head of the School of Chemical Engineering greeted the teaching staff and the families who had encouraged their sons and daughters in their efforts. Then he addressed the pupils who were about to receive their certificates, encouraging them to bear in mind, over the next stage of their lives that was about to begin, the advice from the famous artist Michelangelo: The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. Without further ado, he asked the Vice-President to award the degrees that they had aspired to, and as part of this request he mentioned just one student by name, Pedro Ballester, who was to receive posthumously a master’s degree in chemical engineering.
Having finished the introduction, the Head called those graduating one by one; first the three who were to be awarded doctorates, and then Pedro. Pedro’s brother Carlos went up in his place. The Vice-President handed him Pedro’s certificate and the gown, to intense and long applause from everyone there. Then the rest of the pupils were called, one by one, more than two hundred altogether between those being awarded master’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees. The posthumous award of the master’s degree to Pedro was without precedent in the University of Manchester.
Many things about Pedro have already been published on the Opus Dei website since that 13 January when he died at the age of 21. His father’s work meant that the family lived in various areas, all relatively close to Manchester. These house moves meant that Pedro met a lot of people and it partially explains why so many cards and messages of condolence were sent when he died. On reading them, you can see the positive influence the life of a young Christian student can have, almost from infancy, on many people.