Daniel del Castillo González
In 2018, in Manchester, England, Pedro Ballester Arenas died at the age of 21 from an aggressive form of cancer.
He was a chemical engineering student and lived with his family in Britain for work-related reasons. In 2014, he began to feel pain in his back. It turned out to be, quite unfortunately, pelvic cancer.
PEDRO BALLESTER
Father of Pedro Ballester Arenas
At 18, he was diagnosed with bone cancer, an osteosarcoma. And despite all the treatment he underwent, in the end, the treatment didn’t work, or it worked as much as it could. But he died at 21 years old, on January 13, 2018.
Several years later, the Catholic Diocese of Salford in the United Kingdom has opened a case for Pedro Ballester's cause for canonization—in short, he might be a saint.
This means that his life, writings, and testimonies from those who knew him will be thoroughly examined before a dossier is sent to the Vatican. But what does the father of this potential saint think about this all?
PEDRO BALLESTER
Father of Pedro Ballester Arenas
Well, a great responsibility, because people often ask me things and I have as many flaws and virtues as you or anyone else. I have my own struggles. But having a saintly son demands responsibility. I mean, I’m talking about someone who was very close to God.
Pedro made an effort to offer up his suffering and to love everyone. He made sure that his illness would not become the central focus of his life—he would instead bring God to other sick people while he was in the hospital.
PEDRO BALLESTER
Father of Pedro Ballester Arenas
There was a boy named Tom who spent all day with Pedro whenever Pedro was hospitalized for chemotherapy. He would come to Pedro’s room and they would stay together talking. And sometimes even Pedro, who was on morphine for the pain and all that…Tom would remain quietly in the corner of the room without disturbing anyone, simply because he felt very comfortable with Pedro. Because he felt loved, you know? Actually, Tom, before he died—because my son died first, and then Tom died a few months later—although he was not Catholic, said: ‘I want to be baptized.’ The thing is, he died that very night. They were going to baptize him the next day.
Before opening someone's cause for canonization, five years must pass after the person’s death. But information about the person can of course be collected beforehand.
In the case of “Pedrito,” as he was known among those close to him, a private prayer devotion has begun to circulate. This also helps spread awareness of his life and of his cause for sainthood within the Catholic Church.
