Pedro Ballester received the worst of diagnoses in the midst of adolescence, at that stage when young people see the world as a horizon of infinite possibilities. In 2014, at age 18 and newly enrolled at Imperial College London to study Chemical Engineering, he began to experience intense stabbing pains in his back that left him bedridden for hours. Medical tests revealed something devastating: he had bone cancer in his pelvis that could be treated but not operated on.
However, Pedro did not become angry with the world forever. Nor did he shut himself away in his own lamentations. He made an admirable decision: he accepted the illness with astonishing strength that left his doctors and all who loved him perplexed. The agony lasted three years. During his illness, his room at Greygarth Hall residence became a true pilgrimage center, visited equally by lifelong friends and people he had just met. He had a gift for people. A natural charm that did not wane with the illness. On the contrary: despite having lost 20 kilos and suffering unbearable pain that forced him to use a wheelchair, Pedro would often gather family and friends around him with jokes, speaking to them about God with great hope.
An encounter with the Pope and a massive funeral
Pedro was able to meet Pope Francis thanks to a charity that helps young people with cancer fulfill their dreams. Before arriving at the Vatican, he made sure that all the patients at the Christie oncology hospital where he was hospitalized —whether believers or not— signed a card expressing their affection for the Pontiff. “He radiated happiness, and the ultimate reason was his closeness to God. He is an impressive example, especially for young people,” explains Jack Valero to EWTN Radio, who knew him since childhood and now promotes his canonization cause.
When he died, he had a massive funeral. More than 500 people filled the Church of the Holy Name on Oxford Road to say goodbye. The future Cardinal Arthur Roche flew from the Vatican to celebrate the funeral. His grave, in Southern Cemetery in Manchester —a few meters from that of Sir Matt Busby— still receives visitors from around the world every day.
The opening of the beatification cause
The Diocese of Salford (United Kingdom) announced this week the opening of his beatification cause, a process that in a few years could bring to the altars for the first time a young man of Generation Z. The Bishop of the diocese, Mons. John Arnold, formally invited the faithful to collaborate by providing testimonies, memories, and writings that will help complete the profile of his virtues and his reputation for holiness.
His testimony left a deep mark, to the point that one of his nurses, after caring for him, confessed to him: “I am also a believer, but I want to be Catholic like you.” The three years of treatment were extremely hard. However, “during that time, he was not only very close to God but also remarkably generous, always thinking of others,” explains Valero. “When I am sick, I usually think about myself and how badly I am doing. In his case, it was the opposite: he stopped thinking about himself and thought only of others. When you visited him, he always asked about you,” he adds.
Valero remembers as if it were yesterday the day Pedro died. “I offered to make the funeral card. I chose a Gospel quote: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ But the priest called me and asked me to add another quote about happiness, because he was an immensely happy person even in the midst of suffering,” he observes. A week before he died, many young people visited him: “He asked everyone: ‘Are you happy?’ Finally one of them asked him: ‘And you, Pedro, are you happy?’ A week before dying, he replied: ‘I have never been so happy,’” Valero recounts.
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Original source: www.aciprensa.com (published on May 26, 2026)
Photo: Darya Luganskaya on Unsplash
