Friday, November 05, 2010

Pope to consecrate Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

When the Pope offers his blessing in the first mass to be held in the basilica, which has been under construction for nearly 130 years, campaigners expect the pontiff will be moved to recognise the virtues of its architect and fast track his beatification. 
Last week the Association for the Beatification of Gaudi announced that it hoped he would be beatified on June 10, 2016, the 90th anniversary of the death of Catalonia's most famous architect.
"The visit could serve to influence the Vatican on this matter," said Josep Maria Tarragona, one of the founders of the association set up in the early 1990s and the author of a spiritual biography running to 1,200 pages that will be presented to the Vatican next Spring.

The document will be used by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to determine if Gaudi's devotion and the miracles said to have taken place through his intercession warrant his beatification.

Campaigners believe that Gaudi lived a life of "heroic virtue", thus making him worthy to be called Venerable, the first of the three stages on the official path to sainthood.

The positio contains numerous personal testimonies from around the world by those who believe their prayers were answered after calling on the architect to intercede on their behalf.

One man believes a stomach ulcer was miraculously cured after he prayed to Gaudi and a woman from his home town of Reus claims she regained her sight.

If the miracles are recognised, Gaudi will be the first architect to be a candidate for beatification.

Gaudi began work on his most ambitious project in 1882 but his death under a tram in the Catalan capital in 1926 meant completion of his opus was entrusted to future generations.

The masterpiece, which attracted close to 2.5m visitors last year each paying the 12 euro entrance fee, is scheduled for completion by 2025.

During the consecration of the modernist landmark during a mass at 10am on Sunday, the pontiff is expected to pay tribute to the architect himself.

"He will underline the dialogue between faith and art, something which the Pope cares a lot about," said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said ahead of the visit.

SIC: TG/UK