Monday, November 28, 2011

Archbishop of Barcelona: “I hope Gaudí is beatified soon”

During his visit to an exhibition dedicated to “God’s architect” in the Vatican, the prelate expressed his hopes that the work on the Sagrada Familia will be completed by 2026.

“I hope that all the work will be completed by 2026, the centenary of Antonio Gaudí’s death.” This was the wish expressed by Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach, Archbishop of Barcelona, with regards to the completion of the Sagrada Familia. 

The building work on the cathedral began in 1882 and was consecrated by Benedict XVI once the work on the interior was finished.

At the exhibition, which opened today in the Vatican, the Cardinal recalled how “Gaudí said Saint Joseph was going to finish it.” 

During his presentation of the exhibition “Gaudí in Rome”, to the press, the Archbishop of Barcelona said “the prophesy was fulfilled in terms of the completion of the internal naves, because their construction was begun in worship of a Pope, whose Christian name was Joseph.” 

He then mentioned the parts that still need to be added to the exterior: “ten towers, the Blessed Sacrament chapel, the Baptistery chapel and the chapel of the Virgin Mary, two sacristies and the cloister.”

Speaking about Gaudí’s potential beatification, the Cardinal said he hoped it would take place “as soon as possible” because “Gaudí was a Christian in word and in deed, he was a man and architect of God,” who “must not just be seen as an architectural genius, but above all as an exemplary Christian.”