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Pope Francis on Monday placed Antoni Gaud\u00ed, the Catalan modernist once called \u201cGod\u2019s architect\u201d for his work on the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona\u2019s world-famous basilica, on the path to sainthood.<\/p>\n
Francis recognized his \u201cheroic virtues\u201d and authorized a decree declaring him \u201cvenerable,\u201d a move toward sainthood, the Vatican said in a statement. For the next step, beatification, a miracle attributed to him would have to be verified. After that, a confirmation of yet another miracle would be required for Gaud\u00ed to be declared a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. The process can take years, even centuries.<\/p>\n
The basilica<\/a> marked the pope\u2019s decision by noting on its website that after Gaud\u00ed died at 73, a leading prelate at the time called him God\u2019s architect, and that the Sagrada Familia \u201copens hearts to beauty with its beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n Antoni Gaud\u00ed i Cornet was born on June 25, 1852, most likely in Reus, Spain. He moved years later to Barcelona, where he studied architecture, earning his degree in 1878. After working on some small projects, according to the basilica\u2019s website, \u201che soon became one of the most sought-after architects and began taking on larger commissions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Gaudi Foundation notes<\/a> that his association with the architect Joan Martorell i Montells brought Gaud\u00ed into contact with the rich industrialist and prominent Barcelona figure Eusebio G\u00fcell, which \u201chelped to engender many of the imperishable works\u201d still admired today.<\/p>\n Construction of the Sagrada Familia began in 1882, and Gaud\u00ed took over the project a year later, when he was 31. He worked on the basilica for more than four decades, the last 12 years of his life exclusively. It remains unfinished.<\/p>\n Gaud\u00ed was hit by a tram in Barcelona on June 7, 1926, and taken to the city\u2019s hospital for the poor because he was not recognized. He died three days later.<\/p>\n In 2010, the basilica was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI, who described Gaud\u00ed<\/a>, as \u201ca creative architect and a practising Christian who kept the torch of his faith alight to the end of his life, a life lived in dignity and absolute austerity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cGaud\u00ed, by opening his spirit to God, was capable of creating in this city a space of beauty, faith and hope, which leads man to an encounter with him who is truth and beauty itself,\u201d Benedict said in 2010.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In announcing the decree<\/a>, the Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which oversees the canonization process, described Gaud\u00ed as a faithful layman who, \u201cmoved by the yearning for union with the Lord,\u201d led a \u201cgood spiritual and moral life above the ordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n It added that Gaud\u00ed \u201coffered to God the fruits of his own labor understood as a mission to make the people know and draw them closer to God, and made art a hymn of praise to the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n Cardinal Juan Jos\u00e9 Omella, the archbishop of Barcelona, said in a video statement on Monday that \u201cit was a joy to receive the news\u201d that Gaud\u00ed had been declared \u201cvenerable.\u201d It was a recognition, he said, \u201cnot only of his architectural work, but of something more important than his holiness, that he is a man who was good.\u201d<\/p>\n An association to promote Gaud\u00ed\u2019s beatification was established in 1992, with the aim of achieving that goal \u201cthrough the organization of lectures, exhibitions and publications; and to collect testimonies of favors granted by his intercession,\u201d according to a book published by the association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In 2023, the cause was submitted to the Vatican, and the Archdiocese of Barcelona became officially involved.<\/a><\/p>\n Not many artists have achieved saintly status. Some are prelates who also wrote poetry. One is an abbess who wrote musical compositions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Fra Angelico, the Renaissance artist and Dominican friar who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1982, may be the best known. A major Fra Angelico exhibition<\/a> opens in Florence, Italy, on Sept. 26 and looks set to be one of the major European art shows<\/a> of the fall.<\/p>\n As Gaud\u00ed inches toward sainthood, so, too, is the Sagrada Familia creeping toward completion. Two towers were finished<\/a> in 2023, and the Sagrada Familia Foundation has said it hopes that the central, and tallest, tower will be finished by 2026 \u2014 the centennial of Gaud\u00ed\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHe was a visionary, and a Christian visionary, so the cause for beatification is more than merited,\u201d said the Italian historian Giovanni Maria Vian, who called the Sagrada Familia \u201cthe last great church\u201d in the long history of ecclesiastical architecture in Europe.<\/p>\n Gaud\u00ed had conceived the basilica \u201cas a religious monument to give praise and praise God,\u201d he said, much like the craftsmen who worked on the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n