The beatification cause for “God’s architect” Antoni Gaudí, the designer of the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, Spain, just completed an important step on the path to officially declaring him a saint. Source: CNA.
The Catalan architect’s cause for beatification has been transferred from a civil association to an ecclesial association and has entered its “final process,” according to the Archdiocese of Barcelona. This means that he may soon be elevated to the status of “venerable,” the precursor to the status of blessed and saint.
Barcelona Archdiocese has submitted what is known as the “positio”, which it said is the fundamental argument in favour of Gaudí’s beatification. The positio was sent to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the archdiocese revealed in a statement on Monday.
The dicastery will now decide whether to further advance the cause of the Catalan architect who is currently considered a “Servant of God.”
If the dicastery approves, it will present the positio to Pope Francis, who would then authorise its publication, allowing Gaudí to be called “venerable.”
Gaudí, who died in 1926 at the age of 73, was a modernist and naturalist architect best known for designing the massive Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, which has been under construction for more than 100 years.
Though not known as a practicing Catholic in his earlier years, Gaudí is said to have had a conversion of heart after he began working on the Sagrada Familia. As the work on the basilica progressed, Gaudí became known for his fasting, asceticism, and devotion to God.
He increasingly devoted himself to prayer and the sacraments along with his work on the basilica.
Gaudí was on the way to his daily confession when he was hit by a tram, the accident that resulted in his death three days later.
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Canonization cause advances for ‘God’s architect,’ Antoni Gaudí (By Peter Pinedo, CNA)
