BARCELONA, Spain\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Pope Leo XIV honored Barcelona\u2019s sacred Sagrada Familia basilica on the centenary of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaud\u00ed, with a Mass on Wednesday under its soaring sandcastle spires. <\/p>\n
Leo lit a candle and prayed at the tomb of Gaud\u00ed in the basilica\u2019s crypt before the service, the highlight of Leo\u2019s weeklong visit to Spain. It\u2019s the first by a pope in 15 years to a once staunchly Catholic European country that, like many others, has experienced secularizing trends. <\/p>\n
The trip, though, has underscored how the country of 50 million people, which experienced a religious crisis after its 20th century dictatorship ended, still has plenty of faithful Catholics who have turned out in droves to welcome the American pope.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets around Sagrada Familia awaiting Leo\u2019s arrival, with streets closed to traffic and a heavy police presence, given that the country\u2019s royal family was due to attend. After the Mass, Leo was also to consecrate the final Tower of Jesus Christ atop the basilica that has made it the world\u2019s tallest church.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire structure of the Sagrada Familia is striking,\u201d said Laura Rinc\u00f3n, who was waiting along with two friends for the pope, after she finished work in a nearby shop. She said that she was sure the pope would be impressed by the church she marvels at every time she passes by.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at it just for its architecture, it is amazing,\u201d she said. \u201cInside, its columns make you feel like you are inside a forest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honoring Catalonia\u2019s Christian traditions<\/p>\n
Earlier Wednesday, Leo celebrated the centuries-old Catalan tradition of popular piety by praying at Montserrat, a mountain complex outside the city that is dear to many Catalans. The complex, which includes an 11th-century Benedictine abbey and a 16th-century basilica, is revered for its Black Madonna statue and is home to a boy\u2019s choir that has existed since the 13th century and is Europe\u2019s oldest. <\/p>\n
Thousands of faithful arrived early at the monastery, with groups of nuns and schoolchildren singing and waving signs and photographs of the pope outside the basilica. Bells rang out over the spire-like rock formations that top Montserrat and the valley below as Leo arrived in a golf cart.<\/p>\n
In his remarks to the faithful in the abbey, Leo said that Montserrat for centuries has been a place of peace and reconciliation in a world marked by violence, \u201ccriticism that humiliates, condemnation that destroys and aggression that divides.\u201d He urged Spaniards to follow in the \u201cpath of mercy, reconciliation, truth and gentleness.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years, the Montserrat abbey has faced numerous accusations from survivors of clergy sexual abuse and was included in the Spanish ombudsman\u2019s 800-page report on the crisis in 2023. The report found 15 victims and three alleged perpetrators linked to the abbey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very painful because there are members of the church who committed errors,\u201d said the Rev. Cesario Escarda, a Toledo priest, as he waited for Leo at the abbey. \u201cWhat the pope wants to do is shine a light on the truth and ask forgiveness and bring in the victims and listen to them and accompany them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bible carved in stone<\/p>\n
The highlight of Leo\u2019s visit was expected to be his Mass on Wednesday evening in Barcelona at Sagrada Familia. The Mass commemorates the 100th anniversary of the death of its designer, Gaud\u00ed, who died at age 73, three days after he was hit by a tram.<\/p>\n
A century after construction began during the pontificate of Leo\u2019s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, the basilica has become one of the world\u2019s most visited but unfinished monuments, annually drawing upward of 5 million visitors a year.<\/p>\n
Gaud\u00ed, the famed Catalan architect who is on the path to possible sainthood, spent four decades designing and building the temple as the summary of the Christian faith carved in stone. The most important stories of Jesus\u2019 life, the Nativity and Passion, are etched into the basilica\u2019s east and west facades. A third facade facing south, the Glory, will serve as the basilica\u2019s main entrance when finished.<\/p>\n
The temple is an architectural and geometrical masterpiece inside and out, an art nouveau celebration in form and symbol of Christianity and God\u2019s creation through stone and light with the structure itself based on the architectural tradition of Byzantine and Gothic churches.<\/p>\n
A total of 18 sandcastle spires rise up from the top and pierce Barcelona\u2019s skyline: 12 to symbolize Christ\u2019s 12 apostles, four for each of the four Evangelists who recorded Christ\u2019s life in the Gospels, one topped with a star over the apse honoring the Virgin Mary and, tallest among them, the Tower of Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n
When the final Christ tower was finished last year at a height of 564 feet, it made Sagrada Familia the world\u2019s tallest church. Leo will formally consecrate the tower on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
An interior that looks like a forest<\/p>\n
The cross-shaped interior, with the altar at the apse, is an homage to light and nature. Treelike columns soar to the sky, colored by constantly changing light filtered through stained glass windows like the sun poking through leaves in a forest.<\/p>\n
\u201cNature is my teacher,\u201d Gaud\u00ed once said. \u201cEverything comes from the great book of nature, always open that we must read.\u201d<\/p>\n
The colors of the window glass have meaning: The blues and greens of the eastern portal windows, where the facade depicts Christ\u2019s birth, look more joyful and are most brilliant when the sun rises and light passes through. The coarser shades of red and orange, illuminated by the setting sun on the western portals, color the side of the basilica that depicts Christ\u2019s Passion. Behind the altar and above the cross are yellows and gold that glimmer in the noonday sun.<\/p>\n
Historian M\u00f2nica Sant\u00edn, who leads tours of the basilica, said that in designing Sagrada Familia, Gaud\u00ed was guided by two books: the Gospels and nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way he lets in the natural light is also an invitation to the Christian mystery,\u201d she said, citing the three facades depicting Christ\u2019s birth, death and glory.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when you enter inside, it is all light,\u201d Sant\u00edn said. \u201cWhat is that the symbol of? We can\u2019t see God, but we perceive his light all around us. I think that is how you can read this message, and it is fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson and Winfield write for the Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BARCELONA, Spain\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Pope Leo XIV honored Barcelona\u2019s sacred Sagrada Familia basilica on the centenary of the death of its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18146,1387,92,17205,1784,18089,9971,18145,13374,3513,10022,9934,13412,5416,4546],"class_list":["post-38238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-abbey","tag-antoni-gaudi","tag-barcelona","tag-basilica","tag-death","tag-jesus-christ","tag-leo","tag-light","tag-mass","tag-nature","tag-pope","tag-sagrada-familia","tag-sun","tag-wednesday","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}