Pope blesses Barcelona’s Gaudi-designed towering architectural masterpiece

By Christopher Lamb, CNN

(CNN) — Antoni Gaudí, the architect behind Barcelona’s most visited attraction – the Sagrada Família church – was hit by a tram in 1926 and died after not receiving immediate medical attention as onlookers had mistaken him for a beggar.

Today, exactly one hundred years since the architect’s death, Pope Leo XIV visited the iconic basilica to celebrate a Mass and inaugurate the tower which makes the church the tallest in the world.

Gaudí died knowing his masterpiece would be unfinished. The blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ signifies a major step in what has been a 144-year journey toward completion for an extraordinary religious building that attracts millions of visitors a year. According to the basilica, more Americans visit than Spaniards.

“Much more than a monument, the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia remains a work in progress today,” the first US-born pope said during a homily at a Mass attended by thousands including the King and Queen of Spain. “The fact that it is incomplete is not a flaw, for it bears witness to a desire; it does not signify a shortcoming, but rather expresses a promise that we wish to honor with consistency.”

On arrival at the Sagrada Familia, the pope – who was greeted by the Spanish royal couple – went to the crypt and visited Gaudí’s tomb. After the Mass he blessed the new tower, which sits at the top of the church. A blind girl named Valentina explained the Tower of Jesus to the pope, using a model with braille inscriptions.

After the blessing, the basilica and tower were lit up, followed by fireworks and drone lights of Gaudi’s face in the night sky.

During his homily Leo said it is “faith that shapes the stones,” praising Gaudí as an “architect inspired by faith” who designed a building that can be likened to a “spiritual pilgrimage.” The Vatican has put Gaudí on the path to sainthood, and in April of last year declared him “venerable,” an important step along the path to canonization.

On Wednesday, the Catholic spiritual leader also told worshippers, “We cannot believe in Jesus and promote war. We cannot believe in Jesus and kill the innocent. We cannot believe in Jesus and abandon those who suffer, those who weep, those who flee from misery.”

The pope has fiercely criticized joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and rebuked world leaders for invoking religious language to rationalize war and voiced opposition to the administration’s immigration crackdown.

Gaudí’s primary inspirations for the Sagrada Família were the natural world and religious ritual and imagery. Peter Stanford, author of Gaudí: God’s Architect, says that the towers of the Sagrada Família are often likened to “drippy candles.” But, writing in catholic publication The Tablet, Stanford quotes a disciple of Gaudí saying they are actually inspired by “castells,” the human towers of people standing on top of each other at religious festivals that are a Catalan tradition.

Trees, flowers and fruit can be seen carved in detail on the building which is a stunning mixture of color, architectural genius and geometry. The 18 towers represent different figures from scripture including the apostles, evangelists and Virgin Mary while the three facades depict the life of Jesus along with his death and final judgment.

Building work on the basilica was held back by the Spanish civil war and a lack of funds, including Gaudí going over budget and refusing to compromise on his designs.

In July 1936, at the beginning of Spain’s civil war, anti-clericalist anarchist groups stormed the basilica and set fire to the crypt and Gaudí’s workshop, destroying many of his plans. The lost information was reconstructed by Gaudí’s collaborators which then helped later generations of architects. Jordi Faulí, the chief architect currently overseeing the works, said Gaudí equipped his successors with a design logic which has been helped by the use of digital modelling software, 3D printing and industrial robots.

By visiting the Basilica and blessing the new tower, the pope follows in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI who in 2010 consecrated the Sagrada Familia.

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