Architect understood urgency of bringing God to the people through art, recalls prelate

Barcelona, Spain, Sep 16, 2010 / 20:02 pm

The Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach, reflected this week on the life of “genius architect and exemplary Christian” Antonio Gaudi, who designed the Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona. The church will be dedicated by Pope Benedict XVI in November.

Regarding the consecration of the church, set for November 7, the cardinal noted that it would be “an act of remembrance of the Christian artist who conceived it. On that day we will see the church’s interior finished, but above all we will see it full of Christians celebrating the Eucharist at which the Pope will preside.”

The Holy Father will also designate the church as a basilica.

Referring to Gaudi, Cardinal Martinez Sistach said, “He was an architect of God and understood his profession to be his mission. He felt the urgency to bring the Gospel and the presence of God through his work to the people.  For this reason it was his custom to crown his projects with the Sign of the Cross.”

Gaudi also “wanted all of his architectural works to bring those who contemplated them closer to God,” continued the prelate.

For this reason, the cardinal said, “The dedication of the Church of the Holy Family will be an endearing remembrance of the architect, who was an example of simplicity and humility, a true example of the Franciscan spirit of love for poverty, of appreciation for the expiatory sacrifice for one’s own sins and of the admiration of nature.”