Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí has been known as ‘God’s architect’ for quite a while and the Vatican has now taken the first step to making that nickname a reality. According to a statement from the Vatican, Pope Francis has declared the Spaniard “venerable” for his heroic virtues.
Antoni Gaudí might well be one of the most famous Spaniards of all time. The architect left behind a myriad of masterworks, including the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Parque Güell, Palacio Güell, Casa Mila, Casa Vicens, Casa Batlló, the Crypt in Colonia Güell, and – perhaps most famously – the Nativity façade and Crypt of La Sagrada Familia. For those masterpieces, Gaudí has been admired by people worldwide for years already.
Yet as the Sagrada Familia might indicate, Antoni Gaudí was also a devoted catholic during his lifetime and he even died while walking to church when he was hit by a tram in 1926. According to Vatican News, his goal was to make “art a hymn of praise to the Lord and he considered it his mission to make God known and bring people closer to Him”.
For a long time – three decades to be precise – Gaudí fans have been trying to obtain sainthood for the architect. Some of them even testified to how his work on the Sagrada Família made them convert to Catholicism.
Gaudí devotees have called for him to be named a saint for more than three decades, pointing to how the fantasy spires and intricate stonework of the Sagrada Família had convinced some to convert to Catholicism. The Gaudí Beatification Society’s president José Manuel Almuzara stated in 2003 that there were “no serious obstacles” preventing Antoni Gaudí from becoming a saint.
Proof of a miracle is needed
Since the early 2000’s, the Vatican has been considering the possibility. As Pope Francis has now authorised a decree declaring the Catalonia-born architect “venerable”, he is effectively on his way to maybe become a saint in the future.
“It is a recognition not only of his architectural work but something more important. He is saying you… amid life’s difficulties, amid work, amid pain, amid suffering, are destined to be saints,” Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, said to the AFP news agency.
However, the next step towards saintdom would normally be beatification – a particular statute reserved for martyrs, those who are deemed to have lived a life of heroic values, and candidates who accordion to the Church have a saintly reputation. Proof of a miracle would also be needed so the question remains whether or not Antoni Gaudí will one day truly become ‘God’s architect’.
