Architect Antoni Gaudí on the way to beatification

The Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) is one step closer to canonisation. The dicastery for canonisation has awarded the artist the heroic degree of virtue, as the Vatican announced on Monday. Vatican announced on Monday. This confirms that Gaudí lived an exemplary life of Christian virtues, a necessary preliminary step for canonisation. He now bears the title "Venerable Servant of God". His main work is the Basilica Sagrada Família in Barcelonawhich has not yet been completed (photo above).

The decree of the dicastery for the canonisations was approved by Pope Francis as prescribed. For the first time since his return from the Gemelli Clinic, the Pope has scheduled a regular working appointment with a member of the Curia. The decree, in which a total of six decisions on canonisation beatification processes was signed during an audience for the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro.

As an architect, Gaudí was responsible for the construction of the Theresian convent in Barcelona and the bishop's palace in Astorga, among others. From 1914, Gaudí devoted himself exclusively to the construction of the Sagrada Família. He died in 1926 after an accident with a tram. As he did every morning, he was on his way to the construction site of the Sagrada Família after attending mass in the Oratory of St Philip Neri. With the approval of Pope Pius XI, he was buried in the crypt of his unfinished church. The beatification process was started in 2000 at the instigation of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Ricardo María Carles. The original plan to build the Sagrada Família for the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's deathcould not be realised. (fxn)