The Vatican has moved Antoni Gaudí, the architect behind Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia church, a step closer toward achieving sainthood.
On April 14, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, with authorization from Pope Francis, issued a decree recognizing Gaudí’s “heroic virtues,” a milestone in the confirmation process that designates him and other dead figures with ties to the church as “venerable.”
“Venerable” is a distinction given to a deceased person whom the Vatican recognizes as having attained some level of sanctity, even though they haven’t yet been fully canonized as a saint.
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The process of confirming an historical figure as a saint after death involves several stages. The first is beatification, meaning the person has been venerated at the local level. Canonization is a broader recognition.
The announcement appeared in the Vatican press office’s bulletin this week, in a notice titled “Promulgation of Decrees of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints,” alongside other nominations from the group concerning other figures on the path to sainthood.
Born in 1852 in Reus, Spain, Gaudí moved to Barcelona to study architecture, eventually earning the moniker “God’s architect” by blending spirituality and modernist styles. He spent 40 years overseeing the design and construction of the Sagrada Familia, which went unfinished before Gaudi’s death in 1926 at the age of 73.
The recognition is the result of decades of effort by supporters of Gaudí’s cause, including a dedicated association founded in 1992 to promote his influence.