Pope Leo’s Illuminating Evening at La Sagrada Familia
National Catholic Register, 14 June 2026
The Holy Father, more than 15 years after Pope Benedict XVI’s visit, spoke of the grand edifice’s symbol as a continuing proclamation of Christ to the culture of Catalonia, and to the world.
Is the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona the most important church in the world?
No other church has had a pope visit for its dedication — twice! With thousands in attendance within the basilica, and an estimated 120,000 reportedly gathering outside, Wednesday evening’s Mass at the Sagrada Familia was the highlight of Pope Leo XIV’s two days in Barcelona.
Construction of the church began in 1882 and, even after 144 years, it is not complete. The key figure in its construction was its chief architect for more than 40 years (1883-1926), Antoni Gaudí, who died after being hit by a tram in 1926.
Gaudí’s cause for canonization is progressing. Sometimes called “God’s Architect,” he was declared “Venerable” by Pope Francis in April 2025, a week before the Holy Father’s death. Gaudí’s engineering skill — in addition to his artistic vision — was such that even today construction crews, using the latest computerized techniques, are discovering that his century-old calculations were accurate.
‘Work in Progress’
“The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia remains a work in progress today, reminding us that the Christian life is always a journey, because it is a project that God is carrying out,” preached Leo at the Mass. “We do not, therefore, dwell in an unfinished work, but in a temple still under construction. 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.”
The Holy Father visited the Sagrada Familia on the centennial of Gaudí’s death, June 10, to dedicate the recently completed Tower of Jesus, the principal spire, which makes the church the tallest in the world (566 feet). The king and queen of Spain were present, as they were in 2010 when Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church and designated it a basilica.
It was an evening with remarkable moments, beginning with a blind girl who explained to the Holy Father and the King and Queen the symbolic significance of the Tower of Jesus. It concluded with a sound-and-light spectacular, illuminating the bright colors of the stained glass from inside, and including a massive drone-guided portrait of Gaudí in the night sky, accompanied by the phrase: “Primer l’amor, després la tècnica” (“First love, then technique”).
It was as though the torch-lighting arrow from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics had grown into a festival of light.
The Sagrada Familia is Barcelona’s principal attraction, with nearly 5 million visitors in 2025. Revenue from ticket sales funds the construction and operation of Sagrada Familia, which belongs neither to the archdiocese nor the government, and gets money from neither. It is run by a private foundation.
Gaudí’s design combined a standard 19th-century neo-Gothic style with curvilinear shapes taken from nature. The cluster of trees — the 18 spires in the original design — give an Art Nouveau face to the basilica, making it quite unlike any other church — or any other building.
Pope Leo offered a summary of the theology of sacred architecture as lived by Gaudí:
“It is faith that shapes the stones and gives meaning to the edifice we inhabit together. In our prayer, therefore, we discover the original bond between all things and God, the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the Artist who has imprinted his splendor upon the cosmos. Created in his image, humanity responds to God’s work with its own ingenuity: this is how the artist transforms talent into praise and creativity into a testimony to the Creator himself. As an architect inspired by faith, the venerable Antoni Gaudí designed this place with the desire to narrate the mysteries of the Lord’s life.”
Praise for the Sagrada Familia is lavish and widespread.
‘Greatest Modern Building on the Planet’
The Daily Telegraph, on the occasion of Leo’s visit, called it the “greatest modern building on the planet,” writing that it is “a parallel universe in which architectural modernism barely happened, symbolism and decoration remained acceptable and we kept creating places with joy, natural patterns and a whiff of the sacred.”
Much more than a “whiff.”
The late Cardinal George Pell was reluctant to visit but did so in 2014 when pressed by his brother. He was converted from skeptic to ardent admirer.
“I was put off by photos of the basilica’s exterior. It all seemed a bit loopy: Picasso in Hollywood,” wrote Cardinal Pell. “But I knew nothing of the basilica’s interior (and not much more, in fact, about the exterior). I was quite prepared to be unimpressed.”
“My visit completely changed my opinion,” the cardinal wrote. “The basilica is a work of genius. This place of worship speaks of God to the people of today (and tomorrow) more eloquently than any church I know. Catholic symbols are everywhere, teaching about Christ, the Church, light and life.”
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