The cause for canonization for Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, primarily responsible for the construction of the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, has completed an important milestone on the path to sainthood in the Catholic Church.
According to EWTN, Gaudi's cause for canonization has been transferred from a civil association to an ecclesial association, and has entered what it described as its "final process."
This meant that Gaudi, categorized by the Vatican as a "Servant of God," might soon be promoted to the status of "venerable," the second of four major steps in the process of sainthood in the Catholic Church.
In order for Gaudi to be beatified, the Holy See must confirm one miracle attributed to him, and another one in order to be made a full saint. By practice, medical miracles are the cases being recognized by the Vatican.
Building Towards Sainthood
In a December 4 statement, the Archdiocese of Barcelona said it has submitted what was known as the "positio super vita, virtutibus, et fama sanctitatis" (position on the life, virtues, and reputation of holiness) to Rome. The document is crucially a fundamental argument in favor of Gaudi's promotion to sainthood, and submitting it to the Vatican's office for the causes of saints meant that the architect's cause was now in its "final process towards beatification."
If the Vatican approves Gaudi's case, it would present the positio to the pope, who would then authorize the its publication, allowing Gaudi to be called a "venerable."
While the Vatican's saint-making process takes decades or even centuries, Pope Francis expressed a desire to move Gaudi's cause forward after meeting with the Association for the Beatification of Antoni Gaudí in 2015. During that meeting, Francis called Gaudi a "great mystic" for envisioning a unique way of building churches.
The group was formed in 1992 by primarily lay Catholics to investigate Gaudi's life, which culminated in the Vatican officially opening the cause for his canonization in 2003.
The Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Juan José Omella, further signaled his archdiocese's support for Gaudi's canonization cause by transferring the case to a canonical association that would handle the cause from now on. The canonical association consists of Omella as well as several priests and lay faithful.
Gaudi never lived to see the completion of the Sagrada Familia as he was killed after he was struck by a tram.
His magnum opus is the Sagrada Familia, a basilica that has been under construction for over 100 years and counting. Unlike other churches in Europe and across the world, the Sagrada Familia sported a unique architecture which mimicked the natural world.
The church is an active basilica and was dedicated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, 128 years after the first construction began.
During the dedication, Benedict said that by uniting nature, sacred Scripture, and the liturgy, Gaudí "brilliantly helped to build our human consciousness, anchored in the world yet open to God, enlightened and sanctified by Christ."
It was said that building the Sagrada Familia deepened his Catholic faith, developing practices such as fasting, asceticism, and devotion to God.
He was supposed to go to daily confession and prayers on the day he was hit by a tram and died.
Aside from the Sagrada Familia, he was also responsible for the design of several buildings in Barcelona, as well as other structures across Spain.
