In addition to being a world-famous architect, Antoni Gaudí was a devout Catholic. His faith can clearly be seen in the details of his most important work, the design of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
Like medieval cathedrals, authentic Bibles in stone, Gaudí conceived the Sagrada Familia as a large catechesis. He took the altarpieces that are usually found inside the church and moved them outside where everybody could see the truths of the Christian faith. Gaudí wanted to reflect the early Christian Church, but with the progress and advances of the time.
FR. GABRIEL CÓRDOBA RODRIGUEZ
Architect and Author
The principal dogmas of Catholic doctrine are represented on the facades of the Sagrada Familia. Pope Benedict XVI said that Gaudi’s ability to bring out the altarpieces, his three facades, and his 18 towers, made an ecclesiology. There, the church is proclaimed, and he reveals the glory of God through beauty.”
Fr. Gabriel Cordoba is also a Spanish architect and wrote a book on the theology behind Gaudí's work.
He says that many elements have been gathered to show that the brilliant architect was a saint. He was a mystic and proclaimed God’s glory through his works and his everyday life.
FR. GABRIEL CÓRDOBA RODRIGUEZ
Architect and Author
“Gaudí was a person with a great intellectual capacity. He was a cultured and very knowledgeable person, but he was also a deeply religious and spiritual person. The expression of faith through the liturgy was fundamental for him. He was a person of daily communion.”
Of course, he was also a defender of the faith, during those turbulent times at the end of the 19th century.”
Gaudí not only sought God through architecture and his way of working. He saw God through the creation and all its people. Gabriel explains that Gaudi also inspired faith in others and continuously showed acts of solidarity to his workers, peers, and Barcelona’s citizens.
FR. GABRIEL CÓRDOBA RODRIGUEZ
Architect and Author
“I felt that it would be important to present a thesis that covers the entire building of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia. I particularly wanted to convey that Gaudí, being a deeply religious person, was able to capture the beauty of what he lived and what he felt from God. All this inspiration came directly to him from God.”
Antoni Gaudí died in 1926 at the age of 74 from an unexpected accident while still working on the construction of the Sagrada Familia.
The association that promotes the cause for Beatification of Antoni Gaudí has been working with the Vatican in order to declare him “blessed.” However, before this can happen, they need the pope to first declare him venerable and prove a miracle performed through his intercession.
Christian Campos
