The Sagrada Família stands at the forefront of history and controversy in Barcelona, Spain. Construction began in 1882 and is expected to continue for years more.
BARCELONA - Donning white, red and gold robes, Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday blessed the Tower of Jesus Christ, the highest spire of what is now the world’s tallest church: Barcelona’s Sagrada Família. The new central spire of the basilica imagined by Antoni Gaudí - the Catalonia-born designer known as “God’s architect” - became the backdrop for a celebration merging art and faith at one of the world’s most famous unfinished buildings.
The pope, who spoke in Spanish and Catalan, presided over a Mass that was attended by the king and queen of Spain, senior officials and other dignitaries, to mark the tower’s inauguration. A fireworks-and-light show later illuminated the 14 spires of Gaudí’s masterwork, drawing throngs of onlookers to the city’s best-known landmark.
After Gaudí’s sudden death in 1926 at 73 after being hit by a tram, other architects carried forward his life’s mission. During the Spanish Civil War, anti-church revolutionaries burned plans, drawings and photographs and smashed plaster models, leaving subsequent architects to piece together Gaudí’s vision from fragments. More recently, technology has helped honour his original intentions.
