Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia is a contemporary architectural marvel. It stands as a symbol of artistic ingenuity on the one hand, and of a deep spiritual awareness on the other. Holding the title of the world’s largest unfinished Catholic church, the minor basilica that is both Barcelona’s best-known landmark and the architectural masterwork of the Servant of God Antoni Gaudí is just one tower away from being complete.
Last Sunday, the basilica celebrated the solemn inauguration of the Four Towers of the Evangelists, which were completed last September.
The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, and currently also the president of the Episcopal Conference of Spain. The Apostolic Nuncio, Bernardito Auza, and the auxiliary bishop of Barcelona, David Abadías, concelebrated the solemn Mass.
Of the 18 towers Gaudí included in his final design, 17 are now finally fully built: 12 of them dedicated to the Apostles, four to the Evangelists, and one to the Virgin Mary (which was finished in 2021).
As read in the note published by The New Daily, “the towers of Matthew, John, Luke and Mark that surround the tower of Jesus Christ are each 135 meters tall, making them the third tallest at the basilica."
“One of the greatest Christian poems on Earth”
As read in the note published by COPE, Apostolic Nuncio Bernardito Auza highlighted the importance of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia not just as a tourist landmark or an architectural wonder, but also as a spiritual lighthouse – for the city, and for the universal Church: “The new towers,” the Nuncio explained, ”are dedicated to the four evangelists. Each tower reminds us of their unique, personal characteristics, and of the ways in which these personal traits harmonize with each other. Together, they evoke the living presence of Christ who dwells in the Church, and in the world, through his resurrection.”
The Sagrada Familia, Nuncio Auza went on, “is one of the greatest Christian poems on earth. This poem, written in stone, has a clear direction: one that goes from Earth to eternity, to the highest […] God works with us very much as the architect does with the stones: He puts each and every one of us in a very specific place – as the architect does. We discover the true meaning of our place on Earth when we recognize God’s glory in it. This is what the servant of God, Antoni Gaudí, discovered.”
