As Barcelona prepares for the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death in 2026, renewed attention is focusing not only on the famed Spanish architect’s genius but also on the deep Catholic faith that shaped his life and work.

Preparations are also being made for a planned visit to Spain by Pope Leo XIV that is expected to include Gaudi’s magnum opus — the Basilica of the Holy Family, known in Spanish as Sagrada Familia.

The Vatican took a major step in recognizing that spiritual legacy on April 14, 2025, when Pope Francis declared Gaudí venerable, formally acknowledging that the architect lived a life of heroic virtue and advancing his sainthood cause.

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For Church leaders in Catalonia’s capital, Gaudí’s story is inseparable from the basilica that became the mission of his life.

“Gaudí received from childhood a Christian formation that was strengthened throughout his life,” Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona said. “His faith was not only a part of his personal life, but it was also reflected in his professional work — his faith was his life.”

Born in 1852 in the Catalan town of Reus, Gaudí became one of the most original architects of the modern era and a central figure of Catalan modernism. Although he designed many buildings across Barcelona, he devoted himself almost entirely to the construction of Sagrada Família, a project he began working on in 1883 — a year after the construction of the sacred edifice began. Over time the basilica became not simply an architectural undertaking but a spiritual vocation.

“Gaudí shone through his professional work, but above all through his coherence with the faith he professed and nourished every day,” Omella said.

The cardinal noted that Gaudí’s daily life reflected a disciplined spiritual routine.

“He always dedicated time to prayer, received Communion daily and confessed regularly,” he said.

That interior life shaped the way Gaudí treated both his work and the people who helped build Sagrada Familia. 

“It was a testimony of coherence and charity that became especially visible in the exercise of his profession,” Omella said, recalling how the architect at times went personally into the streets to ask for donations so construction workers could continue to be paid.

Gaudí’s religious vision increasingly shaped the design of the basilica itself.

Theologian and philosopher Francesc Torralba, professor of ethics at Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, said the architect saw the building as a way to express the central mysteries of the Christian faith.

“Antoni Gaudí was educated in a Catholic environment and progressively deepened his faith,” Torralba said. “Throughout his life he meditated on the word of God, the texts of the Christian liturgy and actively participated in the Eucharist.

“He experienced a deep existential crisis in 1894, but that became an opportunity to define his life’s horizon.” 

In the final years of his life, Gaudí devoted himself almost entirely to the Sagrada Família and eventually lived at the construction site.

“His objective was to represent the great mysteries of the Nicene Creed through architecture, with a clearly pedagogical and catechetical intention,” Torralba said.

Construction has continued for nearly a century after Gaudí’s death, largely funded by private donations and ticket revenue. Today, the basilica attracts nearly five million visitors annually, making it one of the most visited churches in the world and a global symbol of Gaudí’s vision.

Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the basilica in 2010, describing Gaudí as “a creative architect and a practising Christian who kept the torch of his faith alight to the end of his life, a life lived in dignity and absolute austerity.”

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The church reached a major milestone in 2026 when the upper arm of the cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ was installed Feb. 20. At over 564 feet (172 metres) in height, the tower makes the basilica the tallest Catholic church in the world.

José Manuel Almuzara, architect and president of the association that has promoted Gaudí’s sainthood cause, said the architect’s spirituality was visible in the way he approached work.

“In my view, the decisive spiritual trait is work, prayer and sacrifice,” Almuzara said, pointing out that Gaudí believed collaboration was essential to creative work and quoting the architect’s own words: “Work is the fruit of collaboration, and this can only be based on love.”

“The architect must know how to take advantage of what workers know ... and what they can do. Gaudí believed every person had a role in a project,” he said. 

“We must remember that no one is useless — everyone serves, although not everyone with the same capacity,” Almuzara quoted the architect as saying.

Almuzara is a member of the Associació Canònica Antoni Gaudí, the organization advocating for Gaudí to be canonized. It was established in 1992 and spent decades gathering historical documentation and testimonies about Gaudí’s life and reputation for holiness. The association, along with the Barcelona-based Gaudí Foundation, helped promote wider recognition of the architect’s spiritual legacy and supported the preparation of materials later used in the Church’s formal investigation of his life and virtues.

“The civil association continues with the main objective of achieving the beatification of the architect Antoni Gaudí,” Almuzara said, explaining that the canonical responsibility for the cause now belongs to a Church body under the Archdiocese of Barcelona. The Vatican’s recognition of Gaudí as venerable marked a historic milestone in that effort.

Gaudí himself described how observing nature shaped his imagination. Recalling the landscapes of his childhood in Catalonia, the architect once wrote: “Observing flower pots, surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, animated by the clucking of hens, the singing of birds and the buzzing of insects, and with the Prades Mountains in the background, I captured the purest and most pleasing images of nature, which is always my teacher.”

For Torralba, that connection between beauty and faith lies at the heart of Gaudí’s work. 

“The architecture of Gaudí cannot be fully understood apart from his personal relationship with God,” he said.

Gaudí’s life was abruptly cut short on June 7, 1926, after he was struck by a tram while walking from his Sagrada Familia workshop to the church of St. Felip Neri in the Gothic Quarter, where he often went for prayer, confession and Mass.

Because of his modest clothing and austere appearance, witnesses reportedly mistook him for a poor man, and he was initially taken to a hospital for the homeless. He died three days later, on June 10, a few weeks before his 74th birthday and was buried in the crypt of Sagrada Família.

Torralba believes Gaudí represents a rare example of a Christian artist whose work bridges modernity and faith.

“Antoni Gaudí is a layman, a convinced Christian who, without renouncing his faith, created a modernist, symbolic work — a total work of art,” he said.

If the Church ultimately declares him a saint, Torralba said, the impact could extend far beyond architecture. 

“It would be excellent news, because he would become a reference point for many people, a source of light and devotion,” he said. “Many will approach his spirituality to understand what inspired him to create such a beautiful work… The saints are lights in the night that inspire and protect us.”

For Omella, behind Gaudí’s life, there is a hopeful message.

“That all of us can become saints if we live united with Jesus and allow the strength of His grace to transform and purify us.”

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Gaudí’s example, he said, shows that holiness does not require extraordinary circumstances.

“He shows us the path of holiness. A path that consists in letting Jesus enter our existence so that we can live the ordinary in an extraordinary way.”