Papal trip preview: Sagrada Família in Barcelona

November 05, 2010

On Sunday, November 7, Pope Benedict will conclude his two-day apostolic journey to Spain, his eighteenth outside Italy. The Pope will spend his day in the northeastern city of Barcelona, the nation’s second largest city (after Madrid) with 4.9 million people.

At 9:30, the Pontiff will meet briefly and privately with King Juan Carlos (born 1937), who acceded to the throne in 1975, and the Greek-born Queen Sofía (born 1938), a convert to Catholicism. At 10:00, Pope Benedict will preside at Holy Mass and the dedication of the Church of the Sagrada Familia, the controversial Art Nouveau masterpiece of the Servant of God Antonio Gaudí, whose cause of beatification began in 2000.

Following his Sunday Angelus address and lunch with the nation’s bishops, the Pope will visit the Obra Benefico-Social Nen Déu, which provides medical and educational services and is associated with the Archdiocese of Barcelona and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart. He will depart from Spain at 7:15, less than 32 hours after he arrived.

 

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Further information:

• Apostolic Journey to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona (Holy See)
• Papal trip preview: Santiago de Compostela (CWN, 11/4)
• Juan Carlos I (Wikipedia)
• Queen Sofía of Spain (Wikipedia)
• La Sagrada Família (church website)
• Sagrada Família (Wikipedia)
• Could Antonio Gaudí Be Declared a Saint? (Zenit)
• Gaudi's Church Still Divides Barcelona (1991) (New York Times)
• Obra Benefico-Social Nen Déu
• First Mass in the Sagrada Família: The Pope Beatifies Gaudí (L'Espresso)