During his visit to Barcelona, Pope Leo XIV blessed and inaugurated a recently completed tower of Jesus Christ on the city’s renowned Sagrada Familia basilica, making it the tallest church in the world.
During the June 10 Mass and blessing, the pope called the Sagrada Familia “a visible sign of the invisible God, for whose glory its towers rise.”
“Much more than a monument,” the pontiff said, “Basilica of the Sagrada Familia remains a work in progress today, reminding us that the Christian life is always a journey, because it is a project that God is carrying out.”
That the basilica is still incomplete “is not a flaw,” he said, rather “it bears witness to a desire” and promise “that we wish to honor with consistency” to continue building God’s kingdom on earth.
“Since we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, this work consists in our very lives, which God conceives as a masterpiece that we are to create together, and he calls us to collaborate with him,” he said.
With the completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ 144 years after construction initially began, moving the completion of the landmark into its final stages, the Sagrada Familia has become the tallest church in the world, standing at 566 feet tall.
The inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ coincided with the exact centenary of the death of its renowned architect, Antoni Gaudí.
Born in Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region in 1852, Gaudí was given the colloquial title of “God’s architect” after his death due to his deep piety, the dense religious symbolism in his work, and the stunning work of the Sagrada Familia, known throughout the world.
Source: Crux Now