BARCELONA, Spain (OSV News) — Nearly 100 years after the death of “God’s architect” Antoni Gaudí, Pope Leo XIV arrived in Barcelona on June 9 for a two-day visit to the Catalan capital that will culminate in the inauguration of the crowning tower of his unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Família, or Basilica of the Holy Family.
The papal plane, a chartered Iberia aircraft, touched down at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat International Airport at 12:45 p.m. local time, after a less than one hour flight from Madrid, escorted by fighter jets.
Praying for unity at Barcelona’s cathedral
In his first public appearance at Barcelona’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, the pope made an immediate impression on locals by offering a prayer to the Virgin Mary in Catalan, the regional language. He invoked: “Santa Maria de la Mercè, pregueu per nosaltres,” meaning “Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us.”
The city’s Gothic cathedral was first dedicated in 877 to St. Eulalia, the city’s patron saint, who suffered martyrdom in Barcelona under the Roman Empire in the 4th-century.
Invoking St. Eulalia, the pope called on Catholics to be “witnesses and prophets of unity, of welcome, of harmony and of peace, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation” in a world he described as “torn apart by wars and divisions” and a society that is “increasingly fragmented and individualistic.”
“Like the virgin Eulalia and so many other martyrs, we wish to say our ‘yes,’ ready if necessary to die to ourselves, to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves again, to renounce the superfluous in order to build upon what is essential and lasts forever,” he said.
“This is what the crucified One teaches us; this is what the Apostle Paul and the examples of the saints invite us to do.”
Sagrada Família is the highlight of the visit
After midday prayer at the cathedral, Pope Leo will meet privately with the President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the institutional system that politically organizes the self-government of Catalonia, before meeting with the members of the Augustinian order.
In the evening, the pope will preside over a prayer vigil at Barcelona’s Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, where he will respond to questions from local youth.
A highlight of the visit comes June 10, when Pope Leo will celebrate Mass at the Sagrada Família and inaugurate its Tower of Jesus Christ — standing at more than 564 feet, making it the tallest Catholic church in the world.
The Mass will take place on the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death on June 10, 1926 after he was hit by a tram Barcelona just steps away from the Sagrada Família — while on his way to pray. Pope Francis declared Gaudí venerable in April 2025.
The basilica’s cornerstone was laid in 1882 during the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII. Now, 144 years later, his namesake will inaugurate its crowning tower.
The tower’s height is no accident. The spire stops just short of the 580-foot height of the nearby Montjuïc hill because Gaudí believed that no work of man should seek to surpass the work of God.
St. John Paul II visited the partially constructed basilica on Nov. 7, 1982. Pope Benedict XVI returned in 2010 to consecrate the altar, opening the basilica for public worship. Though Pope Francis never visited Spain during his pontificate, he sent a video message in 2021 for the inauguration of the Sagrada Família’s Tower of the Virgin Mary.
Visiting Catalonia’s religious gems
Before the Sagrada Família Mass on the evening of June 10, Pope Leo is scheduled to make a morning visit to the Brians 1 Penitentiary Center and to the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, where he will pray the rosary and share lunch with the Benedictine community.
Barcelona is the second leg of Pope Leo’s June 6-12 apostolic journey to Spain, which began in the Spanish capital of Madrid and will conclude in the Canary Islands.
Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona has said that there is “enormous expectation” for Pope Leo’s visit and that the pope’s “words and gestures are reaching people very deeply.”
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Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.
