In the final days of his life, Pope Francis put famed modernist architect Antoni Gaudí on the path to sainthood. The move—announced just days before the Pope passed away on Monday, at the age of 88—was a parting act of reverence to the visionary architect.
The pope declared Gaudí “venerable” during an April 14 audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro at the Vatican, according to a statement. This is a key step in the Catholic Church’s formal canonization process.
Pope Francis views a model of the Sagrada Familia Basilica during an audience with the basilica’s construction board in 2024 in the Vatican City.
Becoming a saint is a complex process that can take hundreds of years and involves four stages. Gaudí was previously named Servant of God, and now, Venerable. The next milestones are Beautification (which requires proof of two certified miracles) and finally Sainthood (which requires evidence of virtue and divine intervention).
Dubbed by the Vatican’s media outlet, Vatican News, as “God’s Architect,” Gaudí was a fierce exponent of Catalan modernism, with works that have a sui generis style. His buildings were known to fuse traditional Gothic elements with bold, organic forms drawn from nature. He dedicated more than 40 years of his life to building his magnum opus, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, a seamless blend of Gothic inspiration and innovative structural engineering.
Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona in 1926.
After being struck by a tram in 1926, he was buried in the crypt of the very basilica he spent his life constructing. Nearly a century after his death, it remains unfinished. The church was expected to be finished in 2026, also the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death. However, the target date for its completion was postponed indefinitely after the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the tourist revenues used to fund construction. That said, more than 4.8 million people visited the basilica in 2024 to see its soaring spires, intricate facades, and prismatic stained-glass windows, according to the basilica’s report.
Over the course of his life, Gaudí developed a deeply spiritual approach to architecture, viewing his craft as a form of worship. «My client is not in a hurry,» he would reportedly say when asked about the timeline for the Sagrada Familia’s completion. While Pope Francis’s papacy was marked by progressive messaging and a focus on humility, his decision to elevate Gaudí underlined a broader theme of his tenure: celebrating holiness not just in clergy, but in everyday vocations—artists, scientists, and now, architects.
Rachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publication’s feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 16 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.
