The website of the Archdiocese of Barcelona has posted the text of Cardinal Martinez's words of welcome to the Holy Father before the Dedication Mass began on Sunday at the Sagrada Familia basilica. The address is both very informative and well said. Here is a translation.
Benedict XVI's providential role
in the history of Sagrada Familia
Welcome remarks by
Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach
Archbishop of Barcelona
November 7, 2010
Translated from
Holy Father, welcome among us. Welcome to this city and Church of Barcelona who welcome you with filial affection and with a thankful heart. Your apostolic concern for all the Churches led you to accept to preside at the dedication to God of this temple of the Holy Family.
The Christian people of our land thank you for this and wished to respond with a most hearty welcome and constant prayer that the Lord help and comfort you in the exercise of your ministry as the Successor of the Apostle Peter in the service of the entire Church of Jesus Christ.
We have awaited your apostolic visit with joy and we have prepared for it with prayer, with catecheses on the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to you, and solidarity with those who have most suffered the effects of the economic crisis.
We look forward to hear the words that, as 'the sweet Christ on earth', you will address to us to confirm us in the faith and to revitalize our Christian identity. We expect many spiritual and pastoral fruits from your visit.
This great liturgical assembly presided by the Successor of Peter brings to reality the dream of the Servant of God Antonio Gaudi when he planned this temple. His dream arose from the prophetic visions of the Apocalypse, and his objective was that this temple would represent heaven on earth, the new Jerusalem come down to dwell in the midst of mankind, symbolized by the great metropolis of Barcelona.
Gaudi, with this construction that is brimming with beauty and symbology, wished that heaven would descend to earth and that the City of God would come to be the city of men, and consequently, that the city of men would become the city of God. The entire temple is an explanation of the Jerusalem announced in the prophecy of the visionary of Patmos {St John].
This wondrous work which began construction in 1882 with contributions from the Catalan people is an expression of their religious soul and their Christian roots that go back more than a thousand years. A people who love the temple of the Sagrada Familia for its religious adn artistic significance, who treasure Antonio Gaudi as an architect genius and exemplary Christian, and who are very content that today, presiding over us, Holy Father, this incomparable temple is being dedicated to the greater glory and praise of the Lord.
Many have contributed towards the eventual completion of this great milestone, besides the Asociacion de Devotos de San José, who sponsored the construction of the temple, from its principal creator, Antoni Gaudi, to the architects, artists, technicians and craftsmen, and all the members of the patronate of the Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Familia, with their work, competence and generosity.
From today, this church - which at the end of the celebration you will declare a basilica - wlll be dedicated to liturgical worship and will continue to welcome millions of persons from around the world to offer them this beautiful space for celebrating the faith, for prayer, for announcing the Word of God, and for reflection on the transcendent sense of life.
To the residents of the 'new Jerusalem', "the Lord shall give them light" (Ap 22,5). In the same way, the harmonious light of the temple of Sagrada Familia will work such that those who enter - many from the Court of the Gentiles - shall experience the warmth of God's glory.
Gaudi said that in the Sagrada Familia, everything was providential. We believe it is providential that Your Holiness is here today among us and that it is the Bishop of Rome and pastor of the universal Church who presides over the dedication of this temple which is unique in the world and has a clear universal significance.
In the face of difficulties, Gaudi used to say, "St. Joseph will complete the temple". We too consider it providential that for purposes of liturgical worship, this temple is complete today with this celebration by a Pope who carries the name Joseph as his baptismal name.
In the history of Catalunya, the ministry of the Bishop of Rome has always been very much present. In the profession of faith in our native language, since the 17th century, we profess our faith in the Catholic, apostolic and Roman Church. The history of the temple of Sagrada Familia honors this devotion to the Successor of St. Peter.
The parchment that was laid down with its first stone, on the Feast of St. Joseph in 1882, expressed profound communion with Pope Leo XIII. In 1957, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of that cornerstone laying, the Junta Constructora of the temple was received in audience by Pope Pius XII, and today, it is 29 years since that November 7, 1982, when Pope John Paul II visited this church during his first apostolic visit to Spain.
Holiness, as heirs of the Christians who laid down the foundations for this admirable work, at the moment of dedicating it to God, we too wish to renew those sentiments of devotion and esteem to the Successor of Peter, and of communion with your person. which today carries the weight of service to all the Churches, as well as the defense of human dignity, of human life from its initiation to death, of matrimony and the family, of justice and peace in the world.
Cardinal Martinez shows the chalice given by the Pope to the church after his welcome remarks.
'The Pope's visit has revived
the self-esteem of the Catalan people'
Interview by Maria Paz Lopez
Translated from
Nov. 9, 2010
Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach, the man responsible for Benedict XVI's visit to Barcelona, says that the papal Mass at the now Basilica of the Sagrada Familia has projected to the world an image of a Catalunya with artistic and organizational merits, and has greatly amplified the worldwide fame of Gaudi's masterpiece.
The Archbishop of Barcelona regrets some criticisms, but notes that "Reducing faith to the personal or confining it to the sacristy is neitheer religious freedom nor authentic secularity" and also respects the decision of Prime Minister Zapatero not to attend the Mass, although "if he did, it would not have been a contradiction to having a secular State".
What remains of the visit?
We Catalans do not manifest our sentiments, but the welcome was warm. It was beautiful abnd right. The visit was historical for the city and for the diocese. Whenever I travel abroad, I am not asked about our Cathedral, which is a marvelous Gothic work, but about the Sagrada Familia. It is an icon of our city.
The Pope's visit had a pastoral dimension, if only because it was a cardinal who invited the Pope, not a politician. The purpose was ecclesial - to dedicate the Sagrada Familia - and was completed by his visit to the Nen Deu, where the families of disabled children were very moved by seeing him embrace them.
In Santiago de Compostela as well as in Barcelona, the Pope referred to secularism...
We have lost the spirit of the transition
[from the Franco dictatorship to the present constitutional monarchy]... Then, there was more collaboration, there was an attempt to seek out what was positive on both sides, and each acknowledged the good that the other had done.
That has disappeared. Now the tendency is all secularist, and that is not positive. The state is secular, but society is not since it is composed of persons, many of whom have religion. The state is a-confessional but the Cosntitution itself proposes a secularity that is positive and open - in which persons as well as institutions and groups, have religious freedom. To reduce the faith to the personal or to confine it in the sacristy, is neithe religious freedom nor authentic secularity.
What should a government leader do witn resp[ect to a relgious ceremony of importance such as what took place in Santiago and Barcelona? Should they attend or not? Zapatero chose not to.
I respect the decision of people with public responsibility,and the Prime Minister had a chance to meet the Holy Father at the departure ceremony. But it is not a contradiction of the secular State if public officials who represent the citizenry take part in manfiestations that are cultural or religious or for sports events. Political leaders are at the service of society which is made up of various groups and sensibilities. The leader may not share their convictions but must respect the fact that citizens do have them, and so he attends these functions to show that respect. I speak in general terms, because there can be circumstances or obligatiosn which kcan keep a politician from attending a specific event. But one cannot keep away from public events and invoke secularity as the reason.
The Pope's visit has also generated protests....
Every group, or every cultural and social tendency, has its view of what the common good should be, and they must respect each other - that's the basis of a democratic society. Some opposed the visit of the Pope. I would like to remind them that we Christians are carrying out social services in the parishes, through Caritas, to those who are in difficulty due to the economic crisis, to the sick snd the aged, against poverty and marginzalization... I don't ask them to recognize that as merit, because for us, it is an evangelical mandate, but I do call on them to have an objective recognition of that reality. This visit has been very important to Christians, and heh critics should understand that, if only out of mutual respect.
The ceremony on Sunday had an element that struck some viewers as odd - that women had a part but only to clean up the altar...
The Pope had anointed the altar. That is done once and it will never be repeated. According to the rite, it has to be wiped dry and then, the altarcloths are laid. Many persons, both men and women, would have offered to do it that day of dedication. The particular charism of the sisters who did it that day is to assist in the worship services in the Cathedral and other major churches. It is something they do with joy. That is all. Women were represented as they usually are - among the lectors, or those who offer the gifts. And at Sagrada Familia, the organist was female.
How do you think Catalan society experienced the visit?
Catalans are so self-critical that it even makes us hesitant to celebrate a feast. We are more fixated on the negative than on the positive. Self-criticism is valuable, but if it is exaggerated, it takes away our self-esteem. Many people worked on this visit, some of them sleepless on occasion, and it has gone well. We value that. We regret that there are external elements who do not know us - and do not understand us - but how do we present ourselves, not only in this field but in others? Always with self-criticism. We have many good and reportable events - why don't we highlight them? This celebration revived self-esteem among Catalunyans and in the Church, and it is something which we have needed.
We have made the world see that we are capable organizers, and we have made known to the world a work that not all countries can boast - the temple of the Sagrada Familia. The Pope acknowledged that and paid homage to it.
The Holy Father blesses the present main door to the Sagrada Familia on which the words of the Lord's Prayer in Catalan and Spanish are inscribed in relief.
Barcelona mayor hails
the Pope's visit
as a 'landmark' event
Barcelona, Spain, Nov 9, 2010 (CNA) - The mayor of Barcelona, Jorge Hereu, has remarked that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Spain was a “landmark” event in the country's history.
The Pope's Nov. 6 – 7 visit to the country included the dedication of the Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona. The Pontiff also consecrated it as a minor basilica.
According to the EFE news agency, the mayor noted the necessity of continuing work on the new basilica, which he called “one of the great universal icons of Barcelona.”
He invited all Spaniards to visit the Basilica of the Holy Family. “Up until now we have only seen the Holy Family from the outside, but now we can discover its marvelous interior,” he added.
Hereu called the Pope’s visit “a success” that proved the people of Catalonia could “organize a large international event.”
[Well, they proved that in a big way in 1992, when they hosted the Summer Olympics!]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/11/2010 19:22]