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Gaudí's
lay status and worldwide renown accelerate
the beatification process
In
the coming days, a jury will be constituted
which, under oath of secrecy, will study
the architect's actions and determine
if, after his death, any miracle has taken
place which may be attributed to his intercession
BARCELONA. Yesterday,
the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona,
Ricard M. Carles, attributed the speed
with which the Vatican has given the "nihil
obstat" for initiation of the canonization
process of architect Antoni Gaudí to his
status as layman and his world-wide renown.
"Gaudí is known throughout
the world, and I also understand that
the Congregation for the Causes of the
Saints is interested in having lay saints,"
the Cardinal added in a press conference
held yesterday with an unusually large
representation of the media.
After authorization from
the Vatican, a tribunal will be constituted
immediately, including a delegate judge,
the promoter of justice -previously called
the devil's advocate- and the principal
and auxiliary notaries, who will find
out whether Gaudí "practiced, to a heroic
degree, the theological (faith, hope and
charity) and cardinal (prudence, righteousness,
strength and temperance) virtues, as well
as his condition as servant of God (humility,
poverty, serving his neighbor, the spiritual
transcendence of beauty and art." This
process involves one commission of theologians
and another of historians, and covers
the testimonies presented by the vice-postulator,
Lluís Bonet, the priest. The jury, which
will work under oath and maintain secrecy,
could finish its task in a year and will
then submit the documentation to Rome.
Proving the heroic nature
of the virtues is, in theory, sufficient
for beatification; however, according
to the "Manual for instructing canonization
processes," the current praxis indicates
that it is necessary for a miracle to
have been performed by the servant of
God after his or her death. In order to
proceed to canonization, another miracle
must occur after beatification. Because
of this, some ecclesiastical sources believe
that the canonization process of Bishop
Torras i Bages is paralyzed because no
miracle has been found.
Bonet denied Gaudí's alleged
association with masonry and said that
five witnesses who knew him described
him as a "pious man, Catalonian, and submitted
to the things of God."
Josep
Playŕ Maset
La
Vanguardia
Saturday, March 11, 2000
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