Pope hails Barcelona basilica as masterpiece of ‘stones, colours and light’

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass (Bernat Armangue/AP)

Pope Leo XIV has celebrated the Sagrada Familia Basilica as a masterpiece of “stones, colours and light” as he marked the centenary of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudí, with a Mass under its soaring sandcastle spires.

Leo called Gaudí’s cathedral in Barcelona, one of the world’s most visited monuments, a “sign of unity and harmony for all of Spain” – an ongoing building project like the lifelong journey all Christians make to find God.