The Government of the Generalitat is in contact with the Archdiocese of Barcelona and assures that it “works discreetly” to try to include Catalan in the blessing of the tower of Jesus of the Sagrada Família, which crowns Antoni Gaudí’s basilica and makes it the tallest church in the world.
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This Monday, the Holy See published the missal with the liturgy of the celebrations of Pope Leo XIV during his visit to Spain between June 6 and 12, and one of the aspects that has drawn the most attention is the fact that the culminating moment of the central act of the trip is entirely in Spanish.
The coordinators of the papal visit in Catalonia had indicated in the previous days that during the solemn mass to be held in the basilica on June 10, the presence of Catalan will be similar to that of November 2010, during the consecration of the temple with Pope Benedict XVI, although then the mass was on a Sunday and, therefore, longer.
In addition, it happens that Robert Prevost speaks Spanish without problems since he was a bishop in Peru, in the diocese of Chiclayo, and in some fragments of the liturgy that Joseph Ratzinger celebrated in Latin, this time it will be spoken in Spanish. ”The Pope speaks many languages, and professes great affection for all of them. Obviously also for Catalan, although he has not studied it. He is expected to say some phrases in Catalan. Within the liturgy, this language will have a broad presence,” said the Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Juan José Omella, in a recent interview with La Vanguardia.
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With the current missal, Catalan will be used both in the first reading and in the responsorial psalm. The Gospel will be in Spanish. The creed will also be sung in Catalan and in the universal prayers, of the six there are, three will be in Spanish and three in Catalan. It should also be said that the first words of Leo XIV in Gaudí’s temple will be in Catalan.
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Taking these elements into account, the Catalan Executive emphasizes that “the presence of Catalan is not limited to a symbolic or protocolary mention, but is part of various central moments of the main celebration of the Pope’s visit to Catalonia.” From the Government, they also stress that they “do not organize the liturgical acts nor determine the languages used” and that it was already conveyed to Rome, together with the Tarraconense Episcopal Conference, that the use of Catalan during the Pontiff’s visit was important. In this regard, they detail that there was “receptivity.”
Junts’ criticisms
The parliamentary group of Junts has sent a letter to the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to make the appropriate arrangements so that Catalan is not relegated during the celebrations on the Pontiff’s visit to Catalonia and they make special mention of the blessing of the tower of Jesus. The letter is signed by the group’s president, Mònica Sales, who emphasizes that “Catalan cannot have a secondary role during the Pope’s visit to Catalonia.”
Former president Carles Puigdemont said yesterday that it is “a shame, an insult to an entire country and to the memory of Antoni Gaudí” that the tower is blessed in Spanish. “If that is finally the case, it will confirm the return to national Catholicism for which the purple beetles work,” concluded the former president and leader of JxCat.
