Pope Puts 'God's Architect' on Track for Sainthood

Antoni Gaudi just took his first official step toward becoming a saint. The Catalan architect who designed the still-in-progress Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, Spain, has been placed on the path to sainthood by Pope Francis, who in a Monday decree declared Gaudi "venerable" and full of "heroic virtues." CBS News notes this is the initial part of the process that leads to beatification and then, finally, to sainthood. Per the Guardian, this declaration was the pope's first official appointment since he left the hospital after a weekslong bout with pneumonia. More on the move on Gaudi:

• Criteria: To be beatified, candidates must be considered either a martyr, someone with a "clearly saintly reputation," or, as Gaudi is apparently viewed, as someone who's "lived a life of heroic values," per CBS. Those who pass that bar must also, after they've died, receive credit for two miracles (just one if you're a martyr) before achieving sainthood—a process that can stretch for years, decades, or even centuries, notes the New York Times.

• Gaudi: Born in 1852, the devout Catholic became known as "God's architect" for his constructions in and around Barcelona, especially the famous Sagrada Familia, an imposing Gothic-style structure that, after well more than a century since it broke ground in 1882, is finally on schedule to be completed next year. Gaudi believed his construction of the massive church "was his way to make amends with God for the sins of the modern world," per CBS. He worked on the basilica for more than 40 years, notes the Times.
• On the church's radar: The Catholic Church began to vet Gaudi, who died in 1926 a few days after being hit by a tram, for sainthood in 2003. His devotees have been pushing for his sainthood for even longer, arguing that "the fantasy spires and intricate stonework" of the Sagrada Familia had spurred some who viewed it to convert to Catholicism.
• Other saintly artists: The Times notes there haven't been many saints who emerged from the creative world, though it includes prelates who've written poetry and an abbess who composed music among them. Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance artist, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

(More sainthood stories.)