President Illa heads Catalan civil society's tribute to Pope Francis
Pontifex approved first steps toward beatification of architect Antoni Gaudí one week before death
pope
Catalan president meets with Pope Francis in Vatican
Last serving president to meet a pontiff was Jordi Pujol in 1981
Pope Francis, on Catalan crisis: Spain needs to 'come to terms' with its history
Pontiff calls for dialogue, says ideologies should be avoided but there is no need to "give up" positions
Pope calls for 'dialogue and peace' in Spain
Supreme pontiff believes there is a "problem" implicitly referring to Catalan crisis and urges talks to "resolve" issue
MEPs ask Pope Francis to mediate in Catalan crisis
Members of EU-Catalonia Dialogue Platform request meeting with Catholic church leader
Catalan president asks world leaders for mediation
Quim Torra’s letter forwarded to Trump, Xi Jinping, and Pope Francis
Pope Francis welcomes FC Barcelona to the Vatican
A FC Barcelona delegation led by President Josep Maria Bartomeu was in the Vatican City on Thursday to sign an agreement between the Catalan club’s Foundation and the Scholas Occurrentes charity - network of schools being promoted by the pontiff – to set up joint educational actions to promote values. Barça is the first sports club in the world to make such a deal. FC Barcelona was also represented by vice-president Jordi Cardoner, the vice-presidents of the Foundation, Ramon Pont and Ramon Cierco and director Pau Vilanova.
Manresa's Cathedral to unveil unique Florentine altar frontal from mid-14th century
The History Museum of Manresa’s Cathedral (Central Catalonia), which was closed to the public until now, will reveal among its most valuable pieces a Florentine altar frontal dating back to the mid-14th century. Such a work is one of the world’s most unique frontals, considerably large, embroidered with gold thread and portraying key events in the life of Jesus Christ, with a specific focus laid on his crucifixion. Art Historian Sílvia Ruiz, said to the CNA that this piece is the “cathedral’s jewel” and explained that it was purchased by Catalan merchant Ramon Saera in 1357. Visitors will be able to discover the frontal and others of Manresa’s gems in special guided tours once a month.
Pope Francis, the world leader with the greatest success on Twitter
Within a year, Pope Francis’ Twitter account, @Pontifex, has reached 12 million followers while his tweets are 4 times more re-tweeted than the ones of U.S. President Barack Obama. Indeed, each of Pope Francis’ messages generates an average of 6,637 re-tweets, while Obama’s messages are re-tweeted 2,309 times on average. Such data was unveiled on Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which is the main international event of cell phone related technologies. After analyzing the Pope’s impact on the digital environment, the study ‘The Internet loves Pope Francis’ concludes that Pope Francis is the world leader with the greatest influence in social networks, above the Dalai Lama or Cristina Kirchner.
Gaudí and the Sagrada Família travel to the Vatican
An exhibition on Barcelona’s Sagrada Família Basilica and Antoni Gaudí’s architectural techniques are on show in the Vatican. It focuses on the art, science and spirituality displayed at the Catalan architect’s church. Pope Benedict XVI declared the Sagrada Família a basilica one year ago during a visit to Barcelona. At the time he commented on the beauty of the temple and spoke of his personal admiration for the work of Gaudí.