8,000 faithful, giant screens and 600 singers: this is how the Pope's mass at the Sagrada Familia will be

BarcelonaLa Sagrada Família is already warming up for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV with only 20 days left until his visit to the Catalan capital. It will be one of the highlights of Gaudí Year, which commemorates the centenary of the architect's death throughout this 2026. The Pope will officiate a Mass in his memory inside the temple and then will go outside to bless the tower of Jesus Christ, which at the beginning of the year was crowned with the cross that has made it the tallest religious building in Europe, with a height of 172.5 meters. Given the great anticipation to attend the Eucharist, the general director of the Sagrada Família Construction Board, Xavier Martínez, has specified that there will be 4,000 people inside the temple and 4,000 more outside who will be able to experience live the ceremony officiated by the Pope.

Among these 8,000 attendees, Martínez explained that 1,200 invitations will be offered to the city's parishes so that Catalan faithful can follow the Mass from inside and 3,000 more to access the area that will be set up outside, who will watch the ceremony on giant screens. The King and Queen of Spain will also attend; the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, as well as more than 200 ecclesiastical authorities, both from Spain and abroad. In addition, there will be about 250 bishops and cardinals —the Pope's visit coincides with the celebration in Barcelona of the annual meeting of Mediterranean bishops (MED26)— and will feature the participation of 600 singers from ecclesiastical choirs.

The cost of the events –fully financed by companies that regularly collaborate with the Sagrada Família– amounts to a total of 3.2 million euros, of which approximately 200,000 have been used to organize the blessing and inauguration ceremony of the Jesus Christ tower. The event will be broadcast through 3Cat, TVE, and Betevé, as well as via streaming over the internet, with a presence on social media. The promoters' objective is to foster "active" participation and citizen attendance, Martínez defended at a press conference this Thursday.

Itinerary changing for security

There are still many aspects to define regarding the Holy Father's visit with less than a month to go before he lands in Barcelona, such as where he will enter the Sagrada Família, what route he will take, or if he will visit the temple's crypt, where Gaudí's mortal remains rest. "The route changes every day," assured Martínez, who clarified that there are organizational, liturgical, and security aspects that condition it. “The logical order is for him to enter through Sardenya street, but the route will be configured as the date approaches”, added the general director of the Sagrada Família Construction Board. He did reveal that the highest liturgical representative will go down to the crypt to pray in an intimate moment of “recollection”.

While awaiting the finalization of all these details, more than 1,600 journalists have already requested accreditation to follow Pope Leo XIV's visit to Barcelona, for which an international press center with a capacity for 450 people will be set up. Although there will be a space outside for 4,000 people, Martínez sees it as “logical” that a visit like this would create “great expectation” around the Sagrada Família. "The City Council is studying how mobility should be," he limited himself to saying.

Leo XIV will visit Barcelona 15 years after the last visit of a pontiff to the State, as Benedict XVI visited Spain in 2011, but Francis died without having done so. The Pope will also pass through Madrid and the Canary Islands, a visit that was already planned by his predecessor, as it is an important migratory route, but which he did not get to make. This trip to Spain will be the fourth international trip in Leo XIV's still brief pontificate, after the one he made to Turkey and Lebanon from November 27 to December 2, 2025, and two others that the Vatican spoke about this Wednesday: March 28 in Monaco and from April 13 to 23 in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea.