Monsignor Lluís Bonet dies, soul for decades of the Sagrada Família

BarcelonaLluís Bonet i Armengol, rector of the Sagrada Família parish for 25 years, died this Friday at the age of 95. His figure is intimately associated with the Gaudí temple, of which he was an ecclesiastical and human reference, in addition to being the brother of the architect who continued the works, Jordi Bonet, who died in 2022, at the age of 97.

The two brothers formed a tandem for decades at the Sagrada Família, which was like their home. Of course: they were the sons of the architect Lluís Bonet Garí, a disciple of Antoni Gaudí and one of the architects who took over the continuation of the works after the Civil War. Regarding his Gaudí passion, Bonet also played a relevant role in promoting the cause of beatification of the architect. And in 2010 he witnessed firsthand the consecration of the basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.

Mossèn Bonet established a very close bond with the religious community of the Sagrada Família, where he was loved and respected. He, in fact, considered himself a neighbourhood priest. In his early years as a priest, he spent more than a decade at the working-class parish of Sant Cristòfor, in the Terrassa neighbourhood of Ca n'Anglada, where he moved around on a "vespino" and where he connected with the immigrant population. Cheerful and active, dedicated and solicitous, he did great pastoral and social work there.

At the Sagrada Família, every summer, for example, and until very recently, he visited the summer camps of the Antoni Gaudí scout group, one of the oldest in the country. In fact, he himself came from scouting, where he had been trained by Mossèn Antoni Batlle, a reference for this world.

A man of great tolerance and open-mindedness, he knew how to listen and was listened to. Simple and austere in his manner, he was born in Barcelona in 1931, into a family with Christian and Catalanist roots, so his vocation of faith was a natural thing, as was his commitment to the language and the country. In fact, during Francoism, he was monitored by the dictatorial regime as a "red separatist" priest.

Mossèn Bonet has donated his body to science and there will be no funeral. A farewell celebration is planned for September.