The idea of the basilica, known in Spanish as Sagrada Familia, was proposed by St. Josep Manyanet Vives, a Catalan priest known for his devotion to the Holy Family. In 1871, a Catholic association dedicated to St. Joseph embarked on a pilgrimage to Rome that included a stop at the famed Marian shrine of Loreto. The original neo-Gothic design of the basilica was intended to resemble the shrine in Loreto. The design was altered two years after the cornerstone was laid due to differences between the bishop and the project’s first architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar. The project was then taken over by famed Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, whose sainthood cause is underway. Pope Leo inaugurated the tower on the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death.
The pope’s visit offers a unique historical symmetry: The basilica’s cornerstone was laid in 1882 during the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII. Now, 144 years later, his namesake inaugurated the Tower of Jesus Christ. St. John Paul II visited the partially constructed basilica on Nov. 7, 1982, noting that while the basilica was “not yet finished,” its presence has “been solid from the beginning,” which he compared to “another structure built with living stones: the Christian family.” The next time a Roman pontiff would visit the basilica was in 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the altar during a dedication ceremony, thus opening it for public worship.