SPAIN
APAL VISIT DIVIDES CATALONIA, GOV'T PERPLEXED BY DATE
A divided Catalonia will greet Benedict XVI on November 7 after his visit to Galicia for the 2010 St.James Holy Year. On the one hand there is enthusiasm among the church hierarchy, which underlined ''the dimension and global repercussion'' of the pope's visit to Spain in the fall, while on the other hand perplexity has been expressed by the three political parties in control in Catalonia, as the visit will take place during the same period as the Catalonian parliamentary election. While confirming Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to Barcelona, his second to Spain after going to Valencia in 2005 for World Family Day, Archbishop Lluis Martinez Sistach announced that the first Eucharist presided over by the pope in the Sagrada Familia will be accompanied by a choir of over 1,200 singers. But at the same time it will be ''a simple ceremony'', taking the economic crisis into account. ''The visit cannot be expensive because the Holy See has an austere style,'' said the bishop, while speaking to the press. The consecration of the church comes at the culmination of work to build the roof of the modernist structure designed by architect Antoni Gaudi', a symbol of Barcelona. The first stone was laid in 1882, and construction has proceeded over the last decades thanks to donations from worshipers and tourists from throughout the world. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the monument is the most visited site in the region, counting about 3 million tourists in 2007. However, the Sagrada Familia has not been spared by the crisis to the tourism sector, with the number of visitors in decline by about 300,000 last year according to Jiordi Bonet, the head architect at the site for the last 25 years. Pope Ratzinger's visit will also serve to relaunch the monument, ''for its artistic significance, the most important church built in the world,'' emphasised the archbishop of Barcelona. Sistach pointed out that the pope visited the city when he was a cardinal and hoped that his next stay would serve to ''strengthen the faith of the Catalonian people and evangelisation'' and to provide strength for the cause to canonise Antonio Gaudi'. The archbishop ruled out the possibility that the proximity to the Catalonian parliamentary elections could jeopardise the pope's visit, because, he observed, ''the collaboration of the government will involve other aspects'', regarding logistics and security. However, perplexity on the visit coinciding with the election was expressed by the PSC, ERC, and ICV-EU. According to the socialist spokesperson in Catalonian Parliament, Joan Ferran, the two events ''have no reason to interfere''. ''It would be strange,'' he observed, ''if they took place on the same day. Also according to Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya spokesperson Anna Simo' it would be out of place if the pope, ''who is not a head of state'' were to modify the electoral agenda. The ICV-EU party, through its parliamentary spokesperson Dolors Camats, hoped that Benedict XVI's visit would not interfere with the electoral campaign. Finally, the spokesperson for the People's Party in Catalonian Parliament, Dolors Montserrat, while praising the announcement of the pope's visit, admitted that she was surprised about the date, since the last election was held on November 1 four years ago in Catalonia and that Generalitat President Jose' Montilla has reiterated on more than one occasion that he does not intend hold early elections. On the sidelines of the political controversy, many bloggers for Catalonian dailies pointed out that the last visit by a pope to Barcelona by Pope John Paul II in 1982 was not just any regular event, with throngs of people at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. (ANSAmed).
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