Radio Interview
Radio María Chile devoted an episode of «Contigo en Casa» to Antoni Gaudí, with José Manuel Almuzara as its guest. The broadcast, on 17 July 2026, posed a direct question: whether an architect can become a model of holiness. The conversation reached Chilean listeners shortly after Almuzara's tour of the country.
José Manuel Almuzara —an architect, promoter of Antoni Gaudí's cause of beatification and author of «Gaudí, el arquitecto del alma»— was the guest on «Contigo en Casa», the Radio María Chile programme broadcast on 17 July 2026. The station shared an excerpt of the encounter on Instagram, summing up the thread of the conversation in a single question: whether an architect can become a model of holiness. The premise presents Gaudí not only as a brilliant creator, but as a believer whose life the Church offers for the faithful to consider. Radio María Chile belongs to the international family of Catholic stations Radio María, present in dozens of countries.
The programme's thread was the spiritual dimension of the architect of the Sagrada Família. Almuzara has argued for decades that Gaudí's work cannot be understood apart from the Catholic faith that inspired it, because he placed his talent at the service of God and of his neighbour. Seen in that light, a craft as material as architecture can become a path of sanctification. That was the proposal the broadcast carried into the Chilean homes that follow the station.
The conversation also took up the state of the cause of beatification. Gaudí was declared Venerable in April 2025, a recognition of the heroic nature of his virtues, and the next step towards the altars requires that a miracle attributed to his intercession be recognised. Almuzara co-founded the Association for the Beatification of Antoni Gaudí in 1992 and has presided over it ever since, devoting more than thirty years to documenting the architect's Christian witness. The broadcast coincided with the centenary of Gaudí's death in 1926, which throughout 2026 has renewed interest in his figure.
The interview was broadcast shortly after Almuzara's tour of Chile in July 2026. During those days he gave a lecture at the Estadio Español and visited Rancagua, where a chapel is to be built from original plans by Gaudí. Radio María Chile extended that itinerary with a far wider reach, that of Catholic radio entering people's homes. For Almuzara, every one of these encounters serves the same purpose: to make known the man of faith behind the architect and to bring closer the day when the Church proclaims him blessed.