Catalonia marks 800 years since death of saint Francis of Assisi
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On October 3, religious orders in Barcelona, Spain will commemorate the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century founder of the Franciscans.
The Catalan Franciscan family will hold a prayer service at the Sagrada Família basilica, led by Cardinal Juan José Omella, open to the general public. Attendees can obtain free tickets starting September 23 from Franciscan houses, parishes in Badalona and Barcelona, or the Pompeia sanctuary.
Saint Francis, who lived from 1181 to 1226, embraced a life of poverty and service. He is remembered for his love of nature and animals, leading Pope John Paul II to name him the patron saint of ecology in 1979. The celebration in Catalonia is part of a larger Franciscan jubilee year proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV, which will conclude on January 10.
The commemoration also includes a display of Saint Francis’s relics, shown publicly for the first time in 800 years, in his birthplace of Assisi, Italy. Franciscan communities first arrived in Catalonia in the 1210s, establishing themselves in cities like Barcelona, Lleida, and Girona. Local tradition holds that Saint Francis visited Barcelona and Girona, and a miracle attributed to him occurred in Lleida.
