The Catholic Church has put Antoni Gaudí, the designer of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica nicknamed "God's architect," on the path to sainthood, the Vatican said on Monday.

Pope Francis recognized the Catalan architect's "heroic virtues" and authorized a decree declaring him "venerable," the Vatican said in a statement.

This acknowledgment comes before beatification, and the next step after that is sainthood.

"It was a joy to receive the news... it is a recognition not only of his architectural work but something more important," said the Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Juan José Omella.

"Gaudí has left a testimony for us all... he is saying you... amid life's difficulties, amid work, amid pain, amid suffering, are destined to be saints," Omella added.

Beatification is reserved for three categories of people: martyrs, those who have lived a life of heroic values, and others with a clear saintly reputation.

Candidates must also be credited with a miracle after their death, at which point they can move toward becoming saints.

The Church began in 2003 to vet Gaudí, a visionary and pious architect who died in 1926.

Two decades later, in 2023, Cardinal Omella commissioned a group of religious and lay people to press his cause.

Gaudí designed the unfinished monumental Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, which was consecrated in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI, paving the way for its use as a place of worship.

At the time, Benedict praised "the genius of Antoni Gaudí... (who), inspired by the ardor of his Christian faith, succeeded in transforming this church into a praise to God made of stone."

The signing of the decree was the first official appointment on Francis's agenda since the 88-year-old was discharged on March 23 following five weeks in hospital battling life-threatening pneumonia.