Pope Francis - The Catalan Church, Gaudí and Messi

Pope Francis was known for his humility, compassion and emphasis on social justice. This week we’ll be dedicating an episode of Filling the Sink to the memory of this popular spiritual leader and exploring his relationship with Catalonia.

Catalan News travels to the Vatican to attend the Pope’s funeral and meet some of the 250,000 mourners who have flocked to Rome to pay their last respects, including many Catalan youngsters who attended the Jubilee of Teenagers.

We meet Míriam Díez Bosch, a journalist specializing in religion and founder director of the Blanquerna Observatory on Media, Religion and Culture in Barcelona, who analyzes the Pope’s relationship with Catalonia.

Members of the Catalan church share their stories and discuss the decline in assistance and in religious marriages in recent decades. And reporter Gerard Escaich Folch joins host Beth Cohen to discuss the current religious panorama in Catalonia, including rapid secularization and the diversification of religious beliefs due to immigration.

This week, our Catalan phrase is “Per l'amor de Déu!” - “For the love of God!”, which despite its reference to the divine is used in everyday conversation to express strong emotions.