Germanwings victims' funeral service in the Sagrada Família
Germanwings victims' funeral service in the Sagrada Família
AN EMOTIVE funeral service for victims of the Germanwings air crash is being held this evening (Monday) at Barcelona's famous Sagrada Família cathedral.
Around 1,200 are expected to be attending, including Spanish president Mariano Rajoy, regional president Artur Mas, and King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
Although many of the families and friends of the deceased had requested the service be 'inter-religious', as Catholicisim is the traditional faith in Catalunya, it will be conducted within the Catholic framework, in the same way as a similar service for the victims in Germany was given in accordance with the Lutheran faith.
But representatives from the Jewish, Muslim and Evangelical communities will give readings.
Whilst the service will mainly be conducted in the catalán language, much of it will be translated into Spanish and English, French and German will be used in different prayers and hymns.
The Evangelical psalm will be sung in Greek, 'reflecting the universal spirit of Greek as a lingua franca and remembering the victims of different branches of the Christian faith', said the Archbishop of Barcelona.
A total of 150 people lost their lives when the Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf crashed in the French Alps with no survivors on March 24.
They included a group of 15-year-olds from a German high school who had just finished an exchange visit staying with pupils the same age in the Barcelona area, plus company representatives, TV presenters, tourists, and British expatriates visiting the UK via a connecting flight.
A newlywed couple, originally from Morocco and resident in Barcelona, were on their way to Düsseldorf to start a new life having only just got married two days before.
First Officer Andres Lubitz, 28, is said to have locked the pilot out of the cabin when he went to the toilet and deliberately crashed the plane into the mountains.
Lubitz had been plagued by nightmares and was hell-bent on suicide after finding out his detached retina was going to end his career and his dreams of becoming a captain on long-haul flights for Lufthansa.
He had researched suicide methods on the internet, torn up sick notes given by his doctor, and is even thought to have looked into different types of diuretic with a view to slipping one in the pilot's drink to guarantee he would need to use the bathroom during the flight.
