An homage to 82-year-old Juan Medellín, a founding member of Mexico City's…
The Cathedral
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Expelled from his monastery for not fitting in, a Spanish monk named Justo Gallego returns home, discouraged but driven. At 36, he embarks on an improbable mission: to build a grand cathedral entirely by hand, despite having no architectural expertise. For over 60 years, with little assistance and using only recycled materials and scrap, Justo dedicates his life to this monumental project, often viewed as illegal and eccentric by his community.
Though many see him as a madman, others regard him as a visionary. His unwavering devotion transforms his dream into a reality, making the unfinished Cathedral of Faith a symbol of human resilience and faith. Justo’s story raises profound questions about the meaning of life and personal purpose, resonating deeply with those who witness his tireless effort.
"For nearly 60 years, a former monk toiled almost single-handedly on an extraordinary building outside Madrid. Is it a folly or a masterpiece?" — The Guardian
"Justo Gallego is a wonder for the whole world. Is he a madman and a fanatic, or an incredible example of the strength of human faith?" — SME Culture
"Kevin McCloud in Great Designs has never seen anything like it! And neither have you." — Interia Film
"Incredible and astounding at the same time." — FM Zine
Citation
Main credits
Dobrovoda, Denis (film director)
Dobrovoda, Denis (film producer)
Bremner, Matthew (film producer)
Bremner, Matthew (screenwriter)
Hernández-Vallejo Fernández, Gonzalo (film producer)
Gallego, Justo (on-screen participant)
Other credits
Cinematography, Gonzalo Hernández-Vallejo Fernández, Israel Seoane, Diego Trenas; editing, Ona Bartrolí, Denis Dobrovoda; music, Thomas Ross Fitzsimons.
Distributor subjects
Religion + Spirituality; Visual Arts; Biography; Iberian Studies; Health + Aging; Urban Studies; Environment + Sustainability; Mental Health; SociologyKeywords
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The world is vain.
00:00:32.120 --> 00:00:34.200
The world is ungrateful.
00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.960
I have to search for the truth.
Do the opposite of what others do.
00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:53.080
I demand a lot from myself,
I reflect a lot, I search for the truth.
00:00:53.080 --> 00:00:57.680
That\'s what I was born to do,
to be a witness of the truth.
00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:07.120
Everything else is unimportant,
it\'s senseless.
00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.680
People get bored, they live very superficially.
00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.160
They don\'t think about the transcendental.
00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:25.080
I\'m very eccentric.
I do everything excessively.
00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.880
Maybe some people tell me that I\'m crazy.
00:02:27.880 --> 00:02:31.840
Others maybe say I’m vain.
00:02:32.040 --> 00:02:35.800
Others say something else...
But everyone is wrong.
00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:37.320
I\'m not crazy.
00:02:37.320 --> 00:02:41.800
But the graveyard is full of good intentions,
but people never fullfil them.
00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:45.840
I\'m different, I go for it.
I\'ve got myself all the way here.
00:03:10.040 --> 00:03:13.160
Why a cathedral, why not something else?
00:03:14.720 --> 00:03:18.880
I didn\'t study much,
because my mother wouldn\'t let me.
00:03:18.880 --> 00:03:22.840
I had to leave a vocation I chose,
because I got ill.
00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:27.600
But I’ve always been anxious
to serve the Church.
00:03:27.600 --> 00:03:31.200
And I wanted to find the right way to do it.
00:03:31.920 --> 00:03:35.240
It\'s an ideal, I’ve always seen it like that.
00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:39.120
I had the means to do it,
an inheritance, and the right qualities.
00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:45.760
I\'ve always wanted to serve the Church
in a way that has both a social and religious purpose.
00:03:45.760 --> 00:03:49.960
- But a cathedral is a very big thing.
- Very big, very ambitious.
00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:52.800
- There are churches, chapels.
- No, I have trust in the Lord.
00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:55.840
I don\'t think about how far I\'ll get.
00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:34.280
Three days ago I turned 94.
00:04:37.400 --> 00:04:39.680
On the 20th of September.
00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.200
- It\'s a very long life, isn\'t it?
- Huh?
00:04:48.200 --> 00:04:51.600
- Your life is very long.
- Yes, I’m bored of it already.
00:04:54.960 --> 00:04:57.640
My head no longer works.
00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:02.520
It comes and goes.
You don\'t remember anything...
00:05:24.400 --> 00:05:28.720
I left a tremendous example there in the monastery.
00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:49.160
I was harvesting outside, in the fierce heat
of a summer afternoon.
00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:53.040
I was very thirsty, but the monastery
was a kilometre away.
00:05:53.440 --> 00:05:57.880
I went to the well where cold water
came out in the summer.
00:05:57.880 --> 00:06:03.960
I bent down to drink,
but I remembered Christ\'s suffering and I didn\'t drink the water.
00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:09.480
He really liked to work.
00:06:10.280 --> 00:06:12.960
He was working all the time.
00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:20.480
But I don\'t think he integrated well
into the community.
00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:27.960
When you live in a community,
you have to listen to those around you.
00:06:27.960 --> 00:06:32.000
But when you’re stubborn
and stuck in your ways...
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.680
...it creates tension in the community.
00:06:37.280 --> 00:06:41.720
Justo got sick because he didn’t eat.
00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:46.960
He wanted to fast a lot
and the temperatures were very low.
00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:50.280
And that’s how he caught a disease.
00:06:50.280 --> 00:06:58.520
It was something like tuberculosis, but he recovered,
because there were already medicines for curing it.
00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:05.880
To admit a monk into the monastery,
he must be voted in by the community.
00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:14.080
The community had to vote, they voted me out
and I had to obey and go home.
00:07:14.080 --> 00:07:18.880
Of course, I didn\'t want to leave,
but I was ill so I had to.
00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:22.120
But what did they tell you?
00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:26.840
No, they voted and the majority said that I
I had to leave there, period.
00:07:26.840 --> 00:07:31.240
I don\'t have to explain or answer to anyone.
00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:34.840
The provost took me to the train station at 3AM...
00:07:34.840 --> 00:07:38.120
...there in Santa María de Huerta
and I returned home.
00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:42.160
No, that’s it.
I carry my own vocation...
00:07:43.200 --> 00:07:45.920
I dreamt about it last night...
00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:49.760
- Was Justo\'s expulsion due to TB?
- No.
00:07:49.760 --> 00:07:52.520
Because that\'s what he says.
00:07:52.520 --> 00:07:57.800
It had nothing to do with it because it\'s
a curable disease.
00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.160
The only problem was his attitude.
00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:09.280
It seemed to me he didn\'t take it well.
00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.880
He didn\'t leave happy.
00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:40.640
When I came home people wanted to know more.
00:08:40.640 --> 00:08:46.360
But I was mute, I went to mass daily and
for three years I didn’t speak to anyone, including family.
00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:49.640
I didn’t even greet friends in the street.
00:08:51.920 --> 00:08:56.880
I behaved badly, I didn’t respect anyone
because I was looking for Christ.
00:09:01.560 --> 00:09:06.800
How did you come up with the idea of
building the cathedral?
00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:11.200
Well, I couldn’t be a monk.
00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:15.720
But I had to do something for the Creator.
00:09:16.680 --> 00:09:18.640
You have to live a serious life.
00:09:18.640 --> 00:09:24.000
If I\'m religious, I do everything for Him,
one way or another, what else?
00:09:34.680 --> 00:09:40.800
And on the day of Saint Pilar, which is the 12th of October,
I came here to figure out the orientation.
00:09:40.800 --> 00:09:44.960
Because new churches are always turned to Jerusalem.
00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:50.280
I started to take measurements
and make marks.
00:09:50.280 --> 00:09:52.680
And for me that’s the first day.
00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:56.000
There was nothing here before.
00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.440
Not even this wall.
00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:05.760
I started down in the crypt
which is this.
00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:12.560
And then I had to make different levels.
00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:16.600
And build it up.
00:10:19.560 --> 00:10:23.320
This is already above ground level.
00:10:27.160 --> 00:10:31.400
Here, look at the staircase,
I put those stones there.
00:10:31.400 --> 00:10:35.640
They weigh maybe 300 kilos, I had to use a machine.
00:10:35.640 --> 00:10:38.240
They are made of pertase, really large.
00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:43.440
I was going to make a basilica
like the one of San Francisco The Great.
00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:47.520
It\'s a circle, but I also wanted it to look like a castle.
00:10:47.520 --> 00:10:53.520
I made the latin cross, a dome
and the castle on the outside.
00:10:55.560 --> 00:10:58.760
You have to give it art, harmony, style...
00:10:58.760 --> 00:11:02.240
I think about all that before I start working.
00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:06.080
- But do you read books?
- No man, you don\'t need to.
00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.240
I have a lot of books about castles.
00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:15.320
But in practice I\'m a different man
from all the stuff I read.
00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:20.640
There are so many mistakes in those books,
I am practical.
00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:29.560
About fifty years ago Justo was walking down
the street carrying a pick and a basket.
00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:41.000
Two older men who were here, asked him:
\"Where are you going, Justo?\"
00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:44.440
Because it was over 40 degrees.
00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.880
And he said:
\"I\'m going to build a cathedral.\"
00:11:51.520 --> 00:11:56.080
And that’s how he became the “madman from the cathedral.”
00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:57.800
- How\'s it going?
- Wonderful!
00:11:57.800 --> 00:12:03.280
Justo wanted to do a thing that\'s so unusual
with no training of any kind.
00:12:03.280 --> 00:12:07.000
No knowledge of architecture,
he wasn\'t even a bricklayer.
00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:08.280
I have the tower here.
00:12:08.280 --> 00:12:13.320
But the general feeling in the town was:
“In four or five years this will fall down.\"
00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:16.520
\"And he will give up,\"
that was my impression.
00:12:16.520 --> 00:12:21.000
I know all about farming,
but I have no idea about architecture.
00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.640
What\'s this man up to?
Why does he want a cathedral?
00:12:27.640 --> 00:12:31.000
And what\'s up with a man building a cathedral?
00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:41.520
He\'s a very mad person.
Everyone says he\'s mad, everyone.
00:12:41.520 --> 00:12:44.960
- What do you think?
- I also think he\'s mad.
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:50.080
The way he lives, the way he speaks,
it makes him mad.
00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:00.080
I think he\'s been making
a fool out of himself for his whole life.
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.960
Because he\'ll never finish it.
00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:07.960
Because that cathedral,
if you can call it a cathedral...
00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:12.920
...needs an investment of 300 million pesetas.
00:13:20.880 --> 00:13:25.680
I was very struck by how
everything looked like chaos.
00:16:33.680 --> 00:16:35.440
Faith.
00:16:38.560 --> 00:16:42.000
I believe... We believe...
00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:53.400
God... Comes... To meet... Man...
00:16:55.680 --> 00:16:58.520
Justo\'s father died when he was very young.
00:16:58.520 --> 00:17:03.720
And he had to take responsibilty of the man
in the family.
00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:10.240
He had to leave school at the age of 11.
00:17:13.760 --> 00:17:16.560
We have to cover this part.
00:17:16.800 --> 00:17:21.680
And then there are three plus seven...
00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.200
That makes ten, right?
00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:28.360
Is three plus seven ten?
00:17:28.560 --> 00:17:31.840
Yes, three plus seven equals ten.
00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:34.400
Seven, eight, nine, ten... Yes.
00:17:55.800 --> 00:17:59.160
Our father died when we were very young.
00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:04.680
I was 12, and he was 2 years younger,
we were three siblings.
00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:07.800
And he had to replace our father.
00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:19.120
We had lands and mules and we were farming.
00:18:19.120 --> 00:18:22.920
And Justo and my mother had to work the hardest.
00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:38.360
We have to bend this one.
00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:44.040
You can\'t build a cathedral,
or not even a house...
00:18:44.040 --> 00:18:48.560
...without complex calculations,
and without studies in architecture.
00:18:49.280 --> 00:18:54.480
But Justo has no education of any kind,
not even primary school.
00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.200
So finding a human explanation for the building...
00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:09.400
...seems to me even more difficult than
finding a supernatural one.
00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.240
How good!
00:19:19.080 --> 00:19:22.400
Worked out so well, I have an eye for it!
00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.400
Just using his hand and a tube.
00:19:26.280 --> 00:19:28.280
It\'s a record!
00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:31.640
A record, with one hand and one tube!
00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:34.880
We need to correct it a bit.
00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:40.400
I never had money,
I\'ve had to look for things to build with.
00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:44.880
I’m always trying to save money,
I don\'t like to spend money.
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:50.520
I sold my lands, I had 40 thousand metres here
and some people are still paying me.
00:19:50.520 --> 00:19:57.760
I built a village down there, with 500 neighbours.
I gave people land and they built houses and things.
00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:06.440
Our father left us some land.
00:20:07.600 --> 00:20:11.880
He invested it in the cathedral,
and it\'s been his calling ever since.
00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:18.480
There was work he couldn\'t really do alone.
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:26.240
So he told people from the village:
\"If you help me out, I will give you a plot of land.\"
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:32.200
And that way he gave away a lot of his land.
00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:55.600
A cathedral is a huge thing.
00:20:55.600 --> 00:20:59.440
It requires a massive amount of resources.
00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:07.440
Justo soon ran into problems with obtaining materials
to continue the construction process.
00:21:12.840 --> 00:21:18.120
It\'s surprising how a lot of people
started voluntarily helping him.
00:21:18.120 --> 00:21:23.200
They gave him leftover materials
which they had no use for.
00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:33.880
At that time, the concept of ecology
wasn\'t as developed as it is today.
00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:37.080
And yet he was already practicing it.
00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:59.640
I\'ve always used scraps,
because people throw so much away.
00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:04.000
I take all that wealth
and then don\'t really need money.
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.040
If I had done whatever I wanted...
00:22:06.040 --> 00:22:10.120
...I would have bought a Mercedes,
as a cousin of mine said.
00:22:10.120 --> 00:22:12.920
“Come on, buy yourself a Mercedes.\"
00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:17.720
No, sir, I live off what people give me,
I love poverty!
00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:21.920
They don\'t understand me, because I love poverty.
00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:24.000
The poor possess a treasure.
00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:29.320
But the majority of what we earn
goes on the superfluous, on luxury.
00:22:29.320 --> 00:22:34.200
Because only a few things in life
are really necessary.
00:22:49.040 --> 00:22:53.760
Someone arrived once with a box full
of 500 old tennis balls.
00:22:53.760 --> 00:22:59.960
The normal thing is to say:
“These are useless, this guy is just dumping stuff here.”
00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:03.360
And throw them out as trash.
00:23:04.280 --> 00:23:08.800
\"No, no,” Justo said.
\"They\'ll be useful for something.\"
00:23:09.320 --> 00:23:14.720
He cut a hole in the balls,
filled them with cement...
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:17.600
...and then he put a pole in the opening.
00:23:17.600 --> 00:23:23.680
So when the cement dried, he cut
the ball away and he had a concrete sphere.
00:23:24.560 --> 00:23:30.040
And all those spheres that decorate
the cornice of the cathedral…
00:23:30.040 --> 00:23:32.920
...those are the 500 tennis balls.
00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:37.680
No one would have predicted
they could be used for something.
00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:42.480
He\'s able to give life to things
that no longer have it.
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:45.640
That\'s also very connected to Christianity.
00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:29.200
Justo has always lived like that.
\"I have this, how can I build with it?\"
00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:44.040
All the arches are bent springs.
00:25:44.040 --> 00:25:46.880
This is super clever.
00:25:51.080 --> 00:25:55.000
Yes, this is very good,
it will come out beautifully.
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.600
Because the angle is ugly,
but this will be good.
00:26:00.280 --> 00:26:05.520
I bought this iron for cheap,
I saved maybe half a million.
00:26:05.520 --> 00:26:09.160
This spring, which is imperfect
and is difficult to work with...
00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:14.200
...I fill with concrete and it holds it in place.
I make use of everything!
00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:18.920
The perfect spring doesn\'t work for me,
but this one does, because I fill it.
00:26:46.040 --> 00:26:49.480
God has created wonders with circles.
00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:52.120
The Sun and the Moon are circular.
00:26:52.120 --> 00:26:55.240
The eye is round and it\'s beautiful.
00:26:55.480 --> 00:27:00.960
The circle is from God,
but the angle is the Devil\'s doing.
00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:11.240
The contemporary architect is more about the planning,
and then workers do the building.
00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:15.600
Modern architects don’t even need to touch their buildings.
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:23.440
But Justo is an artist who needs to interact with his creation
and make love with his materials.
00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:30.680
In that he’s like a Rodin or a Michelangelo.
00:27:35.360 --> 00:27:37.920
This part could be all white.
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:40.520
And this I have to break up.
00:27:42.840 --> 00:27:47.680
Because he doesn\'t lay bricks,
he rebuilds bricks anew.
00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:50.160
He\'s always innovating.
00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:54.880
And I think he\'s innovating
because he has inner freedom.
00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:01.920
The coloured ones are for the floor
and then you make circles.
00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:04.960
And this is Carrara.
00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:08.040
This is from Italy.
00:28:08.040 --> 00:28:11.920
I\'ll break it up, of course,
and I\'ll cut it.
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:14.000
It has to go like this.
00:28:16.600 --> 00:28:20.080
Always with its line, tight.
00:28:20.080 --> 00:28:23.320
And a very good marble can be made.
00:28:23.320 --> 00:28:28.520
And here another one, you have to
look for one like this...
00:28:28.520 --> 00:28:34.480
- Gaudí also did this, a little bit.
- Yes, but Gaudí...
00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:40.600
Gaudí used tiles, mosaics.
I don\'t like that at all!
00:28:40.600 --> 00:28:43.080
Marble is better.
00:28:46.840 --> 00:28:51.440
- Do you like Picasso and art like that?
- No, no, no, man!
00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:57.160
I went to the National Museum of Art, here in Spain,
and I couldn’t find anything of value there.
00:28:57.160 --> 00:29:01.120
And I told people there:
\"What’s all this, man?\"
00:29:01.120 --> 00:29:05.840
It means nothing to me,
I didn\'t like any of it, nothing at all!
00:29:05.840 --> 00:29:09.800
- And an architect like Gaudí?
- Gaudí?
00:29:10.920 --> 00:29:17.320
- I don\'t remember, who was he?
- He was the architect of the Sagrada Familia.
00:29:17.320 --> 00:29:21.000
Gaudí? The Sagrada Familia?
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:23.280
- Yes...
- In Barcelona?
00:29:23.280 --> 00:29:26.000
Absolute garbage! All of it!
00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:31.560
So many towers, so many spires...
The towers are here and then they go up there.
00:29:31.560 --> 00:29:32.920
It\'s all garbage.
00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:38.080
- Why?
- I don\'t like it, it\'s overdone.
00:29:38.840 --> 00:29:41.880
It’s worthless.
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:49.680
Because he made art out of nature
and it’s just a big mess…
00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:54.080
It’s not worth anything at all, it\'s worthless.
00:31:26.760 --> 00:31:31.000
Well, what am I going to tell you?
It’s pretty big, obviously.
00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:34.560
It measures 50 by 20 metres.
00:31:34.560 --> 00:31:40.200
And with the dome it will be 35 metres high, I think.
00:31:42.040 --> 00:31:46.960
I have four choirs,
you can see three over there.
00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:50.880
There is a shrine over there, there in the front.
00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:52.600
For Jesus of Nazareth.
00:31:52.600 --> 00:31:57.720
Now I have to make an altar with pillars.
00:32:07.320 --> 00:32:13.640
This construction looks incredible,
and very perfect at the same time.
00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:17.840
Well, perfect, no.
Everything is imperfect.
00:32:17.840 --> 00:32:21.440
But the dome yes, the dome is perfect.
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:27.400
- And what will be on top of the towers?
- One of the towers is finished already.
00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:30.680
These ten are missing their domes.
00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:34.720
But the big ones are supposed to go up 30 more metres.
00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:38.920
- Thirty?
- Yes, thirty more, it\'s like the Tower of Pisa, now.
00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:43.800
There\'s a lot left to do.
But it\'s very beautiful.
00:32:51.520 --> 00:32:56.800
So this part is going to be a monastery
for a lot of people?
00:32:56.800 --> 00:33:04.440
Yes, here it seems that the bishop
Don Manuel told me it could be a small seminary.
00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:09.040
Because here I have four potential houses.
00:33:09.040 --> 00:33:11.160
I have a library up there.
00:33:11.160 --> 00:33:16.440
- For how many monks is it?
- No, not monks, it\'s for the bishop.
00:33:16.440 --> 00:33:23.000
This is for the bishopric. It\'s a parish,
but it would also be a seminary.
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:34.600
I can\'t just donate it to the Church
because then they could change it.
00:33:34.600 --> 00:33:39.640
It\'s better to leave it in a testament,
so that I can build my way.
00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:42.480
But it has to go to the Church in the end.
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:45.480
What’s been the Church’s reaction?
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:48.920
The Church hasn’t really said anything, they\'re silent.
00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:52.240
They can\'t really give me money.
00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:57.640
- Don\'t they want to?
- No, it’s just that they have no money.
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:06.120
But do you feel accepted by them?
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:13.240
Obviously, the testament is written,
they have to accept it.
00:34:13.240 --> 00:34:17.440
In fact they\'ve already accepted it,
according to the Bishop.
00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:24.280
There seems to be a testament,
but we haven\'t received it yet.
00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:32.520
And, as you know, a person can make as many testaments
as they like up until the last moment of their life.
00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:38.120
We also don\'t actually know Don Justo\'s wishes.
00:34:38.120 --> 00:34:44.000
But we believe he wants to leave it to the
diocese of Alcala de Henares.
00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:51.680
Then the diocese,
and its Council of Bishops will decide...
00:34:51.680 --> 00:34:59.200
...whether it will accept the donation
of the building Don Justo is working on.
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:11.440
Nowadays there are many religions.
00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:17.680
Many of them are sects, of course.
Others just broke off from the Church.
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:25.400
No Mohammed, no Jehova,
no Evangelicals...
00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:29.120
...no Mormons, no Anglicans from England.
00:35:29.120 --> 00:35:33.920
These are sects!
They are branches that have left the Church.
00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:37.720
The Anglicans left the Church.
00:35:37.720 --> 00:35:40.680
The Russian Orthodox Church, the same.
00:35:40.680 --> 00:35:46.240
It is only the Pope, the Pope and the Pope.
He’s infallible.
00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:56.240
The world\'s a bad place, I went to Madrid
and saw a kiosk selling pictures of naked people.
00:35:56.240 --> 00:36:02.800
And I wanted to make a fire and burn it all down,
apart from the seller.
00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:08.800
And I would go to the beaches with sulphur and gasoline
and I’d burn them down.
00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:12.560
It\'s immoral!
And people want justice!
00:36:12.560 --> 00:36:15.200
But what justice?
00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:21.760
The dances, the discos, that\'s Devil\'s work
and should be burnt down.
00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:25.120
It\'s pagan. It\'s darkness.
00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:30.160
As a Catholic, I have to be authentic.
00:36:30.160 --> 00:36:37.960
When I watch a soccer match, I never see all of it,
and I ask God to forgive me for watching it.
00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:41.200
Because for me, it\'s idolatry.
00:36:41.200 --> 00:36:45.040
A man can\'t sell a football player
for five thousand millions.
00:36:45.040 --> 00:36:46.640
That\'s paganism.
00:36:46.640 --> 00:36:49.120
Which team do you support?
00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:51.680
Real Madrid, man.
00:36:51.680 --> 00:36:54.760
Yes, I always want them to win.
00:37:06.200 --> 00:37:11.640
It seems unbelievable now, but he was moving
a lot of material back then.
00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:16.400
And the kids were helping him,
he said: \"One peseta, for each wheelbarrow.\"
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:19.400
Go right, right, up here.
00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:33.640
Justo give work to these guys,
they are just waiting around!
00:37:33.640 --> 00:37:35.480
Keep going!
00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:10.000
Be careful, you could fall down, boys!
00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:14.600
He looks like a monkey.
00:38:14.600 --> 00:38:16.760
My hands are so dirty.
00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:19.240
Are you coming?
00:38:19.240 --> 00:38:20.760
Where?
00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:23.840
Do you want to party in the cathedral?
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:30.280
Let\'s go, let\'s go to party, let\'s go, let\'s go to party...
00:38:34.120 --> 00:38:38.240
- Son of a bitch!
- Boy, get down from there!
00:38:38.240 --> 00:38:39.800
- Down.
- Let\'s go up.
00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:42.440
Pull it up, pull it up, here it goes!
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:45.760
Coward! I\'m going up.
00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:51.960
Don\'t hit me with the stone, or I\'ll go higher!
00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:55.560
You can’t go up, it’s closed, come down!
00:38:55.560 --> 00:38:57.800
Just climb up!
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:00.640
Come on.
00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:06.440
Now it\'s the same!
00:39:06.440 --> 00:39:10.720
You can\'t go up there without my permission!
00:39:11.120 --> 00:39:15.040
I kept telling you to come down!
00:39:15.560 --> 00:39:21.120
These guys smoke a lot of weed,
they spend a lot of money on bad things.
00:39:21.120 --> 00:39:23.840
They have no ideals.
00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:30.120
They only come to make money,
they don\'t do it for the ideal.
00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:42.560
What a nice day.
It\'s warm here!
00:39:42.560 --> 00:39:46.000
Very good, this is marvellous!
00:39:57.440 --> 00:40:02.200
Ah, how badly this guy painted it yesterday.
00:40:03.800 --> 00:40:08.720
When he sees what I\'ve painted
he will get a fright.
00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:15.360
And here...
00:40:22.600 --> 00:40:27.880
What a lazy rascal, how could
he have left it like this.
00:40:28.840 --> 00:40:31.120
Terrible!
00:40:33.040 --> 00:40:35.760
What a rascal...
00:40:37.480 --> 00:40:41.520
I\'ve got myself into a better position than he did...
00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:53.120
So bad!
How’s he done such a bad job?
00:40:53.480 --> 00:40:55.160
How awful!
00:40:55.160 --> 00:40:57.280
And he was here all morning...
00:40:59.400 --> 00:41:06.840
I\'m sure I\'ll paint more in a few minutes
than he managed in a whole morning!
00:41:08.040 --> 00:41:10.560
What a rascal!
00:41:15.680 --> 00:41:19.880
In a way he builds intuitively.
00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:24.000
And for certain jobs he hires people.
00:41:24.240 --> 00:41:28.640
He observes them as they work
and learns that way.
00:41:29.160 --> 00:41:34.240
He observes a welder, learns,
and doesn\'t need a welder anymore.
00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:51.480
I don\'t need many people to build the cathedral.
00:41:51.480 --> 00:41:55.520
If I had money I\'d have technical people, but very few.
00:41:55.520 --> 00:41:59.480
When there are many people
there’s too much arguing.
00:41:59.480 --> 00:42:03.760
You have to attend to everything,
and things get done badly.
00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:09.560
I could rest more which would be good,
I could supervise things better.
00:42:09.560 --> 00:42:13.880
Because this way it’s impossible to finish everything.
00:42:14.200 --> 00:42:17.560
It\'s impossible.
I want something...
00:42:17.560 --> 00:42:22.880
…but the people don’t do it because
they don’t understand my explanation.
00:42:22.880 --> 00:42:26.720
For example with the dome,
there was a very handy guy from Guadalajara.
00:42:26.720 --> 00:42:30.840
He encouraged me to start the dome
because I had doubts.
00:42:30.840 --> 00:42:34.720
He started, and he\'s very good,
but when he finished I said...
00:42:34.720 --> 00:42:39.720
\"Angel, look, you did it wrong.\"
And he said, \"Oh no!\"
00:42:39.720 --> 00:42:44.720
And he\'s very good, he knows a lot.
He’s really wonderful!
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.280
I met Justo because I moved to Mejorada.
00:42:54.280 --> 00:42:59.960
One day I went to see the cathedral
and I met him there.
00:42:59.960 --> 00:43:06.720
He was working on a wall bracket
and asked me what I\'d change.
00:43:10.280 --> 00:43:16.960
And I told him to weld them instead of
catching them with the wires.
00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:20.240
So I gave him a hand.
00:43:20.240 --> 00:43:24.680
I asked whether I could help again,
and he said, \"yes, whenever you want.\"
00:43:24.680 --> 00:43:27.080
And that\'s how it started, little by little.
00:43:27.080 --> 00:43:30.840
I started with him and because
I enjoy doing all this stuff...
00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:35.760
...I would come here after work to help him.
00:43:38.520 --> 00:43:42.080
What time is it?
What time is it, Angel?
00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:47.080
12:30.
00:43:48.840 --> 00:43:52.760
- How are you?
- Do you need Justo for anything?
00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:58.000
We just want to record him.
But he doesn\'t need to talk.
00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:00.360
No, you don\'t need to talk.
00:44:00.360 --> 00:44:04.880
You sit down and they\'ll record you,
but you don\'t have to talk at all.
00:44:05.080 --> 00:44:08.320
How many people worked on the dome?
00:44:08.640 --> 00:44:11.120
Well, the dome… Justo?
00:44:11.120 --> 00:44:13.120
How many people worked on the roof?
00:44:13.120 --> 00:44:19.840
Well, there were three or four of us,
but practically you and me alone.
00:44:19.840 --> 00:44:22.160
Because the others were scared.
00:44:22.160 --> 00:44:24.320
And I get it, you know?
00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:25.600
I understand.
00:44:36.400 --> 00:44:41.680
I wanted to imitate the Vatican.
00:44:41.680 --> 00:44:45.360
Obviously, it\'s smaller but more or less
taken from the Vatican.
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:51.200
It has a drum here and
has a six-meter dome...
00:44:51.200 --> 00:44:55.360
...with a lantern on top, with another drum.
00:44:55.360 --> 00:45:01.520
So, on a smaller scale, I have tried to
to make the dome look like the Vatican.
00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:07.680
Once I had the scaffolding
I started working with this pulley system.
00:45:07.680 --> 00:45:13.000
Everything was lifted up here this way,
without a crane, all manually.
00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:18.080
With this pulley I did everything,
I have four or five of these.
00:46:29.920 --> 00:46:31.880
I’ve done everything with joy.
00:46:31.880 --> 00:46:36.920
Everything worked out really well,
there were never any accidents.
00:46:36.920 --> 00:46:41.200
And it’s been dangerous at times…
So what can I say?
00:46:41.200 --> 00:46:44.960
Thanks to Christ, here we are.
00:46:44.960 --> 00:46:48.480
Without a project and here we are.
00:46:55.200 --> 00:46:58.480
He\'s never taken safety precautions.
00:47:00.280 --> 00:47:05.360
I\'ve never seen him in a harness or
tied to something...
00:47:06.840 --> 00:47:11.640
It\'s really striking that nothing ever happened to him.
00:47:35.880 --> 00:47:44.040
The other day part of the roof fell off,
and it was so dangerous they closed the street.
00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:55.840
Imagine how windy it was up there,
it\'s not been so windy here for years.
00:47:55.840 --> 00:48:03.960
And yet, the guy is up there holding parts of the roof...
It was terrifying to watch.
00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:27.720
The cathedral was built on the fly,
and bit by bit it began taking on a life of its own.
00:48:27.720 --> 00:48:38.200
And evidently Justo has ignored the legal formalities
that any construction requires for it to be built legally.
00:48:43.200 --> 00:48:51.040
As time passed, something that didn\'t seem important at first,
became vitally important.
00:48:51.040 --> 00:48:58.480
At the moment the cathedral exists in a position of a-legality.
00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:05.200
No administration knows how to deal with it.
00:49:08.960 --> 00:49:11.000
Even a fool can do it.
00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:17.000
If you tell me I need a certain quantity of cement,
I always use less.
00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:24.560
I use half of it.
And I’ve made it stronger, no problem.
00:49:36.560 --> 00:49:40.400
Put it in, a little bit in there, okay.
00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:43.040
Hold still, come on, without it going up.
00:49:43.040 --> 00:49:48.080
But of course we don’t know what knowledge
Justo has or doesn’t have.
00:49:48.080 --> 00:49:53.640
We just know that he has no formal training in
architecture and suchlike.
00:49:56.160 --> 00:49:58.880
So, do we trust him, or not?
00:50:21.080 --> 00:50:27.280
When he passes away,
they might demolish the cathedral.
00:50:27.280 --> 00:50:33.160
I’ve seen what it says on the city plans.
They say it’s a ruin.
00:50:51.200 --> 00:50:54.880
Justo should live somewhere else.
00:50:55.320 --> 00:50:58.960
Because many times he\'s tried
to get help from people...
00:50:58.960 --> 00:51:05.440
...but I think in this place he won\'t ever
receive the support he needs.
00:51:10.720 --> 00:51:16.480
Many of the people he gave lands to,
didn\'t help him in the end.
00:51:16.480 --> 00:51:21.880
They went once and never came back,
very many people swindled him in this way.
00:51:21.880 --> 00:51:25.160
He lost a lot of money that way.
00:51:33.800 --> 00:51:38.440
What\'s the relationship between Don Justo and his cathedral?
00:51:38.440 --> 00:51:42.000
Very close, because for me she\'s my wife.
00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:47.040
So the relationship is very close.
We cannot be separated.
00:51:48.840 --> 00:51:52.800
So what does the word love mean to you?
00:51:52.800 --> 00:51:57.720
Love is service to others.
Not the fleeting love on TV...
00:51:57.720 --> 00:52:04.200
\"I love you more than yesterday, but less than tomorrow,\"
those are tales and fables.
00:52:29.120 --> 00:52:35.000
I believe there was a turning point,
which was the famous TV commercial...
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:42.240
...done by a powerful beverage brand, which used
the cathedral and Justo for a nationwide campaign.
00:53:01.560 --> 00:53:04.840
These are from back then.
00:53:04.840 --> 00:53:08.040
That\'s how it was, already quite developed.
00:53:08.360 --> 00:53:16.320
Justo started as an idea when we asked agencies
to come up with the next Aquarius campaign.
00:53:16.320 --> 00:53:19.480
The previous campaign was a success.
00:53:19.480 --> 00:53:26.160
We stopped talk about the product,
but about how human beings could do wonderful things.
00:53:26.160 --> 00:53:31.720
And the agency brought us a case of a man
who was building a cathedral in Mejorada del Campo.
00:53:31.720 --> 00:53:34.040
At first I took it as a joke.
00:53:34.040 --> 00:53:39.000
\"No, that\'s impossible, I live in Madrid,
I would know about the cathedral.\"
00:53:39.000 --> 00:53:44.480
But they showed me some things online,
that it was in the MoMA in New York.
00:53:44.480 --> 00:53:48.040
And that people outside of Spain knew him.
00:53:48.040 --> 00:53:51.080
So I started to take it seriously.
00:53:51.080 --> 00:53:57.720
And we went to see Justo himself,
because we wanted him for the next Aquarius commercial.
00:54:06.080 --> 00:54:09.520
Well, we met a very interesting man.
00:54:15.040 --> 00:54:20.720
At first he was mistrustful and said:
\"I don\'t like this advertisement stuff.\"
00:54:20.720 --> 00:54:25.360
I said it was a TV commercial,
and he said, \"No, I don\'t watch TV.\"
00:54:26.520 --> 00:54:31.960
This man didn\'t want to be famous,
he didn\'t want to make money.
00:54:31.960 --> 00:54:34.280
He didn\'t want anything.
00:54:36.080 --> 00:54:42.520
We sold him the commercial on the idea that
it would make his story famous...
00:54:42.520 --> 00:54:48.400
...and that this would help his cathedral to survive.
00:55:01.360 --> 00:55:06.400
Most advertising campaigns are forgotten
after three months.
00:55:06.680 --> 00:55:12.760
The fact that people still remember Justo\'s commercial
means it was really exceptional.
00:55:17.440 --> 00:55:25.120
Justo Gallego has been building a cathedral for 40 years,
with no support of any kind.
00:55:25.240 --> 00:55:31.520
What I\'ve achieved after 40 years
is due to the relentlessness of my faith.
00:55:32.360 --> 00:55:35.080
Today he\'s known all over the world.
00:55:35.080 --> 00:55:39.040
His work\'s been exhibited in the MoMa
and has thousands of fans.
00:55:39.040 --> 00:55:42.920
Isn\'t it marvellous?
Humans are unpredictable.
00:55:42.920 --> 00:55:44.040
You bet!
00:55:45.840 --> 00:55:48.040
It is the Aquarius era.
00:55:58.720 --> 00:56:02.240
When they told me he hasn\'t asked for a specific sum...
00:56:02.240 --> 00:56:08.080
...I said I wanted him to be paid as much as
a famous footballer from Madrid or Barcelona.
00:56:08.080 --> 00:56:12.560
In that sense the sum he received was generous.
00:56:18.880 --> 00:56:23.880
Perhaps the origin of the idea
and the message was lost on the way.
00:56:26.400 --> 00:56:31.840
The slogan wasn\'t:
\"What a man is capable doing for his faith.\"
00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:40.440
Instead it was:
\"What a man, with a faith in himself, can achieve.\"
00:56:48.080 --> 00:56:53.520
But if we take out the religious aspect of Justo,
we cease to understand him.
00:57:39.280 --> 00:57:44.120
When I went to see him last year he surprised me.
00:57:44.120 --> 00:57:52.120
Because when I greeted him he replied:
\"What a mess you got me into with this Aquarius thing!\"
00:58:55.080 --> 00:59:00.600
After the success of the commercial,
buses full of people started coming.
00:59:01.560 --> 00:59:07.600
And those people wanted to talk to Justo.
Ask him questions, take photos with him.
00:59:08.880 --> 00:59:11.360
And that started to wear him down.
00:59:11.360 --> 00:59:16.400
A man whose vocation was a reclusive life of
contemplation in a monastery...
00:59:16.400 --> 00:59:20.080
Without permission you can\'t
use that machine here!
00:59:20.080 --> 00:59:28.720
The last thing he wants is having photos of him taken
and repeating the same thing to everyone.
00:59:28.720 --> 00:59:32.480
If you want to be here,
put it away!
00:59:32.480 --> 00:59:34.640
You too!
00:59:34.640 --> 00:59:37.920
You have to ask for permission!
00:59:40.160 --> 00:59:47.000
So he started working in more isolated parts
so that people don\'t disturb him.
01:00:00.200 --> 01:00:01.120
No, no.
01:00:03.360 --> 01:00:04.400
Delete it.
01:00:04.400 --> 01:00:06.600
- Don\'t worry...
- Delete, delete it.
01:00:06.600 --> 01:00:08.280
What a nerve you have.
01:00:08.280 --> 01:00:12.440
- No.
- You are very fat. You have no shame!
01:00:13.560 --> 01:00:16.720
- Of course!
- I didn\'t mean any harm...
01:00:16.720 --> 01:00:22.040
Yeah, right! Your lack of manners is a disgrace!
01:00:22.040 --> 01:00:25.240
- I wanted to ask...
- No asking!
01:00:29.960 --> 01:00:35.040
Hit it, give this a hammering.
01:00:35.040 --> 01:00:38.880
- What was it before?
- It was given to us by a man...
01:00:38.880 --> 01:00:44.400
But why do you want to destroy it?
01:00:44.400 --> 01:00:48.800
Hold it, farther!
01:00:49.600 --> 01:00:52.200
Come on, break it!
01:00:52.440 --> 01:00:54.680
I see that he has changed.
01:00:54.680 --> 01:01:00.720
Why? I am not a psychologist to judge it,
but he\'s changed.
01:01:00.880 --> 01:01:03.000
No! You stay still!
01:01:03.520 --> 01:01:04.920
Shut up!
01:01:05.200 --> 01:01:06.480
Hit it!
01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:09.280
Come on, man!
01:01:09.600 --> 01:01:14.120
This man\'s always been involved in his church,
and that\'s it.
01:01:14.120 --> 01:01:19.120
But lately he\'s had some moments
that weren\'t in keeping with those values.
01:01:19.120 --> 01:01:22.280
I think it might be the people he\'s with.
01:01:22.280 --> 01:01:24.680
You\'re going to hurt yourself!
01:01:25.440 --> 01:01:26.680
It\'s glass!
01:01:28.720 --> 01:01:30.400
I\'ll do it.
01:01:43.920 --> 01:01:50.520
Justo is 94 years old, and you can clearly see
that he\'s gradually fading away.
01:01:51.520 --> 01:01:56.760
When Justo passes away,
what will become of the cathedral?
01:01:57.520 --> 01:02:01.880
It’s illegal - so we destroy it?
That would be a crime.
01:02:01.880 --> 01:02:04.680
It would be a crime to destroy it.
01:02:04.680 --> 01:02:11.040
I think the construction should stop
and it should be preserved in its present state.
01:02:11.040 --> 01:02:15.400
I would not consider further construction.
01:02:27.200 --> 01:02:31.840
The people who are coming now are from UNESCO.
01:02:31.840 --> 01:02:38.440
- It\'s an organisation that has lots of resources.
- Yes, I know this already.
01:02:38.440 --> 01:02:46.440
They want to look at everything,
to see how they can collaborate with us.
01:02:46.440 --> 01:02:50.200
No one can do this, only the Divine Providence.
01:02:52.960 --> 01:03:01.440
On January 16, 2020 our delegation from the UNESCO Center
attended a working meeting.
01:03:01.440 --> 01:03:06.720
A working meeting with the objective
of considering whether...
01:03:06.720 --> 01:03:12.640
...the Cathedral of Mejorada could be declared
a site of Cultural Interest.
01:03:12.640 --> 01:03:14.720
- I wish you…
- But for him.
01:03:14.720 --> 01:03:16.720
- No, for you...
- And for thy neighbour!
01:03:16.720 --> 01:03:22.680
- I wish you a few more years of life.
- Only if it\'s God\'s will.
01:03:22.680 --> 01:03:28.440
God wills what he wants,
but I wish you a few more years of life.
01:03:28.440 --> 01:03:35.080
What would you want for your cathedral
after your passing?
01:03:35.080 --> 01:03:39.760
But I\'ve been explaining to Angel...
The dome...
01:03:39.760 --> 01:03:43.680
Do you know what the dome is?
It\'s 50 metres high...
01:03:43.680 --> 01:03:48.120
The danger there, are the gusts of wind
coming from the side.
01:03:48.120 --> 01:03:53.840
I am telling you, there are eight pillars all in that area.
01:03:53.840 --> 01:03:58.080
- Yes, but what do you want me to...
- No, let me explain.
01:03:58.080 --> 01:04:02.960
Then it all needs to be reinforced.
01:04:02.960 --> 01:04:08.040
Because the wind can blow the dome away.
01:04:08.040 --> 01:04:14.040
- What would you like UNESCO to do for your cathedral?
- Is that easy?
01:04:14.040 --> 01:04:19.000
I can\'t ask for anything,
I leave it up to the Divine Providence.
01:04:19.000 --> 01:04:26.240
Would you allow an architect to come
to consolidate and complete your work?
01:04:26.240 --> 01:04:29.880
If I\'m going to die, well, sure…
01:04:29.880 --> 01:04:34.520
- Of course...
- But I couldn\'t get involved in that stuff...
01:04:34.520 --> 01:04:38.360
Do you give us the go-ahead or not?
01:04:38.360 --> 01:04:41.960
- We\'ve tried to make a foundation.
- Yes.
01:04:41.960 --> 01:04:45.800
And there have already been 12, I think, or less.
01:04:45.800 --> 01:04:50.840
And when they said: \"I have an architect, I have that…\"
01:04:50.840 --> 01:04:56.600
- I told them: \"Nothing is being done.\"
- Justo but he\'s asking if...
01:04:56.600 --> 01:05:01.320
Well, I\'ll tell you now that, that thing...
01:05:01.320 --> 01:05:07.840
The cathedral is so well built, it can be full of people
and nothing will happen.
01:05:07.840 --> 01:05:13.000
Now, the wind, yes, that’s dangerous.
01:05:13.000 --> 01:05:16.960
Yes, it\'s something that needs solving.
01:05:16.960 --> 01:05:21.640
But don\'t touch the pillars,
because you will ruin them.
01:05:21.640 --> 01:05:24.640
- They are not to be touched.
- Listen to me...
01:05:24.640 --> 01:05:26.280
And the crypt!
01:05:26.280 --> 01:05:33.480
It has concrete foundations, all reinforced.
01:05:33.480 --> 01:05:36.800
I don\'t think he was aware of who he was talking to.
01:05:36.800 --> 01:05:42.680
He definitely didn\'t recognise me
as the head of UNESCO Center Madrid.
01:05:48.600 --> 01:05:55.480
When I went they informed us that the cathedral
was built without planning permission.
01:05:59.160 --> 01:06:02.960
It was built without any project or plan.
01:06:02.960 --> 01:06:11.160
And it was built by a man with no knowledge
of the construction of civil or religious buildings.
01:06:12.440 --> 01:06:19.080
It\'s a building constructed with materials
of poor or low quality.
01:06:19.080 --> 01:06:28.800
UNESCO cannot accept a building that would be of tourist interest
with all these legal problems.
01:06:30.480 --> 01:06:34.760
I am staying on the sidelines.
01:06:34.760 --> 01:06:38.600
The truth is he has donated it to me.
01:06:38.600 --> 01:06:43.120
But as long as he is alive I respect him in everything.
01:06:43.360 --> 01:06:50.200
But it will be very important to consider
what happens next.
01:06:50.200 --> 01:06:52.360
That\'s the thing.
01:06:52.360 --> 01:06:57.160
We have to be aware of the fact
that this needs a solution .
01:06:57.160 --> 01:07:03.000
It can\'t stay like this,
lots of visitors come here.
01:07:03.640 --> 01:07:08.760
- Yes, but if they like it...
- But they are afraid.
01:07:08.760 --> 01:07:12.000
They don\'t know whether it\'s safe.
01:07:12.000 --> 01:07:14.600
- OK, let’s go.
- Yeah, sure.
01:07:14.600 --> 01:07:16.040
My pleasure.
01:07:16.040 --> 01:07:20.600
- Let\'s hope everything works out.
- See you next time.
01:08:29.600 --> 01:08:33.160
- Come on, let’s go.
- It’s open.
01:08:35.280 --> 01:08:45.640
I will be satisfied when the cathedral becomes
what Justo has always wanted it to be.
01:08:45.640 --> 01:08:49.920
That a Holy Mass is celebrated here.
01:09:07.040 --> 01:09:10.600
What\'s necessary for it to become a place of religious worship?
01:09:10.600 --> 01:09:15.960
That the owner of the property donates it to the Church.
01:09:15.960 --> 01:09:19.920
And that the Church accepts it.
01:09:30.400 --> 01:09:35.120
This is a very important and necessary agreement.
01:09:36.080 --> 01:09:41.600
Because to give it to the Church
there are certain conditions Justo has to respect.
01:09:41.600 --> 01:09:46.600
And to receive it,
the Church has to consider many aspects.
01:09:48.080 --> 01:09:51.720
Among others, the pastoral purpose of it.
01:09:51.720 --> 01:09:57.040
Is it really necessary to have another parish
in Mejorada del Campo?
01:09:57.040 --> 01:10:03.800
Can it accomodate the faithful,
does it conforms to the security measures?
01:10:07.000 --> 01:10:12.040
If I have 300 people attending a Mass,
and an accident happens inside...
01:10:12.040 --> 01:10:15.000
...the Catholic Church will be held responsible.
01:10:15.000 --> 01:10:21.640
These are the different aspects that need to be fulfilled
for it to become a real cathedral.
01:10:21.640 --> 01:10:25.920
And for these reasons I don\'t think it will happen.
01:12:38.720 --> 01:12:44.920
Mensajeros de la Paz is an NGO that has Catholic roots,
but it\'s a civil association.
01:12:46.520 --> 01:12:54.160
Justo, seeing that he won\'t be able to finish it,
reached out to us for help.
01:12:54.160 --> 01:13:03.680
So that we help with the future of the cathedral
and with finishing it.
01:13:09.320 --> 01:13:12.400
The Catholic Church has to be up to date.
01:13:12.400 --> 01:13:19.360
Now there are many religious communities
and it\'s become more difficult to engage people.
01:13:19.360 --> 01:13:23.480
But nothing is impossible,
even if it is difficult.
01:13:23.480 --> 01:13:27.880
The ideal is to create a community,
but not only of Catholics.
01:13:27.880 --> 01:13:33.440
But also of Hindus, evangelicals
and other religions.
01:13:52.520 --> 01:13:55.560
Let\'s go see Justo now.
01:14:04.720 --> 01:14:10.480
We\'ve renovated his rooms
to make them a bit nicer.
01:14:10.480 --> 01:14:15.080
- Hello.
- Hello, good morning, Padre Angel.
01:14:15.080 --> 01:14:19.080
- So let\'s see, how are you?
- Always well, and you?
01:14:19.080 --> 01:14:23.400
No, I\'m not interested in this,
I am interested in something else.
01:14:23.400 --> 01:14:28.320
- Man, as a priest you can\'t be changing anything.
- Yes, yes...
01:14:28.320 --> 01:14:32.480
If God doesn\'t see it,
our Father in heaven.
01:14:32.480 --> 01:14:36.800
These guys, they wanted to film…
01:14:37.160 --> 01:14:40.640
I gave the cathedral to you,
because they told me...
01:14:40.640 --> 01:14:47.360
\"Father Angel, who is in Atocha,
in Fuencarral street...\"
01:14:47.360 --> 01:14:54.080
And I learnt that you\'re a man
who receives people there in your parish.
01:14:54.080 --> 01:14:59.240
You came to us and said: \"Let\'s talk.\"
And we talked to you.
01:14:59.240 --> 01:15:03.760
And you were interested in doing it
the way we discussed.
01:15:03.760 --> 01:15:07.440
We\'ve talked about this a thousand times, please.
01:15:07.440 --> 01:15:13.720
Man, please, the Creator is looking at this!
01:15:14.600 --> 01:15:18.640
- We\'re in agreement.
- Think about it properly.
01:15:18.640 --> 01:15:26.080
These guys came to shoot
and tell you you\'re a champ.
01:15:26.080 --> 01:15:32.320
I\'m glad we are still set on what
we agreed at the beginning.
01:15:32.320 --> 01:15:35.400
Well, Justo let\'s keep going!
01:15:53.640 --> 01:15:59.440
Angel, show this man my Bible.
01:15:59.440 --> 01:16:01.320
One second.
01:16:01.320 --> 01:16:04.400
Open the door.
01:16:04.400 --> 01:16:08.360
No, wait, bring it to him and let him see it.
01:16:08.360 --> 01:16:11.080
Wait one second!
01:16:12.200 --> 01:16:14.800
I need to feed you first.
01:16:15.920 --> 01:16:18.280
Come on, and then I can rest a bit.
01:16:18.280 --> 01:16:23.240
I said one second, eat first!
They are not in a hurry.
01:16:23.240 --> 01:16:25.360
Look, you see?
01:16:25.360 --> 01:16:29.120
- You spilled it!
- Because you put your hands there...
01:16:29.120 --> 01:16:35.240
What hands? You put the spoon too low.
How bad you are!
01:16:36.400 --> 01:16:39.080
I need a lot of patience!
01:16:39.080 --> 01:16:44.360
- OK Angel, enough.
- What do you mean? You only had four spoonfulls!
01:16:44.360 --> 01:16:47.360
Every day like this: \"Enough, enough!\"
01:16:48.040 --> 01:16:52.040
And then five minutes later: \"Angel!\"
01:16:54.680 --> 01:16:58.920
Is it good? Is it good?
01:17:00.640 --> 01:17:05.720
- Selma prepared it for you today.
- It\'s the same...
01:17:21.440 --> 01:17:26.800
Do you agree with the stuff
the Mensajeros are putting in?
01:17:26.800 --> 01:17:28.760
Not the flags, no.
01:17:29.800 --> 01:17:33.280
Not the flags.
It\'s full of flags!
01:17:33.280 --> 01:17:38.200
Father Angel has filled it with too many things!
01:17:38.480 --> 01:17:44.280
And these decoration they\'ve put in are wrong,
they are worthless!
01:17:44.280 --> 01:17:51.720
No, man, no! It looks like military stuff!
I don’t want it here, they\'re changing it all!
01:17:51.720 --> 01:17:58.280
- And what\'s your wish for the cathedral?
- That it becomes a great basilica.
01:17:58.280 --> 01:18:03.200
Because I made it big, it\'s not some tiny church!
01:18:03.200 --> 01:18:08.520
It\'s a really good cathedral!
01:18:08.520 --> 01:18:12.680
As long as you live, you\'re the owner.
01:18:12.680 --> 01:18:16.600
And when you die, who\'ll be the owners?
01:18:18.000 --> 01:18:21.920
- Who will it be for then?
- For whomever you want.
01:18:21.920 --> 01:18:27.920
I can\'t give it to Padre Angel alone,
but he does have the means to finish it.
01:18:27.920 --> 01:18:32.880
He will bring a 60-meter crane and work on the roof.
01:18:32.880 --> 01:18:40.560
Here we are dealing with practicalities,
but the truth is I don\'t really know what\'s in it...
01:18:40.560 --> 01:18:45.400
- You don\'t know who\'s in the testament?
- No...
01:18:46.080 --> 01:18:53.080
I can\'t be here fighting, working,
and when Justo passes, I get thrown out on the street.
01:18:53.080 --> 01:18:54.360
Do you understand?
01:18:54.360 --> 01:19:00.360
Wait, wait. That will not be allowed
because I have my house here.
01:19:00.360 --> 01:19:02.480
And that is my home!
01:19:02.480 --> 01:19:09.800
And apart from that, where Justo sleeps
and these other bits, are mine.
01:19:09.800 --> 01:19:11.840
They are mine!
01:19:12.080 --> 01:19:15.840
So, a lot needs to be done.
01:19:15.840 --> 01:19:22.760
Many things need to change,
because both Justo and I are realising...
01:19:22.760 --> 01:19:28.080
...that the path is changing a little bit,
but it needs to stay straight.
01:19:28.080 --> 01:19:32.240
I\'m very grateful to Padre Angel,
super grateful.
01:19:32.240 --> 01:19:36.200
But let\'s keep going straight.
Let\'s not bend.
01:19:36.200 --> 01:19:42.480
- Does he still think a lot about the cathedral?
- Yes, yes.
01:19:42.480 --> 01:19:46.600
Yesterday he drew some pictures of how
he’d like the entrance to be...
01:19:46.600 --> 01:19:49.840
...the dome, how to reinforce it.
01:19:49.840 --> 01:19:53.240
Yes, yes, he comments on everything.
01:20:04.040 --> 01:20:10.280
My story with the cathedral started two months ago,
when Mensajeros de la Paz called us.
01:20:11.400 --> 01:20:15.600
They said they wanted us to
have a look at the cathedral...
01:20:15.600 --> 01:20:19.160
...and try to ensure its structural quality.
01:20:25.440 --> 01:20:30.000
When you see the structure from afar,
and without knowing what it is...
01:20:30.000 --> 01:20:36.080
...it can seem a little messy and chaotic,
maybe poorly built.
01:20:41.440 --> 01:20:47.000
But when you realise it was built by one man alone,
you get goosebumps.
01:20:52.080 --> 01:20:58.280
When you approach it, the first feeling you get
is of the enormity of the structure.
01:20:58.280 --> 01:21:03.480
Which gives it an intrinsic value,
because this man is a farmer, not an architect.
01:21:03.480 --> 01:21:07.560
And yet, he had all the proportions
in his head.
01:21:07.560 --> 01:21:12.720
The heights, the widths,
the thickness of the buttresses, all of it.
01:21:18.280 --> 01:21:24.640
The other day he told us something
not many engineers or architects will say.
01:21:24.640 --> 01:21:27.240
\"I worry about the wind.\"
01:21:27.240 --> 01:21:31.040
He already knows that the cathedral’s
weight isn\'t a problem.
01:21:31.040 --> 01:21:33.640
That the problem are horizontal forces, the wind.
01:21:33.640 --> 01:21:38.160
Which is the number one enemy
of tall constructions of this type.
01:21:40.840 --> 01:21:47.160
What I find most incredible is that it\'s already survived
60 years of weather calamities without problems.
01:21:47.160 --> 01:21:51.600
It survived Storm Filomena,
which destroyed many buildings in the area.
01:21:55.840 --> 01:21:58.720
He is an intuitive genius of construction.
01:22:10.240 --> 01:22:15.040
Would you believe that when I walk
towards the cathedral in the morning...
01:22:15.600 --> 01:22:21.120
...and I see it in all its wonder,
I have to look away.
01:22:21.120 --> 01:22:26.200
Because it\'s for the Creator, not for me,
or so that people flatter me.
01:22:27.400 --> 01:22:30.960
And of course, I have to look at it,
because I am building it.
01:22:30.960 --> 01:22:37.600
But often I see it all so beautiful and I say:
\"Lord, this is yours, I can\'t even look at it.\"
01:22:52.000 --> 01:22:54.160
I don\'t think about inaugurating it.
01:22:54.160 --> 01:22:57.800
I just have to keep on building
and build as much as possible.
01:22:57.800 --> 01:23:01.080
No, people want me to finish it,
but that\'s not the point.
01:23:01.080 --> 01:23:04.840
I just have to do it,
I have to keep building.
01:23:06.280 --> 01:23:10.400
You work as hard as you can,
but you don\'t know where you\'ll get.
01:23:10.400 --> 01:23:13.080
But that doesn\'t matter.
01:23:39.040 --> 01:23:44.000
I think you start to think someone is crazy
when you see him from a distance.
01:23:44.000 --> 01:23:49.200
And when he is too different
it makes him a madman.
01:23:51.400 --> 01:23:56.400
But when you get closer to him,
you start to see his point.
01:23:56.400 --> 01:24:02.480
And all of a sudden it dawned on me that the cathedral
was built for the greatest reason in the world.
01:24:03.640 --> 01:24:09.800
When I see the building I am thinking
I also want to build it in my life.
01:24:09.800 --> 01:24:14.320
Not a cathedral,
but I want to build it with my wife.
01:24:18.720 --> 01:24:25.200
An invisible building, but one that you\'ve built with love,
with thousands of details.
01:24:25.200 --> 01:24:28.280
So that when you reach the end of your life...
01:24:28.280 --> 01:24:35.400
...you\'ve left a physical metaphor which shows
that love is what endures.
01:25:12.800 --> 01:25:15.960
Are you afraid of death?
01:25:16.200 --> 01:25:17.440
Of death?
01:25:17.440 --> 01:25:22.720
No, I want it already, Lord,
please take me to you!
01:25:22.720 --> 01:25:26.760
No, no, no, I love Christ so much.
01:25:28.480 --> 01:25:32.480
And Mary, I was born on her day in my village.
01:25:32.480 --> 01:25:36.840
Our Lady of Sorrows is the patron of my town.
01:25:36.840 --> 01:25:39.840
I embrace them.
Distributor: Pragda Films
Length: 87 minutes
Date: 2022
Genre: Expository
Language: Spanish
Grade: Middle School, High School, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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