The Catholic Archdiocese of Guadalajara reports that the roof of the ambitious Santuario de los Martires (Martyrs’ Sanctuary) temple has been finished at a cost of 60 million pesos.
The new church, situated atop a hill in the poor Cerro de Cuatro barrio in southern Guadalajara, is set to be Mexico’s largest and most lavish religious edifice and cost an estimated two billion pesos. It honors 25 of Mexico’s Catholic martyrs of the Cristero War of the 1920s.
The three-tiered, arching roof, which features no interior supports, uses high-tech German materials that architects have utilized in important European projects, including the fourth terminal at Madrid's Barajas airport.
Work on the edifice began in 2001. Funding for the project has come solely from private donations.
Diocese spokesman Antonio Gutierrez has refused to put a time frame on completing the church.
The next stage is to lay the marble floor and come up with funding for some 2,000 benches to seat 12,000 people inside the church. (The atrium will be able to accommodate a further 50,000.)
In addition to the church itself, plans include quarters for members of religious orders, a huge parking lot, a grand entrance way and multiple-use salons.