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.
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