THE POPE AND THE POOR: You Finish the Picture

Over at his website, “Father Z” posted this picture of a new, 16-foot-high bronze statue of Blessed John Paul II.  The statue was unveiled on March 19 at Stazione Termini, Rome’s main train station. 

I don’t know the artist’s intent in creating the cavernous belly, but I imagine future generations of pilgrims posing for pictures, shielded beneath our beloved pope’s generous heart.

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I was reminded of another statue which stands outside the cathedral in Salzburg, Austria, and which I photographed on a family trip in 2000. 

A stark counterpoint to the beauty of the breathtaking “Sound of Music” mountainscape, this statue is “empty”—signifying the Invisible Poor.