Skip to content

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Christ statue vandalized - Restoration leaves Jesus looking demonic

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes
Artist Heather Wise attempted to restore the Christ child's head.

A statue of the Blessed Virgin holding the Christ child outside a church in Sadbury, Canada was vandalized last year. The restoration went horribly wrong, leaving Christ looking more demonic than Holy.

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Highlights

By Kenya Sinclair (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
10/21/2016 (7 years ago)

Published in Americas

Keywords: Jesus, statue, Heather Wise, Canada

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Christ's head was broken from the statue and Mary's cheek sustained cracks and a large piece of stone was chipped off.

Artist Heather Wise approached Sainte Anne Des Pins Roman Church's priest, Gerard Lajeunesse, to ask if she could restore the statue.


"She was quite upset about it and she offered to do something if she could," Fr. Lajeunesse explained.

She was granted permission and, using terracotta, attempted to recreate the Christ child's head, complete with a crown atop his holy head.

She spent several hours sculpting the new head and Fr. Lajeunesse described: "The difficulty is the artist had to lift the chin so that the head would stay on because it would keep falling off."

To make matters worse, the clay began to erode within a week from simple rainfall.

The white statue already appeared odd with the red terracotta standing out but with the addition of erosion, the Christ child's head appeared more demonic in appearance than holy.

Parishioners were shocked at the sight and many expressed pain, surprise and disappointment with the dramatic difference.

"It really is shocking to the eyes because of the big contrast in color," Fr. Lajeunesse commented. "The statue has been vandalized before, at least once, maybe twice.


"It's always Jesus' head that goes missing. Probably because it's smaller and easier to break off."

In the past, parishioners were always able to find Christ's head nearby and were able to reattach it to the statue.

"This time we looked high and low. No head. No Jesus," Fr. Lajeunesse stated.

He went to several businesses in search of a replacement but because it had to be custom made, no one "even wanted to consider it."

Replacing the entire statue would cost between $6,000 to $10,000.

"You wonder, if we do replace it with a new one, will we be up against the same situation?" Lajeunese asked. (8-**$?6);5

Of the temporary terracotta replacement, Fr. Lajeunesse stated: "I don't expect it to last long. She plans on sculpting in stone sometime next year.

"It's a first try. It's a first go...I'm not an artist so I have to tip my hat off to her...And hopefully what is done at the end will please everyone...I wasn't trained for this in seminary."

---


'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'


Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Lent logo
Saint of the Day logo
Deacon Keith Fournier Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.