"Many people today look only at the ground and focus exclusively on themselves," Bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski addressed those gathered. "This image calls us to lift our gaze upward, toward God and Heaven."
Europe's tallest Virgin Mary statue unveiled in Poland
The new monument, standing fifty-five and a half meters tall, has surpassed the height of the famous Brazilian statue of Christ the Redeemer.
In the Polish village of Konotopie, the tallest concrete statue of the Virgin Mary in Europe has been unveiled. The festive event was timed to coincide with the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, reports the BBC.
Local bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski consecrated the concrete figure, standing 55.6 meters tall, during a solemn ceremony on Saturday. Two helicopters circled to drop rose petals over the Virgin Mary, which stands in a large crown with open arms, during Saturday's ceremony. The sculpture, depicting the Mother of God wearing a large crown with outstretched arms, was erected in the middle of a field and funded by a millionaire couple residing in the area.
Bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski, who consecrated the statue, told those congregated that "many contemporary people look only to the earth, focused on themselves", whereas the figure beckoned "to raise our gaze upwards to God and heaven."
The new monument surpasses the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro in height by nearly eighteen meters. At the same time, the Polish figure is smaller in scale than the ninety-eight-meter statue of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines. The organizers held the ceremony against the backdrop of a general decline in the influence of the Catholic Church on public life in the country, particularly among urban youth.
Among the attendees on Saturday was Lech Wałęsa, who led the movement to end communism in Poland and would go on to become the country's first democratically elected president. The politician, who throughout his political career always wore a badge bearing the image of the Mother of God on his lapel, has maintained that his Catholic faith played an important role in his struggle against communism. "I started with the Virgin Mary and I end with the Virgin Mary," said Lech Wałęsa.
As the UOJ reported, a 26-meter statue of Christ was unveiled on the Lebanon-Syria border.