Refugees, migrants given safe haven by Vatican weep with gratitude
- Dec 5, 2019
Roman artist Jacopo Cardillo chipped away the clothing on his earlier statue of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, not to be mocking, but to make him “even more human.”
Another statue of St. Junipero Serra has been defaced in California. The founder of the California missions has been criticized for his treatment of native populations in the 18th century. However, when Pope Francis made him a saint, he said Serra “sought to defend the dignity of the native community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it.”
San Domenico, the oldest Catholic school in California, has recently come under fire for a decision to remove its Catholic statues. The school board, however, has argued that the decision comes at a time when the institution recognizes that the majority of its student body is not Catholic as well as its desire to be inclusive.
When the statues of Robert B. Taney, the first Catholic on the Supreme Court, came down in Baltimore and at the Maryland State House, it had been a long time coming according to a Maryland state official and African American Catholic who said, “It’s about time.”
An Indiana man upset with what he sees as social change that’s anti-family decided to make an unconventional statement, so rather than protesting or picketing, he built a new shrine to the Holy Family, complete with statues of Joseph, Mary and Jesus, and is inviting people to pray.