A new Vatican-commissioned sculpture by Canadian artist Timothy P Schmalz titled Be Welcoming was installed in St Peter’s Square yesterday in the hopes of inspiring people to open their hearts to the poor. Source: CNA.
Schmalz’s bronze statue – located near the Showers for the Poor and the Mother of Mercy Clinic in the colonnade of St Peter’s Square – depicts a man seated on a bench “who appears to be a homeless person” carrying only two possessions: a full backpack on his shoulder and a stick in one hand.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Service of Charity said in a statement: “This stranger turns into an angel when you look at the other side of the sculpture: the roughness of his clothes becomes smooth, the bag he carries turns into wings and the hood turns into hair.”
Known for creating artworks that interact with its viewers, Schmalz’s “invites you to sit next to him,” to contemplate the word of God and inspire people to carry out works of charity.
Schmalz’s latest installation in St Peter’s Square is another “visual interpretation of a verse from the Letter to the Hebrews: ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have unknowingly entertained angels’ (Heb 13:2),” the Vatican statement said.
The same Scripture verse also inspired Schmalz’s sculpture Angels Unawares – also located within St Peter’s Square – which depicts 140 migrants of different ethnicities and nationalities standing on a boat.
On September 29, 2019, Pope Francis blessed that statue on the occasion of the Church’s 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
“We are all invited to open our hearts because only then will we have the opportunity to see others as they really are, people with their humanity,” the Vatican statement read. “Touching a poor person, assisting a poor person, is a sacrament in the Church.”
Be Welcoming is the third Schmalz installation located in the vicinity of St Peter’s Basilica. His Homeless Jesus statue, inaugurated in March 2016 during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, is located in the square in front of the Vatican’s apostolic charity offices.
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Vatican unveils new Timothy Schmalz statue ‘Be Welcoming’ in St Peter’s Square (By Kristina Millare, CNA)
