This towering, nearly 22-foot statue of the Son of God that presides over the Parish of the Epiphany of the Lord looks like Phil Collins. Read more

That wouldn't normally be a story — if anything, the most noteworthy thing about it is that a religious monument is going up outside a religious school for once — but the journey it took for the monument to get there is worth retelling.

The monument wasn't originally meant for the Catholic school. In 1957, the Fraternal Order of Eagles donated it to Valley High School, a local public school.

It wasn't until 2012 that a lawsuit was filed to have that display removed. Marie Schaub and her daughter were two of the plaintiffs, represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Read more

The statue, estimated to stand 1.2m tall and filled with concrete, was wrenched out of its stone-arched grotto at St Joseph's in Helensville, some time on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Continue reading

The statue of Our Lady of Light was housed in a school that collapsed and was reduced to rubble in the April 16 quake, which left at least 600 people dead.

The sisters who run the school in Marta Canton are amazed at the statue's fate.

The occurrence has reportedly given hope to the local community and consolation to Equador's people.

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Fr Jean-Jacques Le Roy, 55, a priest in Plestin-les-Greves in Brittany, shouted out "one less" as he threw the statue to the ground last Thursday during a visit by a sacred art commission.

Church authorities said Fr Le Roy did not like the style of sculpture.

Fr Le Roy also said his act was not deliberate, but that he had pushed the statue too hard while checking if it was properly attached to a wall.

He apologised to those present, but his congregation wrote a letter to the local bishop to complain.

The priest has been summoned to explain himself to the bishop.

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The vandalism of the statue of St Junipero at Carmel Mission, where he is buried, came three days after the canonisation in Washington, DC.

Vandals damaged statues, gravesites and signs and poured green and white paint on doors, police said.

"Saint of Genocide" was written on a headstone, paint was splashed on a toppled St Junipero statue and headstones were splattered with dark red paint.

A police report noted that the paint splattered on gravesites was on graves of Europeans, not Native Americans.

The vandalism occurred the night before a Mass was celebrated at the Carmel Mission honouring the saint.

Volunteers cleaned up most of the destruction before the Mass began.

The Facebook page for the Carmel Mission put out a call for volunteers to help clean up after discovering the destruction on September 27.

A post urged prayers that "the people who did this take responsibility for their actions on this sacred property and that they seek reconciliation".

St Junipero is a controversial figure, with some Native Americans contending that he was more an oppressor than a saint.

A New York Times report stated that historians agree that he forced Native Americans to abandon their tribal culture and convert to Christianity.

The article also stated that he had them whipped and imprisoned and sometimes worked or tortured to death.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• New York Times
• Image: CNM news

Ravin Chandar installed the 30-tonne statue for him and his family to pray to, but that's irked his Catholic neighbour, Bryce Watts.

Erecting the giant statue was something Chandar "had to do".

"That was the last thing on the list. I'm done. So if I die tomorrow, I've got no issues," he said, speaking at a celebration of the large religious effigy on Sunday. Continue reading

The statue, a lifesize likeness of the Pope, had been installed for about 10 days in the gardens of the Buenos Aires cathedral where he had been archbishop.

But as soon as he heard about it, the Pope telephoned the cathedral and asked for it to be removed.

The statue was created by artist Fernando Pugliese, who had created other monuments dedicated to John Paul II and Mother Teresa.

Made of fiberglass and resin, it was in a courtyard closed to the public, but could be glimpsed from the street, where the pontiff appeared to smiling and waving.

Local people had been posing for photographs next to it ever since it was erected. But within a few hours of the Pope's phone call it had disappeared.

The artist had intended to populate Buenos Aires with variously sized sculptures of the first pope from Latin America, in public and private spaces related to his life in Argentina.

"I've known Jorge Bergoglio for 14 years. I've always admired him and his very humble personality fascinates me," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, back at the Vatican, Pope Francis gave an off-the-cuff talk to about 6000 seminarians and religious novices.

Urging them to live out their vocations with joy, he said: "True joy doesn't come from things. No, it is born of an encounter, of the relationship with the other. It's born of feeling ourselves accepted, understood, loved, and of accepting, understanding and loving."

He cautioned his listeners to avoid the temptation of thinking "the latest smartphone, the fastest moped and a car that turns heads" will make them happy.

The Pope said it pains him when he sees a nun or priest driving an expensive car. When a car is needed, he added, "get a humbler one".

Sources:

Clarin

Patheos

Catholic News Agency

Image: Patheos

The five-metre bronze monument, which rises from one of the flower beds outside Rome's main Termini train station, was unveiled on 18 May, on what would have been the late pope's 91st birthday. Its abstract rendering of John Paul, who was beatified on 1 May, features a heavy-set head on a minimalist, billowing cloak, intended to symbolise the pontiff's willingness to embrace his flock.

But the statue's tent-liked form, squashed facial features and bullet-shaped head did not go down well with church or layman

The unconventional statue shows the former pope as a giant hollowed out figure and was meant to round off celebrations marking the beatification of John Paul and mark the former pontiff's 91st birthday.

An outstretched arm and open cloak is meant to suggest "welcome", but the four metre high figure elicited a range of reactions from dismay to anger, most saying it does not represent the essence of John Paul.

"The face bears only scant resemblance to the pope. And altogether the result does not seem up to scratch," the official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said, comparing it to a tent or a military sentry box.

The L'Osservatore acknowledged that the statue is a modern work and called the city's initiative to erect it "praiseworthy," but added that "the statue's sin" is that it is "hardly able to be recognized."

Others have been less charitable, suggesting it's hideous. Some have gone as far as saying that it looks somewhat like a urinal.

"Homeless people will sleep in there in the winter - the welcoming sense is guaranteed," one protester said.

Other passersby have even compared the statue's bulbous head to Italy's former fascist leader, Mussolini.

"How could they have given such a kind pope the head of a Fascist?" said 71-year-old Antonio Lamonica.

As he pondered the statue in the bustling square, his wife muttered: "It's ugly. Really ugly. Very ugly."

Art critic Achille Bonito Oliva told La Repubblica daily that the harsh edges of the sculpture had left him perplexed and did not reflect John Paul's gentle, caring nature. But he added "we'll get used to it over time."

After the wave of criticism, Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said changes could be made.

"There's an ancient saying: 'Vox populi, vox Dei' [Latin for 'Voice of the people, voice of God']," Mr Alemanno said.

Statue designer, Italian artist Oliviero Rainaldi said he was sorry his work had been misunderstood.

Sources

• Reuters
• BBC
• ABC