New statue of Virgin Mary inaugurated in Poland
An enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be Europe’s tallest was inaugurated on Saturday in a small Polish village, financed by one of Poland’s richest businesspeople, reports BritPanorama.
The monument towers 55.6 meters (182 feet) over Konotopie in central Poland, home to fewer than 150 people. Its height includes a crown-shaped 15-meter (49-foot) pedestal.
It’s taller — if less dramatically located — than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which measures some 38 meters (125 feet) including its pedestal.
The statue also surpasses another recent large-scale religious monument in Poland, the Christ the King statue in the western town of Swiebodzin, which was unveiled in 2010 and rises some 52 meters (170 feet) above the ground, including the mound it stands on.
There is a taller statue of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines, which measures some 98 meters (322 feet), but the new one in Poland is believed to be the largest of its kind in Europe.
The vast majority of Poles identify as Catholic, and the Catholic church played a powerful role in public life after the fall of communism in 1989, benefiting from the prestige it earned through its support for the anti-communist opposition. Poland is the homeland of St. John Paul II, who reigned as pope from 1978 until his death in 2005. A huge statue of him — though much smaller than the one of Mary — was unveiled over a decade ago in the city of Czestochowa.
Influence of religion in public life has gradually declined in recent years, particularly among younger people and in urban areas. However, the Catholic church remains influential, especially in rural communities and among older generations.
The statue was commissioned by local millionaires Roman and Grażyna Karkosik, who live in a small palace a few miles from Konotopie.
Roman Karkosik, an entrepreneur whose ventures included plastic-bottle manufacturing in the 1990s, amassed a fortune through investments on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, becoming one of Poland’s wealthiest individuals.
The couple have stated that the monument is an expression of their gratitude to God, following an illness that Roman Karkosik suffered.
Local authorities hope the statue will become both a major pilgrimage site and a tourist destination, featuring a viewing platform built inside its pedestal.
