A breathtaking, life-size replica casting of Michelangelo’s Pietà is now on display at St. Bede the Venerable Church in Holland, offering parishioners and visitors alike the rare opportunity to experience one of the world’s most revered masterpieces up close.
The sculpture, an exact-scale, Vatican-authorized replica created by Arte Divine LLC, is the 62nd of only 100 Carrara marble castings made from molds derived directly from the original Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
The replica will remain at St. Bede for 120 days, where it has already become a place of reflection, devotion, and artistic wonder.
The original Pietà, carved by Michelangelo Buonarroti from a single block of Carrara marble between 1498 and 1499, depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the lifeless body of Jesus after His crucifixion. The name Pietà, meaning “pity” or “compassion” in Italian, captures Mary’s profound sorrow and faith in the face of her Son’s death.
It took six parish volunteers and the facilities manager to uncrate and position the nearly 6,700-pound sculpture in the church’s lower chapel, the Padre Pio Shrine, located directly beneath the main sanctuary.
“We’ve had a lot of visitors already come through,” said Msgr. John Marine, pastor of St. Bede. “For people who will never get a chance to travel to Rome and the Vatican to see it in person, this gives them an opportunity to be very close to it and even touch it.”
He noted that, unlike the original Pietà, which sits behind bulletproof glass and draws enormous crowds, “people come here and have a wonderful chance to see it up close.”
Visitors’ reactions have been deeply emotional, according to Msgr. Marine, who has witnessed tears welling in the eyes of those who approach the statue. “Some people have said to me how fortunate and blessed we are to have this right in our midst,” he said. “And it’s so accessible for people to come and pray.”
For many, the sculpture has stirred powerful feelings of compassion and healing. “I think it’s particularly inspiring for people who are concerned about their children or who have lost a child,” Msgr. Marine said. “Those mothers are looking up at this very inspirational picture of Mary with her dead son. It makes you think about what Mary went through as a mother and her faith.”
The parish hopes to make the Pietà a permanent fixture at St. Bede if sufficient funds can be raised. “We have already passed the halfway mark of what we have to raise to keep it here,” said Msgr. Marine. “Many people hope we’ll be able to keep it forever.”
At a ceremony to unveil the sculpture on Oct. 17, Bishop Christopher Cooke blessed the statue, making it the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania. It had been offered to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, but when space constraints prevented its installation, St. Bede Parish was invited to host the statue.
“There was a lot of support for us to venture into it,” Msgr. Marine said. “Everyone came together for it.”
Bishop Christopher Cooke blesses the Pietà replica during its unveiling Oct. 17. (Photo: Gary Gehringer)
He recalls seeing the original Pietà for the first time as a young teenager at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair – the only time the statue ever left Italy.
“You had to wait in line for hours,” he remembered. “You only got to see it for about a minute.”
Now, he marvels that his parishioners can stand mere inches away from an exact-scale replica.
“You can see the veins in Jesus’s arms,” he said. “Michelangelo managed to capture what that moment must have been like. You can stare at the statue for hours and see different things in it.”
Kathy Nachtman, a 25-year parishioner of St. Bede’s, shared how moved she was after seeing the statue with her husband.
“I’ve seen the original a number of times, but it’s always crowded,” she said. “When I saw this one, I just felt such peace. “I was a little skeptical at first but when I stood before it, I just felt very moved. I even noticed details I had never seen on the original, like the wound on Christ’s side. I had to go up and touch it.”
Visitors are welcome to view the Pietà in the Padre Pio Shrine Chapel at St. Bede Church located at 1071 Holland Road in Holland, Bucks County. The church is open Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays between Masses.
For more information, visit st-bede.org.
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