In brief
A 55‑metre concrete Virgin Mary statue was inaugurated in Konotopie, Poland, on the Feast of the Assumption. The monument, taller than Rio’s Christ the Redeemer, sits in a remote field commissioned by a local millionaire couple. Bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski consecrated the statue, urging viewers to look upward, while former president Lech Wałęsa attended, citing his faith in Poland’s shift away from Catholic dominance. The event underscores how religious symbols can act as focal points even as church participation wanes.
A statue of the Virgin Mary believed to be Europe's tallest has been formally unveiled in a small Polish village.
The 55.6‑metre (182ft) concrete figure is roughly eighteen metres taller than Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer, though it falls short of a 98‑metre Virgin Mary in the Philippines.
Located in the rural village of Konotopie, the sculpture was consecrated by Bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski on Saturday, chosen to coincide with the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The remote site was chosen because the statue was commissioned by a millionaire couple who live locally.
During the ceremony two helicopters hovered above the monument, dropping rose petals as the figure, crowned and with open arms, was unveiled.
Wętkowski told those gathered that “many contemporary people look only to the earth, focused on themselves”, urging the community to “raise our gaze upwards to God and heaven.”
Poland remains an overwhelmingly Catholic country, but younger generations in urban areas have increasingly turned away from the church and its traditions.
Among the attendees was Lech Wałęsa, who led the movement to end communism in Poland and later served as the country’s first democratically elected president. Wałęsa, who famously wore a Virgin Mary pin on his campaign, said: “I started with the Virgin Mary and I end with the Virgin Mary.”
