Statue Update! Big Jesus—Polish-style

Posted byChaplainmikePosted inNoted

By Chaplain Mike

“This is the culmination of my life’s work as a priest. I felt inspired to fulfill Jesus’ will, and today I give thanks to him for allowing me to fulfill his will,” said Father Sylvester Zawadzki, known as the “builder priest” by the people of Swiebodzin in western Poland. He was speaking of the new statue of Jesus that is one of the tallest monuments to the Savior in the world. The priest commented that his first vocation was to be a priest, his second to build a statue of Jesus.

The statue itself stands 33 meters high (one for each year of Jesus’ life according to Father Zawadski). That’s 108 feet. When you add the gold crown that sits atop Jesus’ head, it brings the height to 118 feet. If the mound on which it stands is taken into account, this giant statue is measured at 167 feet, which makes it the world’s tallest Jesus statue.

Other tall depictions of the Savior include the 133-foot Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and the 130-foot Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The figure of Jesus in both of these monuments is likewise 33 meters to symbolize his years on earth. The Brazilian statue, which has become an icon for Rio and Brazil, is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931, though it was first suggested in the mid-1850’s. The designers of Bolivia’s landmark modeled their work after Christ the Redeemer. It is made of steel and concrete, and its construction was completed in 1994.

These statues dwarf the former 62-foot King of Kings statue (aka “Big Butter Jesus”) in Monroe, Ohio that was destroyed in a lightning strike earlier this year. The church plans to build a new statue to take its place which will be about the same height. When asked about rebuilding, the church’s pastor said, “The first Jesus was resurrected in three days. It’s going to take us a little longer than three days but he will be back. He’s like the Terminator. He’s coming back.”

The new statue in Poland has divided public opinion among Poles, with detractors calling it tacky. But many residents in Swiebodzin believe it will put their town of 22,000 on the map for tourists and that it will transform their community into a popular site for religious pilgrims. The statue will be dedicated on November 21.

Here’s a video showing the completion of the statue. Heywood Banks has not yet been heard from.

23 thoughts on “Statue Update! Big Jesus—Polish-style”

  1. Is it just me, or does this statue have an expression more fitting to Vlad the Impaler than to the Prince of Peace? This Jesus just looks plain mad.

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  2. ‘When asked about rebuilding, the church’s pastor said, “The first Jesus was resurrected in three days. It’s going to take us a little longer than three days but he will be back. He’s like the Terminator. He’s coming back.”’

    Does this guy actually listen to what is falling out of his mouth?

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  3. “The statue will be dedicated on November 21.”

    Ah, feast of Christ the King. Makes sense.

    As to the statue itself, well, it’s not the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen (and at least it’s not made out of flammable materials).

    Whether it’s worthwhile or not, I’d prefer to leave that up to the locals.

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  4. Oh and I’m pretty sure we have liberty and rest because WE human beings fought and struggled for it. I’ve never seen mention of any flights of angels coming to rescue people in concentration camps–just columns of dirty, tired human soldiers. God has yet to put in an appearance to cure anyone in Haiti or Pakistan of disease: But a bunch of dirty, no-good Frenchmen from Medicins Sans Fronteres have.

    So yeah, I’ll take Marianne over Mary. What we have, WE the people–not any gods–have crafted and won.

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  7. Jesus admonished people as being unbelieving for wanting to see more miracles. He can/could do anything but was the problem that the people only wanted the miracle and not the Lord? I’m not a theologian, but I keep reading red-letter words of Jesus and it doesn’t make sense to me to honor Christ with statues and gold crowns. He laid down his will and his life. He was a slave to all (Mark 11). But do we really want Jesus as Lord? This is a deeper question than I have eloquence to express, and I know this is really a silly post pointing at absurdity. Just thoughts.

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  8. What are Americans proposing to do about the Jesus Gap? (Theirs is bigger than ours.) On the other hand, we wouldn’t want to start a Jesus Race.

    Wanna hear even worse news? We’ve also got a Buddha Gap to contend with. Eight of the ten tallest statues in the world–including all of the top four–are Buddhas of some kind:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statues_by_height

    Is there hope for Christianity? Will our children be able to hold their head high? Sure they will:

    http://www.objectiveministries.org/gametheory/orbitalcrossalpha.html

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  14. Hey–we have the tallest free-standing bronze statue here in Tulsa, Oklahoma: The praying hands in front of Oral Roberts University. Sign up now for the guided tour…

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  17. I was able to sit in Cristo Jesus’ hand before he was fully assembled 🙂 The point he is on overlooks the Pacific on three sides. It is quite an awe inspiring place to contemplate our Lord, Savior and His creation.

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  18. The South Americans are way ahead in the Jesus statue race! They have three of the tallest, and we have none! This calls for a national initiative on the scale of the “race to the moon.” Since Jeff Dunn is an expert in all things astronautical and understands how we came to produce that great achievement of the 60’s, I suggest we appoint him head of the U.S. commission to lead a similar effort on Jesus statue building. Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!

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  20. I our pluralistic society, such a national effort would be impossible.

    But we have a giant statue inspired by Marianne, the goddess of liberty, in the New York harbor. During the French Revolution, Notre Dame was converted into a temple to the cult of reason, and its statue of the Blessed Virgin was renamed “Lady Liberty”. It is no wonder that the goddess of liberty fills us with such patriotism; it’s an emblem of how non-Christian the United States truly is. The Blessed Virgin, as the Theotokos, truly brought us liberty and rest through Fruit of her womb. Very ironic.

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