By Deborah Castellano Lubov
‘I found purpose in giving forms to the Holy Father’s deep concerns…’ says Timothy Schmalz, a Canadian sculptor, as he remembered the late Pope Francis who returned to the Lord on Easter Monday and whose funeral took place on Saturday.
The artist, who has been working for about three decades and has been described at times as ‘the Pope’s sculptor,’ has produced various bronze sculptures depicting social issues, turning Scripture and the Holy Father’s words into works of visual art. Notably, he was the artist who created ‘Angels Unawares,’ the bronze life-size sculpture that depicts a group of migrants and refugees from different cultural and racial backgrounds inside the left arm of St Peter’s Square.
Inspired by Pope’s attention for remembering the discarded
In addition, the week before Easter, Mr Schmalz created ‘Be Welcoming’ which is on the opposite side of the Square, which shows a figure on a bench, which from one side is a homeless person, but, from the other, appears to be an angel.
He also brought to life another work which drew attention to the plight of human trafficking, which Pope Francis, thoughout his pontificate, described as a “scourge” that must be eradicated. Schmalz’ work, “Let the Oppressed Go Free,” weighs over three tons and includes the figure of trafficking victim, St Josephine Bakhita.
In his interview with Vatican News, Mr Schmalz recalled that his relationship with the Holy Father first started out with his ‘Homeless Jesus’ sculpture that he created more than ten years ago – a piece that he described as being “quite radical” at that time, “representing Christ as a homeless person.”
“It very much conforms with Matthew 25, that when we see the least of our brothers and sisters, we should see Christ,” he said. The sculpture, the sculptor recalled, was brought over to Saint Peter’s Square, where Pope Francis reached out, touched the knee of the sculpture, and blessed it. “It was such an amazing time and so very symbolic because I felt that this is what Pope Francis is doing around the world: He’s touching people that are oftentimes invisible.”
From that, Mr Schmalz explained, he began to bring to life more masterpieces that reflect “that charity and that spirit of the Holy Father.”
Amazing encounter
“I spontaneously created that sculpture after seeing a homeless person in downtown Toronto. I thought, ‘This is Christ.’ So, I created it, and wanted other people to see Jesus within the marginalized.”
The timing, he highlighted, was significant because, “It was right at the time where we have this new pope who is so much focused on the marginalized, on the invisible, and making them visible.”
In fact, during one of the sessions of the Synod on Synodality, the Holy Father organized an intimate prayer moment with Synod participants for migrants, refugees, and trafficked persons, right before the “Angels Unawares,” statue.
Holy Father’s care for the most vulnerable
“When I when I was requested to create this huge sculpture of migrants – 20 feet long – to be placed in Saint Peter’s Square, it became, how can I put it, an artistic representation of everything that I think the Holy Father cared about, bringing into vision and into focus through a tangible thing.”
He expressed his emotion when just the night earlier, he was in Saint Peter’s Square, and saw people looking at, “and actually touching the hands of the sculpture.”
“I think one of the great things about some of these pieces that I’ve created,” he said, “is they are going to continue to promote the work and the care of the Holy Father, and I think that as long as they’re existing, as long as they’re out there, and as long as people have eyes, and as long as people can reach out and touch, they’re doing their job.”
Inspired by the Gospels
During the conversation, Mr Schmalz expressed his conviction that artwork has a function, and should always serve a purpose, and that, for that very reason, “The better the art piece is, really depends on what is being represented.”
“In order to have an epic art piece, you need an epic subject matter,” he underscored, adding that therefore, “combing through the ideas of Gospels and celebrating the ideas that Pope Francis has wanted to focus on, is the perfect fit for art.”
After the “Angels Unawares” sculpture on migrants and refugees was completed, Mr Schmalz noted he was requested by Cardinal Michael Czerny to start focusing and studying on and creating ideas on human trafficking “because it was so close to the Holy Father’s heart. ”
Giving faces to the invisible people
“I spent the next year working totally involved in trying to give faces to these invisible people, these forgotten people within our culture today, the modern day slaves.”
Having been immersed in these epic projects, he said, made him all the more aware that there’s a huge responsibility of art to actually do good in the world.
Finally, with this in mind, the sculptor concludes, “I found purpose giving form to the Holy Father’s deep, deep concerns.” – Vatican News
