CHICAGO — Catholic Cemeteries has dedicated a new 32-foot sculpture at Maryhill Cemetery in the western suburbs honoring Pope John Paul II, in light of his 2014 declaration as a saint.
“People have been driving by it, stopping, getting out of their cars and walking up to it just because of its magnificence,” said Roban Szabelski, Catholic Cemeteries’ executive director, of the site in Niles.
The sculpture was to be dedicated by Andrew Wypych, auxiliary bishop at the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The sculpture is Barre Gray granite from the Rock of Ages granite quarry in Vermont, according to an Archdiocese of Chicago press release. Its four sides feature detailed Venetian glass mosaics known as smalti, which were hand-crafted in Venice. The mosaics were designed and installed by an artist in Florida.