Monument to Pope John Paul II, Beloved in Chicago, Already Draws the Awestruck

A sculpture honoring St. John Paul II — who was canonized earlier this year — will be dedicated Saturday morning on the grounds of Maryhill Cemetery in Niles.

Adorned with Venetian glass mosaics, the 4-foot-by-4-foot sculpture that stands 32 feet high will be a draw for pilgrims who revere the late pope. Already people are stopping at the cemetery to gape at the newly erected monument, visible from the road that passes the cemetery.

“People have been driving by it, stopping, getting out of their cars and walking up to it just because of its magnificence,” Roman Szabelski, Catholic Cemeteries’ executive director, told the Chicago Tribune.

The dedication takes place Saturday, Sept. 6, at 9:30 a.m., led by Bishop Andrew Wypych, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The mosaics depict the pope’s 1979 visit to Chicago, Our Lady of Częstochowa and Our Lady of Guadalupe. They were assembled by artisans at a studio in Vero Beach, Florida.

“We asked the artist to give us something different, something unique that would be depicting John Paul II. Because we’ve already seen so many statues of him and his typical upright hand with his crosier and his flowing vestments,” Szabelski told CBS Chicago. “I really wanted them to do something creative, but yet I really wanted them to remember his visits to Chicago, and to really stress both the Polish and the Hispanic dedications to Mary that he had under the titles of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Częstochowa.”

Pope John Paul II led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 until 2005. Pope Francis canonized him in April.

The 100,000-pound sculpture is one of a several newly dedicated or planned monuments.

In July, a sculpture was dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe at All Saints Cemetery in nearby Des Plaines. Across the street, at Maryville Academy in Des Plaines, the faithful for years have made pilgrimages to see the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In Justice, south of Chicago, a bronze statue of the sainted pontiff is expected at Resurrection Cemetery in 2015, Ted Ratajczyk, director of cemetery services, told Sun-Times Media earlier this year. Resurrection Cemetery already has a St. John Paul II mausoleum and bronze bust.