Statue Provides Opportunity for Catholic-Bashing.

The headline was certainly provocative - Sculpture of Jesus the Homeless rejected by two prominent churches .

According to an article from thestar.com, Canadian sculpture Timothy Schmalz's statue entitled Homeless Jesus was "rejected" by two prominent Catholic churches, St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.

The artist claims that, while loved by the cathedral rectors, the work was rejected by "higher-ups in the New York and Toronto archdiocese".

Although the face of the figure is covered by a blanket, we're told that it's obviously Jesus because of the wounds in the feet. I suppose it could just as likely be a statue of St. Francis after he had received the stigmata....but I digress.

Naturally, anti-Catholic Progressives had a field day when news of the rejections hit the Internet; the implication being that the two cathedrals found the work too controversial, and of course, the Catholic Church doesn't really  care about the homeless.

This was the perfect opportunity for non-Christian to post "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me." in com-boxes, although one such commentor mistakenly claimed the quotation comes from Matthew 24:25 instead of Matthew 25:45. I suppose there's not always enough time to do your homework when engaged in Catholic bashing.

With a little effort, the real reason for the rejection of the statue by St.Patrick's Cathedral can be found in an article from the New York Daily News,

" Kate Monaghan, a spokesperson for St. Patrick’s told the New York Daily News that the cathedral had to refuse because the building is undergoing extensive restorations.
'But we loved the statue,' Monaghan said. 'When the time comes, we’ll certainly take another look.'"

This isn't the first time one of Schmalz's sculptures was rejected. Schmalz had planned to build a 100ft tall statue of St. Patrick atop Ireland's Croagh Patrick mountain. Plans were aborted after 70 percent of respondents to an online poll said they were not in favor of the statue being placed on the 2,510-foot-high pyramidal peak of the mountain, where the St. Patrick is said to have spent 40 days and nights fasting in 441AD.

I suppose it's because the Irish actually hate St. Patrick.