National News

Pope to See ‘Homeless Jesus’ in D.C.

August 26, 2015

By Chaz Muth

"Homeless Jesus" is pictured in this July 29 photo of the seven-foot-long bronze sculpture that sits in front of a downtown Washington building occupied by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. Pope Francis is expected to pass by the statue Sept. 24 during the Washington-leg of his U.S. visit. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)
“Homeless Jesus” is pictured in this July 29 photo of the seven-foot-long bronze sculpture that sits in front of a downtown Washington building. Pope Francis is expected to pass by the statue Sept. 24. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)

WASHINGTON – When Pope Francis approaches the Catholic Charities building in downtown Washington during his U.S. visit in September, he will encounter a “homeless person” covered in a blanket laying on a park bench.

The scene actually is a sculpture. And it’s not a work of art depicting any homeless person; it’s the bronze image of “Homeless Jesus.”

“I hope Pope Francis blesses our ‘Homeless Jesus’ when he’s here,” said Roland Woody, a Washington resident who was homeless until earlier this year. “It’s kind of a symbol of hope for the homeless in D.C. If the pope blesses it, it will be even more special.”

If the pope does bless the seven-foot-long statue, it will be the second one of its kind that he’ll have done that for.

Pope Francis blessed a smaller version of the “Homeless Jesus” sculpture during a late November, 2013, general audience at the Vatican in front of thousands of pilgrims.

Afterward, the pope told the sculptor, Timothy Schmaltz of Toronto, that he thought it was a “beautiful piece of art” and a wonderful representation of Jesus.

Schmaltz also created the “Homeless Jesus” statue in Washington, as well as similar sculptures in place in Toronto and several U.S. cities that include Denver, Phoenix and Chicago.

The arrival of “Homeless Jesus” in Washington came last winter after Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl witnessed the pope’s 2013 blessing of the smaller such statue, said Msgr. John Enzler, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Washington Archdiocese.

“It’s deceiving when you first look at it, because it looks like a homeless person wrapped in a blanket laying on a park bench,” Msgr. Enzler said following dinner for the homeless, held just steps from the statue.