Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer Statue, and Central Minnesota

Restoration work on Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado mountain is finished. The statue is open for visitors, and was lit up with green and yellow lights for the Brazilian World Cup soccer team.

I did a little checking. The statue's 80 years old, possibly the best-known Christian statue in the world, and recently had 80 gallons of water removed from each of its arms. That was part of the restoration work. Leaks affecting the chapel in the base were fixed, too: and lightning protection installed.


(from Bruno Domingos: CNS photo, Reuters, via TheCatholicSpirit.com, used w/o permission)

Yes: the Christ the Redeemer statue is "officially" Catholic. As my source for that photo put it: "...The 125-foot-tall statue was erected in 1931 and is overseen by the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro." (TheCatholicSpirit.com)

What's Rio's Christ the Redeemer Statue Got to do With Central Minnesota?

Apart from being in the same hemisphere of Earth as Rio de Janeiro, central Minnesota doesn't seem to have much to do with that Brazilian port city. Except that Catholics live there, and Catholics live here.

That'd be enough to make me feel a neighborly interest in what's happening to a famous statue there. I'm interested in a famous landmark in Rio de Janeiro for many of the same reasons I'm interested in the raceway on the other side of the Interstate - and the statue of a pelican in Pelican Rapids.

But there's more going on. I've discussed my take on what the Catholic Church says about neighbors before. (June 18, 2010) A key question is "who is my neighbor?" When someone asked Jesus that question, my Lord replied with the story of the good Samaritan.

I don't think it's such a stretch to think that everybody is a neighbor.

Led to the Church - by Multiculturalism?!

I'm a convert to Catholicism.

Given my position on life issues, you might assume that I'm a hidebound reactionary conservative. Or a bleeding-heart liberal. I've written about this before. Basically, the Catholic Church is ancient, rooted in eternity and upheld by God. Our teachings are no more likely to fit into some transient cultural category, than my Lord is likely to be a dues-paying member of the local Kiwanis.

The millennia-spanning history of the Catholic Church appealed to me, along with its ancient traditions and rituals. (There's the 'hidebound conservative' again.) Ancient rites are nice - but that alone wouldn't have interested me all that much. There are other ancient traditions.

One of the important ideas that attracted me to the Catholic faith is, in another form, a pillar of the contemporary American liberal subculture: multiculturalism.

Still with me? I've written about this before, too:

"During my time in American academia, I learned and embraced the idea that there is no one 'right' culture, and that all other cultures were not 'wrong' - just different. The painful self-righteousness of 19th century England (and Europe in general, I gather) didn't, really, make sense then - and certainly doesn't now. This acceptance of what I think is the solid core of cultural relativism is one of the factors that led me to convert to Catholicism."
(April 3, 2010)

I've wondered if the proponents of multiculturalism realized that someone would read and hear what they had to say; embrace the idea; apply the principle of cultural relativism to their cultural preferences; and eventually convert to Catholicism.

It's getting late, and I've got some business to take care of tomorrow morning. Goodnight, and may God bless.

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Statue of Saint Rita of Cascia, Biggest Catholic Statue, Unveiled Today"
  (June 26, 2010)
• "Rules, the Catholic Church, Neighbors and Me"
  (June 18, 2010)
• "Time in a Garden"
  (May 6, 2010)

In the news:

• "Rio reveals newly restored statue"
  TheCatholicSpirit.com (July 14, 2010)
• "Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer image restored"
  Catholic News Agency (July 6, 2010)

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A tip of the hat to catholicspirit, on Twitter, for the heads-up on the Christ the Redeemer statue reopening.

Statue of Saint Rita of Cascia, Biggest Catholic Statue, Unveiled Today

Santa Cruz, Brazil, is in the international news today. If you know where to look:

"World's largest Catholic statue to be unveiled in Brazil"
EWTN News (June 25, 2010 )

"The world's largest Catholic statue will be unveiled on June 26 in the city of Santa Cruz in Brazil. The statue of St. Rita of Cascia towers 183 feet, which is 65 feet taller than the famous Christ the Redeemer statue that sits atop Rio de Janeiro...."

Like many Catholic Saints, St. Rita of Cascia has several aliases: Margarita of Cascia; Rita La Abogada de Imposibles; and Saint of the Impossible, which is sort of what La Abogada de Imposibles means, translated into English.

All those AKAs don't come from an effort to be sneaky: St. Rita of Cascia lived about five centuries back - and she's been known by people living in quite a few other places since then. As the centuries and millennia roll by, cultures, languages and customs involving people's names change. And, in the case of Saints, titles sometimes get added. (I found that list of Saing Rita of Cascia's at Saints.SQPN.com.)

'Anything You Can Build, We Can Build Bigger'

When my family learned that the Buckingham Fountain in Chicago is a copy of a French original - scaled up to twice the original's dimensions - I sang out "anything you can build, we can build bigger...," to the tune of "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better," from "Annie Get Your Gun."

Americans have been criticized for acting as if 'bigger is better:' sometimes with reason. Linking size and importance seems to be a fairly common human trait, though. Thousands of years ago, the Narmer Palette showed how important the Pharaoh was by making him really big. I'm getting off-topic.

But not by much.

I don't think that the folks in Santa Cruz, Brazil, are trying to say that Saint Rita of Cascia is 65 feet more important that Jesus - comparing the Santa Cruz and Rio de Janeiro statues. I do think that part of the message they're sending is that Saint Rita of Cascia is quite important to them.

Also a good way to attract tourists.

'They're Just in it for the Money'

I'll admit that there is no shortage of hucksters selling "Jesus junk:" cheaply-made, tacky, 'religious' pictures and doodads. There was a television commercial for a sparkly bit of jewelry with a lens you could look through - and see a Bible verse or something of the sort "miraculously" appear.

No wonder some folks assume that Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, is some kind of rip-off.

Happily, being able to distinguish between well-crafted art and tacky junk isn't vital to being a practicing Catholic. Yet another topic.

Back to Santa Cruz and Religious Tourism

I found a more detailed article covering Santa Cruz's new statue at globo.com:

"Rio Grande do Norte inaugurates 56 meter statue of Saint Rita of Cascia
G1 (June 26, 2010)

"Santa is the patroness of the city of Santa Cruz, where the image is located.
Christ Redeemer is 38 meters high."

"A 56 meter (187 feet) imagine of Santa Rita of Cascia will be inaugurated on Saturday (26), in Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte. She is the patron saint of the city. According to the Government of Rio Grande do Norte, the inauguration will include masses and public visitation throughout the weekend...."

According to the article, the Saint Rita complex will include an "auditorium for 225 people, a restaurant and chapel."

Will the food at that restaurant be particularly 'holy?' I don't know about that - and I found no hint that anyone's making a claim like that. I also have no problem with a place serving food being near a chapel, and auditorium, and a whacking great statue of St. Rita of Cascia.

Quite a few people will probably be visiting the place. Some of them will probably want to pray - hence the statue. Some of them will probably want to hear someone else talk about the statue, St. Rita, Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, or maybe butterflies, for all I know - hence the auditorium. They'll all probably want to eat while they're in the area - which explains the restaurant.

Eating probably isn't what most people think of first, when they start listing spiritual or religious things: but it's an important part of our lives. Considering things like that loaves and fish incident, I can't see excluding feeding people from what can be done near a religious site.

Besides, it's good for the local economy.

Which may sound crass, commercial, and not 'spiritual' at all.

Money, the Love of Money, and a Link

If making a fast buck is all a person has in mind when putting up a statue of a saint, that's a problem. But making money by serving people who come to see the statue? It's a little complicated: but I don't necessarily have a problem with that. Yet again another topic. (February 4, 2010)

Saint Rita of Cascia: That's a BIG Statue

The G1 article had a better photo of the new statue:


(from Demis Roussos/Rio Grande do Norte administration, via G1, used w/o permission)

I think the statue looks much better without the scaffolding. That building at the bottom gives a better idea of the size of the sculpture, too.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Alone in a Church? Yes and No"
  (May 14, 2010)
• "Saints: That's so Medieval"
  (February 14, 2010)
• "A Patron Saint of - Scientists?!"
  (October 25, 2009)
• "Today is Saint Thérèse of Lisieux's Feast Day"
  (October 1, 2009)
  • See
    "Relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux to make three-month tour of South Africa"
    (June 26, 2010)
• "Finding the Patron Saint of Just About Anything"
  (May 29, 2009)
• "Father Damien: Another Hero"
  (April 17, 2009)

More, about St. Rita of Cascia
(links found at "Saints R," Theology Library, Spring Hill College):

• "St. Rita of Cascia"
  New Advent
• "Saint Rita of Cascia"
  Saints.SQPN.com