By The Message Staff
Visitors to the Diocese of Evansville Catholic Center in Evansville will notice several new statues of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother and various saints on the grounds of the Catholic Center and the Sarto Retreat Center.
The marble statues, which were carved in Italy, came from the former Lourdes Franciscan Friary in Cedar Lake, Indiana. When the Friary was being sold, the Franciscans wanted the statues on their grounds to have a new home at a Catholic institution, and so several were donated to the Diocese of Evansville for the Sarto and Catholic Center grounds.
Heritage Restoration and Design in Peoria, Illinois, completed repair work on some of the statues, which was necessary due to previous vandalism at the Friary. KM Construction Services of Evansville provided the work to properly place the statues. Funding for the transport, repair and placement of the statues came from a bequest to the Diocese.
The accompanying photos are of the statues that have been restored and placed around the Catholic Center grounds.
The statues are of:
- St. Joseph, with the Child Jesus, located in the front of the Catholic Center Facility, to the left of the main entrance
- St. Kateri Tekakwitha, patron of care for creation, ecology, and indigenous people, is located near the southeast corner of the Catholic Center building outside Celebration Hall and the Guerin Conference Room
- The Risen Christ is on the north side of the Catholic Center building, near the main parking lot, outside the Mary, Mother of God Chapel
- St. Michael the Archangel is located on the southwest side of the Catholic Center building near the courtyard and rear entrance to the building
- Christ the King is located in the bell tower, which is located along the walk between the Catholic Center and Sarto Retreat Center
- Our Lady of Fatima and three child visionaries, Blessed Jacinta Marto, Blessed Francisco Marto and Lucia dos Santos, are located on the north side of the Sarto Retreat Center outside the Sarto chapel
- The Agony in the Garden is located near the southwest side of Sarto, at the beginning of the outdoor Stations of the Cross
- The Pieta is also set outside the Sarto Retreat Center near the end of the Stations of the Cross
- A crucifixion scene, which includes statues of the crucified Lord, Blessed Mother, St. John and St. Mary Magdalen, has yet to be placed but will soon find a new home on the grounds of the Catholic Center
