No, that’s not the most blasphemous (and awesomest!) White Castle ever, it’s the crowned noggin of the world’s tallest Jesus statue being built in Swiebodzin in western Poland!
The monumental monument is the pet project of Reverend Sylwester Zawadzki who came up with the concept of a slightly less ambitious Christ statue a few years ago, but thanks to support and donations from around the world his Ch-ch-chia Jesus will now beat out Rio de Janeiro’s famous “Christ the Redeemer” monument by almost 42 feet! Poland’s savior will measure an astonishing 167 feet (51 meters) upon completion, compared to 125 feet (38 meters) for Brazil’s “Redeemer.”
As might be expected not all of the locals in the small town of Swiebodzin support the grandois project and have even taken to calling Zawadzki a megalomaniac. Once erected, Big Jesus will face a grocery store and shopping center across the street in which 45-year-old Maciej Czerniewski runs a small store. From Google News:
“In general I don’t care about this project but I would prefer to be living in a normal country,” Czerniewski said. “We have bad roads, bad infrastructure but the most monuments in the world and now the biggest Jesus in the world.”
The mayor of Swiebodzin, Dariusz Bekisz, disagrees and takes a more pragmatic approach to the behemoth JC:
“The biggest statue of Jesus Christ in the world will be in Swiebodzin,” he said. “People will come and leave some of their money behind.”
I’m sure that’s what God had in mind when he sacrificed his only son.
In a sign that perhaps God is aware of the statue, construction teams have run into numerous obstacles in trying to assemble it. The first attempt had to be halted because the cranes weren’t strong enough to lift the weight of the massive pieces. A new, bigger, stronger crane was brought in and crews attempted to piece Jesus Dumpty back together once again on Friday, but had to halt because of high winds.
“Tomorrow we’re going to try this at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT, 2 a.m. EDT),” one of the construction workers told reporters. As he spoke, the priest — who had spent the day at the site — slipped away in a silver Mercedes.
I hope Maciej Czerniewski has Wrath of God” insurance because something tells me this statue is going to go the way of the Babel if you know what I mean.
UPDATE – Jesus is complete! Here are some pictures of the assembly process and Big Jesus after completion:
Photos: REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
