Another sculpture by artist Timothy Schmalz in San Pedro Square

The sculpture Be Welcoming (Be cozy), the work of the Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, was installed on Tuesday in the colonnade of the Plaza de San Pedro, the open space designed as a big hug of faith by Baroque architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

As reported by the Dicastery for the service of charity directed by the Polish cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the bronze statue “gives life to the sacred writing through art, allowing people to have a physical experience with the scriptures.”

The place where it has been placed is not causal. It is very close to the showers that in 2019 Pope Francis asked to install so that the homeless people who live in the surroundings of the Plaza de San Pedro could be credited.

A little meters there is the ambulatory mother of mercy, which is equipped with three consultation rooms, as well as first diagnosis teams that work to offer a medical service to the poor.

Both projects were promoted by Apostolic Alms, the department in charge of charity works of the Pontiff.

As explained by the Dicasterio for the service of charity, the foreigner represented in the sculpture “that seems to live as a vagabond, with its belongings stored in a bag and a cane that suggests a long journey, invites, however, to sit next to him.”

“This foreigner becomes an angel when he looks at the other side of the sculpture: the roughness of his clothes becomes soft, the bag that he becomes wings and the hood is transformed into hair,” said the press release.

The Vatican also explained that the purpose of the sculpture “recalls the message contained in the Scriptures” that says that “we are all invited to open our hearts because only then can we see others as they really are.”

In fact, the sculptural work is inspired by verse 2 of Chapter 13 of the Letter to the Hebrews, in which it reads: “Do not forget to practice hospitality, since thanks to her, some, without knowing it, hosted Los Angeles.”

This shows the words of Pope Francis during an audience held on November 13, 2024, when he recalled that “touching a poor man, attending a poor man, is a sacrament in the church” and that, therefore, accompanying the homeless people there is “a concrete face to the Gospel.”

“By offering them shelter, a meal, a smile, holding out their hand without fear of getting dirty back their dignity and this touches the heart of our world, often indifferent,” said the dicas supplies of the Vatican.

This is not Timothy Paul Schmalz’s first work in the Plaza de San Pedro. He is also the author of Bronze sculpture Angels Unaware (Unconscious angels), which represents a group of 140 migrants and was inaugurated by Pope Francis on September 29, 2019, on the occasion of the 105th World Day World Migrant and Refugee Day.

Schmalz is also the author of Homeless Jesus (Jesus without a roof), which was placed at the entrance of the apostolic alms of the Vatican in March 2016, during the extraordinary jubilee of mercy.

The Canadian artist is also the creator of sculptures as Let The Oppressed Go Free (Leave the oppressed), which shows Santa Josefina Bakhita releasing 100 victims of human trafficking.