Pope blesses statue by local sculptor

At the conclusion of the pope’s public Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said that these days would be something no one in the city would ever forget.

For one South Jersey artist, that observation is particularly true.

Steven Kilpatrick, 57, a parishioner at Holy Angels Parish in Woodbury, is a professional sculptor of primarily sacred art. His work appears in churches and public spaces throughout the country and abroad.

For the past several years, his passion has been a project commissioned to him by his mentor and friend Sister Paula Beierschmitt, I.H.M.: a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, sculpted in exacting detail to the miraculous image that appeared on the tilma of St. Juan Diego.

Sister Paula died in 2013, and after her death, Kilpatrick made it his mission to carry out her wishes not only that the statue be created according to her minute instructions, but that it also be replicated as many times as possible to be placed in public spaces around the country as prayer sites to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Several months ago, the finished statue was installed in the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul to be on display for the papal Mass. Kilpatrick hoped for a papal blessing, although he knew it wasn’t part of the official schedule.

But as Pope Francis entered the Cathedral on Saturday morning to celebrate Mass for bishops, clergy, and men and women religious, he made a surprise stop. Before entering the sanctuary, he went to where the statue stood and placed a bouquet of roses before it, pausing to pray and bless the statue before continuing with Mass.

“It was overwhelming,” Kilpatrick said. “I was greatly pleased and deeply humbled and grateful to Pope Francis for that gesture. Very few works of art get a blessing form the pope. … Something called him over to that statue.”

In accordance with Sister Paula’s wishes, the statue will be installed in a public location on South Broad Street in Philadelphia in November.

“Her face looks serious but joyful; it looks loving,” Kilpatrick said of his rendition. “Her gesture is reflective of what you see in the tilma but seeing it in the three-dimensional sculpture, people feel as if the Blessed Mother is reaching out toward them and inviting them to join her in prayer. That’s what people tell me.”

Kilpatrick carved the statue in clay and then it was cast in bronze at a foundry in Pennsylvania called Laran Bronze. The “patinas,” or coloring of the statue, were a particular accomplishment, Kilpatrick said.

“To obtain those colors is very difficult. To do all the different colors you see in the statue took about three weeks, especially the rose color. Laran has never been able to achieve that before. This is quite an extraordinary accomplishment for them,” Kilpatrick said.

Kilpatrick spent 14 years working in hospital human resources before deciding to take an art class on a whim. He happened to enroll in a sculpting class, taught by master sculptor Frank Gasparro of Philadelphia. He studied under Gasparro for five years.

For the past 17 years he has supported himself, wife and four children solely through his sculpting and artistic consulting business.

“I never in my life thought I’d be doing what I’m doing right now,” Kilpatrick said. “If it’s done correctly, sacred art should bring us closer to our faith, it should allow us to reach a deeper sense of prayer and meditation.”

“[When people look at the statue] I hope very simply that they grow stronger in their faith and grow closer to Jesus, because the Blessed Mother is one of the most direct ways to Jesus Christ, her son.”

More information about the artist is available at www.kilpatrickstudio.com