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Jesus the Homeless

Homeless Jesus
Statue of Christ the Homeless, Regis College, Toronto.JPG
Statue outside Regis College, Toronto
Artist Timothy Schmalz
Type Sculpture
Medium Bronze
Subject Jesus
Location

Homeless Jesus, also known as Jesus the Homeless, is a bronze sculpture by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz that depicts Jesus as a homeless person, sleeping on a park bench. The original sculpture was installed at Regis College, University of Toronto, Toronto in early 2013. Other casts have since been installed at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Davidson, North Carolina, outside the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago's headquarters in the River North neighbourhood of Chicago, at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, in front of Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Catholic Church in downtown Detroit,Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, in front of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's main services building near downtown Oklahoma City, OK, and on the corner of the grounds at St. Ann's Catholic Parish in Coppell, Texas. The first sculpture outside of North America was installed on the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. It has since been installed and blessed in many places globally with the most prominent location being in Rome outside of the Papal Office of Charities.

Homeless Jesus was designed by Timothy Schmalz, a Canadian sculptor and devout Catholic. It depicts Jesus as a homeless person, sleeping on a park bench. His face and hands are obscured, hidden under a blanket, but crucifixion wounds on his feet reveal his identity. The statue has been described as a "visual translation" of the Gospel of Matthew passage in which Jesus tells his disciples, "as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me". Schmalz intended for the bronze sculpture to be provocative, admitting, "That's essentially what the sculpture is there to do. It's meant to challenge people." He offered the first casts to St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, but both churches declined. One spokesperson for St. Michael's said the church declined because appreciation "was not unanimous" and it was undergoing restoration. The cast intended for St. Michael's was installed at Regis College, the Jesuit School of Theology at the University of Toronto. Similarly, a spokesperson for St. Patrick's complimented the work but declined purchasing the cast due to ongoing renovations.


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