NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — We know the Vatican is full of beautiful historic pieces of art, but did you know, you can connect with a piece of the Vatican without leaving Southern California? It’s at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood, where a replica sculpture is reinforcing the faith of many Catholics.
“It’s amazing. This was just put here in 2014,” said retired LA Archbishop, Cardinal Roger Mahony. “It just has power, and you look at it, your soul just soars. Wow. And then you really feel God’s goodness, forgiveness, and love for us.”
Mahony showed us the Pieta at St. Charles Borromeo. It’s an exact full-scale replica of Michelangelo’s original from the 1400’s, housed at the Vatican.
“As you walk in the main doors of St. Peter’s Basilica, it is immediately to the right,” he said. “Everything about it, the flow of her cloak, the toes and the foot, I mean everything about is extraordinary.”
The sculpture captures an important moment for Catholics, frozen in time.
“It’s a very deep spiritual moment for us to realize what it took to save and redeem us, restore what was lost with Adam and Eve,” Mahony said.
While art is an important pillar in Catholic churches, replicas of this kind are rare. This piece was donated by a parishioner in honor of his wife when she died.
“And so during the renovation in 2014, he had it done. We don’t know where, there’s no record of that,” he said.
Now, the pieta has become a key place to kneel, pray and reflect on their faith.
“A lot of our parishioners, I don’t think, realize what it is and its significance. I don’t think they really, they think this thing is a beautiful statue. A lot of them, I don’t think, really understand that this is a replica of the one in Rome,” said Mahony.
There are other replicas out there. One is at the San Fernando Mission, but they are definitely rare and very special.