{"id":367905,"date":"2026-03-31T17:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/367905\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T17:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:30:13","slug":"st-philip-franklin-tn-pieta-replica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/367905\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Philip Franklin TN Pieta Replica"},"content":{"rendered":"

The life-size cast replica of Michelangelo\u2019s Pieta in the narthex of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Franklin. Photo by Katie Peterson.<\/p>\n

Since the beginning of the year, parishioners of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Franklin have been greeted with a new view as they enter the narthex: a life-size cast replica of Michelangelo\u2019s Pieta.<\/p>\n

The statue is one of only 100 replicas the Vatican has sanctioned to be produced.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pieta \u2013 sculpted by Italian artist Michelangelo in 1499 and displayed in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in Vatican City \u2013 is one of the most recognizable pieces of Catholic art. The marble sculpture depicts the sixth sorrow of the Virgin Mary, who holds the body of Jesus, her son, after being taken down from the cross.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, for us and for anyone, when you go to the Vatican to see the Pieta, it\u2019s incredible,\u201d said Father Gervan Menezes, pastor of St. Philip. \u201cBut it\u2019s behind a bulletproof glass at least some yards away. People are there taking pictures, so you really don\u2019t have the opportunity to get close. Having this replica at our parish gives people the opportunity to get close to the statue and see all the details.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since his appointment as pastor of St. Philip by Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville in summer 2025<\/a>, Father Menezes has led multiple improvement projects at the parish, including renovating the sanctuary and installing a new altar<\/a>, the construction of a new baptismal font, and relocating the parish bookstore to the front of the church. The addition of the Pieta is the latest to be completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incredible thing about this statue is that it is an exact cast of the original one in Rome,\u201d said Father Menezes. \u201cIt is exactly like the original one. The same details, size, and everything else. The only difference is this one is made of grounded marble with resin, so it makes it stronger than the original one, and you can touch it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t A dream come true<\/p>\n

The Pieta replicas are made by Arte Divine<\/a>, a company in California that has produced original versions of Michelangelo\u2019s sculptures since 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having a Pieta statue at St. Philip may be new to the parish community, but it has been a dream for more than a decade for Jeff Carroll, a lifelong parishioner at St. Philip.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a parishioner at St. Philip since 1970,\u201d said Carroll. \u201cWhen my family arrived, the only thing on the property was the original 1871 chapel. I\u2019ve seen all four of the subsequent sanctuaries built. This has been my home for decades, and I love it dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carroll first met Father Menezes when the latter was associate pastor of St. Philip from 2018 to 2019. Over the years, Carroll, who is a graphic designer, has supported Father Menezes in various projects, including designing graphics and logos for University Catholic<\/a>. Father Menezes asked for Carroll\u2019s expertise again when designing the renovations in and around the sanctuary at St. Philip.<\/p>\n

\"The
The life-size cast replica of Michelangelo\u2019s Pieta in the narthex of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Franklin. Photo by Katie Peterson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had this dream of having a life-size rendition of the Pieta in our parish,\u201d said Carroll. \u201cAround 10 years ago, I was asked to be part of the building committee when we were contemplating a renovation to our whole campus. It all started there. I envisioned having the Pieta somewhere in our space that would be an inspiration to everybody that walked through the door. When Father Menezes came back to St. Philip in 2025 and began our current renovations, I brought this idea back up. He wasn\u2019t aware of it, but it\u2019s been simmering in my mind for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Father Menezes\u2019 blessing, Carroll began searching for a Pieta statue. Many of the replicas he reviewed were not up to his standards of beauty, Carroll said. Carroll discovered Arte Divine\u2019s replica after he remembered the company created a bust of Our Lady\u2019s face, cast from the Pieta, which his mother had gifted him.<\/p>\n

Arte Divine made 100 original castings of the Pieta, showcasing all the intricate details of the original statue in Rome. It even shows Michelangelo\u2019s signature on the torso of Mary. The Pieta is the only piece that he signed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the statue is made from a mold, derived from the original Pieta, it conveys the same presence as the original, and it\u2019s extremely meaningful and impactful to faithful Christians,\u201d said David Newren, founder and president of Arte Divine. \u201cIt is probably the best and most effective symbol of our faith, so wherever they go, they tend to help increase Mass attendance as well as an increase in donations and activity. It\u2019s an invitation for the viewer to contemplate their own relationship with the divine, with Jesus and Mary. It\u2019s a profound experience and is something that is inspirational to non-Catholics as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t The beauty of the Pieta<\/p>\n

When the Pieta was installed shortly after Christmas, both Father Menezes and Carroll said they were taken aback by the beauty of the sculpture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you walk up to it, you see Our Lady with one hand on her son, but not touching Him directly, she holds Him with a cloth, and the other out inviting people into her suffering and to embrace her son,\u201d said Father Menezes. \u201cThere is just so much symbolism. I think the Pieta is the most beautiful piece of Catholic art ever made.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see the Blessed Mother holding her son and her hand outstretched as if to say, look what He did for you, it sends chills down my spine,\u201d added Carroll. \u201cSo every time I go to Mass, now I have to touch His feet. I have to put my hand in hers and say, \u2018Please, prepare me for Mass.\u2019 I can\u2019t be more happy about having this masterpiece in our parish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The life-size cast replica of Michelangelo\u2019s Pieta in the narthex of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Franklin. Photo by Katie Peterson.<\/p>\n

Newren said that the work he does through Arte Divine is not just a job but truly a labor of love and gives him something to leave behind for people to see for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world of advertising, commerce, and entertainment is clamoring constantly for your attention, your money as well as for your heart and mind, telling you what is important for your life or what should be,\u201d said Newren. \u201cIn sacred art, especially when it\u2019s inspirational \u2013 not just in the perfection of the form but in the beauty of the execution \u2013 it communicates somehow directly to your soul and it bypasses the mind and the reasoning and connects you directly with the states of awe, of wonder, and of a sublime inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hope is that when people walk through the door at St. Philip, the Pieta brings them closer to Our Lady and Our Lord, helping prepare them for the sacrifice, re-presented on the altar, said Father Menezes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you first walk into the church, you see the image of Jesus dead, but if you keep going a little bit further, He\u2019s right there in the tabernacle, and that\u2019s the whole path,\u201d said Father Menezes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I think Our Lady is saying is, \u2018He is my son, but this is not the end,\u2019\u201d he added. \u201cShe is the Immaculate Conception, so she knew everything that was going to happen. As Jesus\u2019 mother, she suffers, but that suffering leads us to hope. Jesus is dead, but that\u2019s not the end. So the cross is not the finale, the resurrection is our end \u2013 that is our hope.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The life-size cast replica of Michelangelo\u2019s Pieta in the narthex of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Franklin.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-367905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}