By Paulina Guzik, OSV News
OSV News – The Vatican Gardens welcomed a new Marian mosaic and a statue of St. Rose of Lima, both created by young artists from Peru – in a ceremony that clearly delighted Pope Leo XIV – an American-born Pope that holds Peru in “a special place” in his heart.
Calling the ceremony “a joyous occasion” as rain fell on the Vatican, the Pope said that the donation of the Peruvian bishops – unveiled on the occasion of their ad limina visit – “renews the deep bonds of faith and friendship that unite Peru – a country so dear to me – with the Holy See.”
Peru’s ambassador to the Holy See invited Pope Leo to come to Peru during the ceremony.
During the Jan. 31 event, Jorge Fernando Ponce San Román, shared the “infinite gratitude of all the people of Peru to our Pope Leo XIV for this new expression of affection” – by placing the mosaic and statue of Peru’s beloved saint in the Vatican Gardens.
“I also want to reiterate that this land, sanctified, as the Pope called it, awaits you, Holy Father, with hope, with faith,” he said.
Bishop Carlos Enrique García Camader of Lurín and president of the Peruvian bishops’ conference, said that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Vatican Gardens “will forever represent our people, our Peruvian people, who are deeply Marian.” She, the bishop said, “in her various advocations, will represent what Peru is: an unwavering faith, a firm hope, and a people marked by charity.”
Speaking about the sculpture of St. Rose of Lima, he described her as “a worthy daughter of St. Dominic, but also a worthy representative of Peru. We can say that Latin America is protected here in the Vatican Gardens by the luminous expression of these two images.”
“Gathered in this beautiful place, where everything speaks to us of the Creator and the beauty of creation, I wish to express my gratitude first and foremost to the artists who created these works and to all those who made it possible for us to enjoy this happy occasion today,” Pope Leo said in the Vatican Gardens, which historical walls are decorated with many mosaics.
The creation of the two works was entrusted to the Don Bosco Family of Artisans, a community of young artists from the Peruvian Andes, trained in art and religious research by Father Ugo De Censi, a Salesian priest that spent 70 years in the Andes, creating, among other Church works, artisan schools for underprivileged young people.
Young Peruvian artist, Edwin Morales, created the sculpture, from the white travertine marble of Huancayo, Peru.
Lenin Álvarez Medina, responsible for the mosaic of the Virgin Mary, spoke during the ceremony. Originally from Cajamarca, Peru, he remembered Father Ugo as one who changed his life.
He “profoundly impacted my life and the lives of thousands of young people in Italy and South America,” he said of the priest that died in 2018 after founding several seminaries and artistic schools in the region.
“These workshops … have been serving communities in Peru and other countries in the region for over 50 years,” Álvarez said before the mosaic and the sculpture were unveiled.
Turning to the Pope, he said, “Soon you will be able to admire the beautiful sculpture of our beloved St. Rose, the first saint of the Americas, who lovingly holds the Child Jesus in her arms. He offers her a ring and a bouquet of roses, representing the mystical betrothal. At her feet rests an anchor, a symbol of hope and a historical reminder of her defense against pirates,” the artist explained on behalf of Morales, the sculptor.
Explaining teamwork behind the mosaic, Álvarez recounted that Italian artists from Fabbrica di San Pietro in the Vatican – same that recently made headlines for completing the official mosaic portrait of Pope Leo XIV, installed in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls – arrived in Peru in 2009 to pass on their knowledge on the art of mosaic making.
“They taught us their ancestral techniques, thus sowing the seed from which we can see the fruits today,” Álvarez said, explaining that the mosaic “represents Peru’s devotion to our Mother, Virgin Mary.”
The rich mosaic’s central image of the Immaculate Virgin is surrounded by “seven of the most representative Marian devotions of Peru,” the artist pointed out, “intertwined with the national colors as a symbol of national unity.”
The work was crafted with Venetian enamel, stone and gold by nine Chinese artisans.
“Reaching the Vatican Gardens is, for us, the artisans of Don Bosco, an immense gift. Father Ugo had always dreamed that his children would achieve this. That the path of art could take them far, and now they have crossed the ocean. Ultimately, these works demonstrate that art is a gift from God, and as such, it comes from him and returns to him,” the artist said.
“The two figures … remind us of the theme of holiness,” the Pope said, speaking at the end of the ceremony of the two works unveiled, that he blessed and sprinkled with holy water.
“These beautiful images we contemplate today remind us of the greatness of the vocation to which God calls us, that is, the universal call to holiness. I encourage you to be, with God’s grace, witnesses and examples of that holiness in today’s world,” the Pope said.
Bishop García added that the figures – that both the Pope, clergy, pilgrims and tourists can now admire in the Holy See’s iconic gardens – remind people that “holiness flourished from the very beginning in the Americas and continues to flourish.”
Speaking of Peru’s beloved saint – the first canonized saint of the Western Hemisphere and a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic, who refused to marry and cared for homeless children, the elderly, and the sick – Bishop García said, “Rose’s witness should continue to enlighten each of us before a people wounded by violence, hunger, indifference, hired killers, and so many other things we see today.”
The power of the Gospel, he stressed, “works with particular fruitfulness through the simple and the humble.”
He said that the gifts to the Vatican Gardens are an expression of the Peruvian Church’s communion with the Pope and the universal Church.
“This communion is strengthened by the closeness of a Pope who knows how to listen, welcome, and reshape, who walks with the people of God. He demonstrated this in our land, day after day, and whose missionary heart has always understood and loved the soul of our Peruvian people.”
Peru is Pope Leo’s second homeland and a large part of the pontiff’s life. He spent over a decade working in the country as an Augustinian missionary until he was elected by his order to serve as prior provincial and then prior general in Chicago between 1999-2013. He returned to Peru when the late Pope Francis appointed him in 2014 to be apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo and named him the diocese’s bishop the following year. He moved to Rome, when he started leading the Dicastery for Bishops in 2023 and was made a cardinal, before his election to the papacy in 2025.
Paulina Guzik is international editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @Guzik_Paulina.
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