Renowned Catholic sculptor Timothy Schmalz turned his grief over Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination into a beautiful tribute that will be installed on the campus of Ave Maria University in Florida.
In the early hours the day after Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in September, Schmalz began working on a sculpture of Jesus Christ comforting Kirk, the Catholic News Agency reported on Friday.
Schmalz said it was “a form of prayer” as he worked, and the Agency report noted the artwork shows Jesus covering the neck wound that took Kirk’s life with his nail-pierced hand.
An image shows the sculptor working on the piece:
“This was the murder of a human being. It was also a violent attack on the premise that we can have discussions as decent human beings. When he was murdered, it was like our freedoms were murdered as well,” Schmalz stated.
The artist was horrified at the video clip of Kirk’s assassination online and told the Agency that at the time he thought, “Can you give this person some dignity? Not only are people absolutely barbarically rude when it comes to social media, but now you have this other layer of removing things that are sacred: the idea that a human life should not be murdered.”
However, Schmalz used the tragedy and violence to create something good.
“All of this really compelled me to do something positive within this horrible situation. I wondered, how would Charlie, who loved Jesus, want to be represented?” he said.
Schmalz posted an image of the sculpture on his website, writing:
The days after the murder of Charlie Kirk, Pope Leo was quoted saying he was praying for him and his family. The day after this tragedy I started this sculpture of Charlie. This is, in a sense, my visual prayer. It is now finished and ready to be cast in bronze. The first cast of the sculpture will be installed on the campus of Ave Maria University, Florida.
Schmalz, who is Canadian, said his prayer is that the world turns away from rage toward kindness and peace.
“We are in a culture of nihilism, and our secular society has to be challenged. If we are in a culture war, we have to fight it with culture,” he stated.
Schmalz recently told the National Catholic Register that he loves seeing his faith-based carvings displayed where they can promote Christianity.
“The best compliment these sculptures receive is to amaze and fascinate the most cynical youths of today,” he explained. “If they think that the art is amazing, they will have to think that the message is as well; a ‘cool’ sculpture outside a church may make them think that, likewise, something ‘cool’ is to be found inside the church,”
When Ave Maria University President Mark Middendorf saw photos of the sculpture, he and Schmalz agreed the first bronze casting would be installed at the school’s campus.
Tens of thousands of people packed State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, for Kirk’s memorial service following his tragic death, which shocked millions of people around the world, per Breitbart News.
Kirk, who was a champion for free speech, the family, and conservative values, was a Christian whose deep faith in Jesus Christ compelled him to share the gospel message with others.
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