St. Sabina unveils sculpture of Jesus weeping over gun violence victim: 'I hope this wakes people up'

Gun violence is deeply personal to the mothers of Purpose Over Pain, each of whom has lost a child to the scourge.

The mothers hope others will empathize with their pain when they see a new statue depicting Jesus weeping over a modern-day victim killed by gunfire.

“I know this is hard for all of us to see,” the Rev. Michael Pfleger said Monday as he unveiled the statue outside St. Sabina Church.

Some of the mothers wept. One of them wailed.

“When we see that child on the ground, we see our child,” Pfleger said.

The life-size sculpture by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, titled “Thou shalt not kill,” shows a hooded victim facedown on the ground, bullet holes etched into his back. Jesus kneels over him, holding to his face his hands, each bearing crucifixion wounds.

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The statue was placed in front of a prayer wall for gun violence victims in the church’s school playground on Racine and 78th Place.

Beyond the sculpure being a solemn memorial for those killed, the mothers hope it convinces others to put their guns down.

“I hope this wakes people up,” said Pam Bosley, cofounder of Purpose Over Pain who lost her son to gun violence in 2006.

“It’s heartbreaking because it’s real,” she said of the sculpture.

The artist donated the statue to St. Sabina because of its violence prevention work, Pfleger said.

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Pfleger did not speak with the artist, but said his people approached him while they cleared out a warehouse in Michigan, he said. “Timothy wanted to give it to us,” Pfleger said of the artist.

Pfleger leads anti-violence marches through the church’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood during the violent summer months. The church’s activism sometimes garners widespread attention, such as in 2018 when Pfleger led protesters onto the Dan Ryan Expressway.

A version of the same statue was dedicated in 2018 at the opening of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago peace center in Austin.

Schmalz describes his sculptures as “visual prayers.” The prolific artist is perhaps best known for his work depicting a homeless Jesus sleeping on a bench. He’s sold dozens of copies of that work in cities across the world. One of them is placed at the Catholic Charities building in River North.

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Another statue by the artist already graces St. Sabina. A sculpture of a begging Jesus was dedicated along 78th Place, adjacent to the church, in 2016.

“Sculptures are powerful,” Pfleger said.

He hopes the new statue impacts gun violence in Chicago, which logged 574 firearm-related homicides last year, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

“If it does something to somebody’s heart — if one person says, ‘I can’t do this’ — it’s worth it all,” he said.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times