Europe’s tallest statue of the Virgin Mary was formally consecrated on Saturday in the Polish village of Konotopie, where around 2,000 worshippers gathered beneath the 55.6-metre monument for a ceremony marking the Feast of the Assumption.
Dozens of priests joined Bishop of Włocławek Krzysztof Wętkowski and senior bishops Wiesław Mering and Stanisław Gębicki for the Mass, which was preceded by the Rosary. After the service, Wętkowski blessed the statue, while the celebration ended with a performance by the Polish folk ensemble Mazowsze. Helicopters also scattered small red roses over the gathering.
The Monument of Our Lady of Mercy towers over Konotopie, a village of fewer than 150 residents in north-central Poland. The Virgin Mary figure itself measures just over 40 metres and stands on a 15-metre crown-shaped pedestal containing a viewing platform, bringing the total height to 55.6 metres. It is believed to be the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in Europe and exceeds Poland’s 52-metre Christ the King monument in Świebodzin.
The project was privately financed by businessman Roman Karkosik, one of Poland’s wealthiest investors, and his wife Grażyna. The couple commissioned it as a votive offering of gratitude following Karkosik’s recovery from illness. Polish sculptor Adam Jakub Matejkowski designed the statue. Unofficial estimates have placed its cost at around PLN 100 million.
The scale of the project has divided opinion within the Church itself. Dominican priest Paweł Gużyński described it as a religious ‘oddity’ and compared the giant statue to a ‘golden calf’, questioning whether monumental projects could reverse Poland’s crisis of faith.
Bishop Wiesław Mering, however, said the monument was a reminder that ‘Mary won’t give up on Poland’, while local priest Marek Mrówczyński dismissed criticism of its cost and described the project as ‘God’s inspiration’. Some residents have also expressed hope that the monument will strengthen Christian identity and encourage younger Poles to return to the faith.
Poland has undergone rapid secularization over the past generation, particularly among younger and urban Poles. However, recent figures indicate that the decline in regular religious practice may be levelling off. Sunday Mass attendance among eligible Catholics stood at 29.6 per cent in 2024, compared with 29 per cent in 2023 and 29.5 per cent in 2022. The Institute for Catholic Church Statistics described the figures as evidence that religious practice was ‘stabilizing’.
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