It was sculpted in barely two months by local sculptor Hector Carrillo, and was the first monument built in Cuba and one of the few in the world, unveiled after the death of the Polish pontiff Karol Wojtyla, in April 2005.
The statue that was made using the technique of direct cement, weighs about three tons, and depicts John Paul II standing, wearing his miter, the alb and chasuble, while holding the crosier against his chest and raising his right arm in blessing gesture, as many Cubans still keep in their minds.
Carrillo told the Holguin branch of the ACN that he first cast it in clay, then in gypsum, to later put the two meter and 30 CM tall sculpture in the shape it looks today at the Cathedral.
As usual, said artist, hands and head were moulded separately, for being the most complicated sections, and later we incorporated them to the work, in which sculptor , and later we incorporated them to the work, in which sculptor Henry Wilson also participated in its elaboration.
In June 26, 2005 the piece was brought from the vicinity of Pedernales to the Cathedral, located in thedowntown of Holguin city.
Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, unveiled the statue on the presence of Cuban bishops, attending the closing of the First Eucharistic Diocesan Congress.
A monument similar to this one was unveiled in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara, by then Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in February 2008, ten years later the visit of John Paul II to Cuba. / By Juan Pablo Carreras – ACN / Translated by Radio Angulo.