Drew Tetangco
- A Catholic school in Australia unveiled a statue of St. Martin de Porres for their school back in 2017
- The statue became viral because of an unintended pose that the saint has in it
- The statue finally has been replaced with a “Buddy Bench”
Adelaide, South Australia – Back in 2017, news became viral because of an unveiling of a statue at the Blackfriars Priory School, which is supposed to depict St. Martin de Porres. St. Martin is the patron saint of mixed-race people but was also known to take care of children. One of the known miracles that is connected to him is being able to talk to animals.
The statue was supposed to show how St. Martin de Porres would take care of children but once the statue was revealed, it was interpreted very differently.
The controversial statue shows St. Martin holding a piece of bread and that a child was reaching out for it, but with the way the bread was held and how the child was going to get it, the image became viral.
The school had since made a statement that the concept of the statue was good on paper but when it was finished it wasn’t what they were expecting. The statue was covered up with black cloth and was soon removed from the school, and another sculpture was commissioned to change its design.
A new update from the Daily Mail Australia shows that the controversial statue was not put back but instead it was replaced by a park bench, along with several animal statues made from fiberglass.
The “Buddy Bench” was donated by the Prospect Lion’s Club and the fiberglass animals were from the company Uracast. Some of the animals that would be seen were a labrador, a wombat, a koala, and a kookaburra. Both the koala and the kookaburra were perched on the nearby trees.
The animals were supposed to represent the fact that St. Martin de Porres dedicated his life for not just the poor, but for also taking care of animals. The children that attended the school were actually delighted with the bench and animal statues. Principal Simon Cobiac has been taking the whole situation lightly and was glad that the viral news from before changed to something more positive that helped the school further.
Also read: Cheating Girlfriend Was Caught By Boyfriend Who Was Planning to Surprise Her
Want more stories like this? Follow us on Facebook, and Twitter.
