A team of eight is building a 14-meter monument to Pope Leo XIV in Lima, where its clay head is taking shape. The statue will be unveiled before the pontiff arrives in Peru on November 11 and installed in a park in nearby Callao.
Sculptor Rafael Gutierrez says he used AI and a 3D model to design the monument; he says its clay head weighs more than a ton. Workers will assemble the replica on a four-story structure, then coat it with polyurethane foam and fiberglass and finish it with marble dust.
Callao is backing the project as a tribute to Leo XIV’s ties to the city: he served as apostolic administrator of its diocese from 2020 to 2021. The US-born pope is a Peruvian citizen and lived in Peru for more than two decades.
