As a man of deep faith, Father Tom Elewaut felt incredibly moved when he saw the sculpture depicting Mary holding the lifeless body of her crucified son, Jesus. “It’s really emotional when you think someone died for us,” said Elewaut, pastor of San Buenaventura Mission. “Even if you’re not a person of faith, the artwork is incredible." 

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He spoke just steps from the newest addition to the mission, a full-size casting from Michelangelo’s original Pietà. One of just 112 Vatican-authorized copies that have come to be housed in locations around the world. It is composed into an equilateral triangle of about 6 feet, with Mary’s head at the apex.