The St. Michael the Archangel sculpture, being built in São Miguel Arcanjo, a rural northern region of the state of São Paulo, will stand at 187 feet high, which will make it the largest Christian statue in the world.
“It will be a great strength for the devotees of St. Michael to be able to be here in the city consecrated by him, to be able to pray at his feet and to be able to live this experience of going to Monte Gargano being in Brazil,” parish priest and rector of the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, Father Márcio Giordany Costa de Almeida, told Catholic news outlet Aleteia.
“All this is integrated into the concept of the project and will strengthen the devotion to St. Michael the Archangel in the country,” he added.
Set to be completed in 2026, the statue will be the largest Christian statue in the world. Currently, the statue of St. Rita, in Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte, is said to hold this position standing at 184 feet, including the base.
The sculpture will depict the archangel holding a sword in his right hand and a scale in his left, while standing on top of a large pedestal.
The project is part of a religious complex called “The Archangel’s Grotto.” The grotto, which will have a 12,000-seat capacity, will include confessionals, a Marian grotto, a candle room, a miracle room, a museum of sacred art, a devotional pavilion, and an auditorium. The area will also have a food court and a parking lot.
The location for the grotto was chosen based off of an Italian sanctuary in Monte Gargano, where St. Michael appeared four times.
“A partnership was established with Monte Gargano in October last year. We became sister churches. We presented the project to them, and they liked it very much! The idea is to bring Monte Gargano to Brazil,” Fr. Costa de Almeida explained.
Additionally, the people of Brazil have a special devotion to St. Michael, who guarded them during the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932.
According to local oral tradition, the archangel appeared there three times during the Revolution to keep the two armies apart and tell them when the war had ended.
St. Michael is the angel typically associated with battle, since he fought Lucifer and the other fallen angels, forcing them into hell.