Catholic School Replaces A Saint’s Statue Following Ridicule from Community

• Following a backlash from the community, Black Friars School replaced an ‘accidentally suggestive’ statue of St Martin de Porres.
• The Catholic school issued a statement about it and took action.
• The saint’s statue was replaced by a park bench and fiberglass animals.

Black Friars School, a Catholic School located in Adelaide, Australia, has recently unveiled a replacement for its controversial statue that has since drawn ridicule from the community. People have been pointing out that it looks obscene and suggestive.

Back in 2017, the school unveiled the statue of St Martin de Porres, who is known for serving the poor and downtrodden of the 16th Century. Unfortunately, the sculpture had one detail that gained negative reactions from most of those who saw it.

St Martin de Porres is depicted holding a loaf of bread as a young boy reaches for it.

After all the feedback, the school eventually issued a statement on social media, saying:

“The two-dimensional concept plans for the statue were viewed and approved by the Executive Team… but upon arrival the three-dimensional statue was deemed by the Executive to be potentially suggestive.”

The school continued:

“As a consequence, the statue was immediately covered and a local sculptor has been commissioned to re-design it. The School apologises for any concerns and publicity generated by this matter and is taking action to substantially alter the statue.”

Eventually, the school replaced the statue with a park bench and some fiberglass animals.

The animals included a wombat, a kookaburra, a koala, and a labrador.

According to the school, the replacement still counts as a tribute to the saint since he spent his life caring for children and animals.

In an interview, Principal Simon Cobiac shared:

“I am pleased to report that the children are delighted with the bench and animal additions to this play area and we believe that out of such an unforeseen and unfortunate event that we have created a magical space for children in the living memory of St Martin de Porres.”