Walk into the side wing of St. Joseph’s Church in Victoria Street, one of Singapore’s oldest churches, and you will be greeted by a beautiful, life-sized statue of St. Josemaría. Standing at 180 cm tall, this breathtaking replica of the saint of the ordinary replaces a smaller statue that had occupied the same spot for years where many faithful had stopped to pray. It is sculpted by artist, Diana Garcia Roy, who studied under the renowned sculptor Venancio Blanco, known for his religious bronze work. Venancio had also sculpted a bronze statue of St. Josemaría in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid.
“The idea to commission a spectacular statue in the Church was conceived in 2024,” shared Fr. Joe Lopez, Rector of St Joseph’s Church and a priest of Opus Dei. (The pastoral care at St Joseph’s Church is entrusted by the Archbishop Cardinal William Goh to the priests of Opus Dei.) Fr. Joe’s team had contacted Diana Garcia Roy to ask if she would create the statue. Fr. Joe personally felt that Venancio’s statue of St. Josemaría in Madrid is probably the best he had seen of St. Josemaría, so Diana was a natural choice.
Being the year of the centenary of the ordination of St. Josemaría, Diana had already received orders from many countries for statues of St. Josemaría. But in spite of that, she agreed to take on the project. When asked why she accepted despite the workload, Diana explained that after every religious sculpture she completes, she hears how it has helped people pray: “A sculpture becomes an instrument that brings others closer to God.” And Singapore held special meaning as her first commission on a continent so far away.
The only thing needed to get the project going was to raise the funds. In October 2024, the church organized a gala dinner. The goal of the dinner was to raise funds to renew the land lease of the church, a project that had already been in the pipeline for a while. Msgr. Marek Zalewski, the Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore, was the guest of honour at the event. The tightly knit community from St. Joseph’s Church pulled out all the stops at this event, offering good food, music, and paintings to be auctioned.
It was at this dinner that plans for the statue were revealed, that, in addition to raising funds for the land lease, they were also hoping to raise funds to be able to give Diana the green light to begin work on the statue. Diana’s works were shared with those at the dinner, and the team was amazed at the generosity of the crowd present, raising more funds than expected.
It has taken almost 2 years for this statue to be created, and it has finally been installed in the church. It has certainly not gone unnoticed. For Diana, the most important part of the statue is its gentle gaze and its smile, the sense of being welcomed and listened to. She raised the figure slightly off the ground so that his gaze falls downward, meeting the eyes of anyone who is praying before the statue.
Melisa, who recently visited the church, said, “My heart skipped a beat and I was very happy to see a familiar figure. It gives me feelings of love.”
The statue was blessed on 27 June by Fr. Ralph Valdes, Regional Vicar of Opus Dei in East and South Asia during the celebration of the Mass in memory of St Josemaría.
More than 5,000 prayer cards have been taken from in front of the previous statue by those seeking the intercession of St. Josemaría, and many have shared testimonies of favours received through his intercession. May this new statue lead many more to discover St. Josemaría and draw closer to God through his intercession!