MEDIA HIGHLIGHTSKEEP UP TO DATETimothy Paul Schmalz

KITCHENER — Historical leaders are often immortalized as monuments, but their checkered pasts have sparked a lot of recent debate.

Sculptor Timothy Schmalz says he’s had many thoughts about the destruction of sculptures in this region and around the world.

Schmalz is a figurative artist based out of St. Jacob’s. His pieces are installed worldwide.

Some of his most reputed work is on display in historical churches in Rome, at the Vatican and the Homeless Jesus.

“To destroy is easy, you just have to kick over something, you just have to throw paint,” Schmalz says. “What’s more difficult is thinking and being creative and actually not destroying, but creating.”

The “Angels Unaware” boat by Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmalz depicts 140 migrants ranging from a Jewish man escaping Nazi Germany to a Syrian refugee fleeing the civil war.

The 20-foot sculpture was unveiled during mass on the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday.

Depictions of Christ’s parents Mary and Joseph have been included in the piece.

Pope Francis once famously likened the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem to the migrations of millions of refugees fleeing wars.

A Cherokee man on the Trail of Tears. A Jewish man fleeing Nazi Germany. A pregnant Polish woman escaping Communism. A Syria war child refugee. These figures are among 140 individuals represented in a dramatic new monument in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican that seeks to encourage tolerance and compassion for refugees.

According to Hyperallergic’s Hakim Bishara, the sculpture “Angels Unaware” by Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmalz, was unveiled by Pope Francis during a special Mass on September 29, the 105th annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees. In a message, the Pope called on the faithful to “welcome, protect, promote and integrate.”

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has always urged compassion and charity toward the refugees of the world. But on Sunday, during a special Mass on the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, he unveiled a monument to migration in St. Peter’s Square as a homage to the displaced.

The work, “Angels Unaware,” by the Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmalz, depicts 140 migrants and refugees from various historical periods traveling on a boat, and includes indigenous people, the Virgin Mary and Joseph, Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and those from war-torn countries.

The District has joined a growing number of places across the country in making space for “Homeless Jesus,” a seven-foot-long bronze sculpture of Christianity’s central figure shrouded in a blanket and lying on a park bench, identifiable only by the crucifixion wounds on his feet.

The work was created by Canadian sculptor Timothy P. Schmalz.

To commemorate Ash Wednesday, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, blessed the sculpture installed on a sidewalk outside the Catholic Charities headquarters in downtown Washington. The city is once again experiencing a record number of homeless families seeking winter shelter. Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the six-week period leading up to Easter during which Christians are called to reflect and atone for their sins.