Faith reaches new heights: Brazil’s record-breaking statue of Mary

On November 13, 2025, in the Brazilian city of Crato, Ceará, the world’s tallest statue dedicated to the Virgin Mary will be officially inaugurated. Rising to an astonishing 51 meters (167 feet), the new statue of Our Lady of Fátima will soon dominate the skyline, standing as a monumental expression of faith and devotion.

While Brazil is already famous for its soaring religious monuments — most famously the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro — this latest work of sacred art signals something more than a race for “the biggest.” It reflects a deep-rooted desire to make faith visible, to inscribe belief onto the very landscape.

The new statue, constructed from prefabricated sections assembled on site, will be housed within the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Crato. The sanctuary itself includes a replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions in Portugal, connecting Brazilian devotion to the global Marian story.

For the local community, the moment carries added significance. This year marks the 72nd anniversary of the visit of the original pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima to Crato, an event that left an indelible imprint on the city. Streets, schools, and even the airport bear her name.

In a real sense, this towering new monument will crown decades of Marian devotion, anchoring faith not only in hearts but in stone and steel.

The numbers are impressive, but unless you are an engineer it can be hard to visualize what 51 meters looks like. Imagine a 15-story apartment block. Or the height of many European cathedral spires. That’s the scale of this Marian statue.

For comparison, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro is an already-impressive 30 m (98 ft) tall, with an added 8-m pedestal. However, Cristo Protetor in Encantado soars a little higher at 43.5 m (143 ft). And if you look at other non-religious monuments, the Statue of Liberty (without its pedestal) is still an impressive 46 m (151 ft).

So, Our Lady of Fátima in Crato will soon stand taller than some of our favorite tallest statues, and at 51 meters, she will be officially the world’s tallest statue of the Virgin Mary.

In an age when skyscrapers pierce the heavens and mega-stadiums draw the masses, some might ask: Why do Catholics still build colossal statues? Isn’t faith meant to be humble and hidden?

There are several answers...

These monuments are a proclamation carved into the horizon. They are reminders that faith is not only private but communal, cultural, and civic. In a world where skylines are often dominated by billboards or office towers, a colossal Virgin Mary reclaims public space for the sacred.

Large statues attract pilgrims, tourists, and the curious. They generate footfall, devotion, and often local economic activity. In Crato, the new shrine is already becoming a regional magnet for both prayer and pilgrimage.

Human beings instinctively respond to grandeur. Just as cathedrals were built on a breathtaking scale to lift minds and hearts to God, these massive statues evoke awe, humility, and transcendence. Their very size points beyond the earthly to the eternal.

For communities, statues become symbols of identity. Christ the Redeemer is inseparable from Rio’s image; now Crato will have its own Marian emblem, linking local devotion to national and global Catholicism.

It is no coincidence that these giants rise in Brazil. With the world’s largest Catholic population, the country has long expressed its faith in grand, public ways. From Rio’s Christ, arms outstretched in embrace, to the soaring new Marian figures, Brazil continues to translate devotion into art, engineering, and architecture.

What is striking is how these statues form a spiritual dialogue: Christ the Redeemer on one side, Our Lady of Fátima on the other. Christ, with arms wide, welcomes; Mary, mother and intercessor, points the way to her Son. Both speak wordlessly to millions, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, who look up and sense something beyond themselves.

Of course, there are always risks. A giant statue can become a tourist attraction stripped of its religious heart. Without living devotion, it risks being little more than a photo backdrop. That is why Crato’s Marian monument is embedded in a shrine complex, complete with chapel, pilgrim services, and pastoral care. The Church reminds us: the goal is not the statue itself, but the faith it inspires.

As Pope Francis often emphasized, Mary’s role is to point to Christ. A 51-meter Virgin is not meant to eclipse Christ, but to magnify her maternal role as a signpost to her Son.

It's also important to note that standing at the foot of a colossal statue, one feels small. And that is precisely the point. In a world of noise and self-assertion, these monuments invite humility, wonder, and a sense of the transcendent. They do not compete with modern skyscrapers but stand as spiritual counterpoints: where steel and glass reach for profit and prestige, stone and concrete point toward eternity.

When the Diocese of Crato inaugurates the statue of Our Lady of Fátima this November, it will be more than a marvel of engineering. It will be a living reminder that faith, like architecture, can reach great heights — and that from those heights, Mary continues to look tenderly upon her children.

As pilgrims light candles and lift their eyes to this towering figure, they will perhaps remember the words of Mary at Fatima: “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge.” For the faithful of Crato, and indeed the world, that refuge will soon have a new silhouette on the horizon—51 meters high, but stretching endlessly toward heaven.