St. Patrick’s Cathedral Unveils Mural Promoting Immigrant Support
Adjacent to an unfolding mass inside Manhattan’s formidable St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a gaggle of reporters arranged themselves in front of an empty podium awaiting Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan on Thursday, September 18. Amid a profusion of anti-immigrant sentiment in national politics and sweeping deportations, the New York City cathedral planned to take a stand for the humanity of immigrants — in the form of the largest artwork ever commissioned for the Neo-Gothic landmark.
“What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding” (2024–5), an enormous 12-panel mural created in tribute to New York City immigrants and their descendants by artist Adam Cvijanovic, was unveiled on Thursday morning. For weeks, installation teams have worked overnight to position Cvijanovic’s panels, transported from his Brooklyn Navy Yard studio. Tucked into crowds of immigrants of various ethnicities portrayed by the artist, figures of New York City’s Catholic history peer out. They all stare upward into the distance, some in the direction of the cathedral’s altar. The work, which was entirely funded by private benefactors, will be dedicated during Mass on Sunday.
When Cardinal Dolan — who is considered to be Manhattan’s largest landowner as the overseer of the Archdiocese of New York and its 2.5 million Catholics — approached the podium, Cvijanovic hung off to the side. Though the artist assumed a humble demeanor, his 25-foot-tall oil-painted murals in the background were characteristically boisterous and disruptive, as they were meant to be.
“The whole issue of immigrants has been important for the church, always, but it seems to be a little bit under the limelight today,” Dolan said at the unveiling. “Some have asked me, ‘Are you trying to make a statement about immigration?’ Surely, mainly that immigrants are children of God.”
Cvijanovic, whose dad immigrated from Serbia, told Hyperallergic that he never expected to collaborate with the Archbishop of New York on such a project. He secured the commission through a competitive process before Trump’s election, but at the mural’s opening, the president’s recent immigration crackdowns sparked increased interest in the work. Cvijanovic added that he worked with limited direction from the church and could paint what he wanted to freely.
“What has made me, personally, really, really happy, is people who come in, who are from all kinds of different places and are feeling really not good about themselves at the moment, looking at this painting and saying, ‘I belong here. I belong in the center of New York. I belong in a place where I’m being deeply respected,’” Cvijanovic told Hyperallergic.
The Catholic Church has consistently called for immigration reform, and in recent months, leading bishops across the nation have condemned Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Dolan has embraced his role in leading one of the most diverse archdioceses and has publicly expressed dismay at “blanket attacks” on immigrants, including raids at houses of worship. (Dolan has faced scrutiny for years for reportedly asking the Vatican for permission to move nearly $60 million to protect against lawsuits related to sexual abuse claims when he was archbishop of Milwaukee. He has repeatedly denied these claims.)
The new mural is situated between the entrance and exit of the Midtown church, which Dolan said sees 6 million tourists each year.
Cvijanovic honored Dolan’s desire to incorporate a telling of the 1879 Apparition of Knock, when 15 people at a parish in Knock, Ireland, said they saw the Virgin Mary, the Lamb of God, and angels on the walls. This event was remarkable, Dolan shared, because it occurred within the same year St. Patrick’s Cathedral was dedicated. The apparition is seen as a spiritual symbol of resilience.
Gold leaf strips of various karats surround a representation of the Lamb of God, a symbol of Jesus, on one panel. The lamb hovers above immigrants of different ethnicities standing in a line that appears to stretch endlessly. Children are portrayed sitting on modern-day luggage or held in their caretakers’ arms. The murals are filled with easter eggs of notable Catholic individuals who blend in with their surrounding subjects: The Lamb of God panel portrays Cuban abolitionist priest Venerable Félix Varela y Morales, who lived in New York alongside St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first US citizen to be recognized as a saint.
Another panel features five individuals in a more focused portrait, including the first Native American person to be recognized as a saint, Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman canonized in the 17th century for her devotion and care for the sick. Servant of God Dorothy Day, who co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933, is also pictured in the panel.
An entire panel depicts law enforcement officers and first responders of varying backgrounds, and another is dedicated to immigrants from Ireland and Italy,