The world’s largest Stations of the Cross will linger in Rome only 10 more days before heading to the Chilean hill in the port city of Coquimbo for which they were commissioned. The bronze Via Crucis — 49 life-size statues in 14 stations — has been stopping passers-by on the Via della Conciliazione since it was inaugurated March 13.

But the statues’ placement on the main thoroughfare leading to St. Peter’s Basilica is only temporary. The Via Crucis was commissioned for the city of Coquimbo in central Chile by the “Fundacion Cruz del III Milenio.”
That foundation was formed after Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to Chile and the following year, it began the project to construct a 280-foot cross above Coquimbo. The bronze Via Crucis will complement that work.