Opening of a monument to Pope John Paul II by Z.K. Tsereteli near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Only a few days remain before the opening in Paris in the square near the Notre Dame Cathedral of the monument to Pope John Paul II, ranked by the Roman Catholic Church to the Face of the Saints in April this year. The opening ceremony will take place on October 25, 2014. Currently, the monument is located in the square near the cathedral. The author is People’s Artist of the USSR and the Russian Federation, President of the Russian Academy of Arts, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador ZK Tsereteli arrived in Paris and oversees the installation of the sculpture.

The mayor of Paris, Madame Ann Hidalgo, Archbishop of Lodz Marek Yedrazhevsky, as well as representatives of the creative intelligentsia, UNESCO and others, are expected to attend the ceremony.

The official opening ceremony will be preceded by a service in the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, which will also sound in Russian. Archbishop of Paris, His Eminence Cardinal Andre Ven-Troyes, will take part in the ceremony. He will also take part in the opening ceremony of the monument.

In the work of ZK Tsereteli, a religious theme as a search for a spiritual and moral ideal occupies a special place.

The Polish Catholic Mission in France requested the artist to create a sculptural image of John Paul II. In 2010, the work was completed and the sculpture was presented to the general public at the exposition of the National Exhibition of Russia in the Grand Palais, after which it was donated to the Polish Catholic Mission.

For several years, coordination has been held with the Mary of Paris regarding the installation sites of the monument. In July 2014, the City Hall officially agreed to install it. The 3.6-meter-high bronze monument is a gift from the Russian people and the author of the monument Zurab Tsereteli to the Polish community of Paris.