Homeless Jesus

Homeless Jesus, also known as Jesus the Homeless (Jésus le sans-abri), is a bronze sculpture by Timothy Schmalz depicting Jesus as a homeless person, sleeping on a park bench. The original sculpture was installed in 2013 at Regis College, a theological college federated with the University of Toronto. Other copies of the statue were installed in several other locations beginning in 2014. , over 50 copies were created and placed around the world.

Description
The statue depicts Jesus as a homeless person, sleeping on a park bench. His face and hands are obscured, hidden under a blanket, but Crucifixion wounds on his feet reveal his identity. The statue has been described as a "visual translation" of the Gospel of Matthew passage in which Jesus tells his disciples, "as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me". The bronze sculpture was intended to be provocative, with its sculptor, Timothy Schmalz commenting, "That's essentially what the sculpture is there to do. It's meant to challenge people."

The dimensions of the statue is 36 by, providing enough room for someone to sit on the bench.

History
Homeless Jesus was designed by Schmalz, a Canadian sculptor and devout Catholic. Schmalz was inspired to create the statue after seeing a homeless person sleeping on a park bench in Toronto in 2012.

Schmalz visited Pope Francis in Vatican City in November 2013 to present a miniature version of his statue. He recalled the Pope's reaction, "He walked over to the sculpture, and it was just chilling because he touched the knee of the Jesus the Homeless sculpture, and closed his eyes and prayed. It was like, that's what he's doing throughout the whole world: Pope Francis is reaching out to the marginalized."

He offered the first cast to St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, but both churches declined. One spokesperson for St. Michael's said the church declined because appreciation "was not unanimous" and it was undergoing restoration. Similarly, a spokesperson for St. Patrick's complimented the work but declined to purchase the cast due to ongoing renovations. The Archdiocese of Toronto tried to locate alternative locations for Schmalz, including St. Augustine's Seminary in Scarborough, but the location was rejected by Schmalz, who desired a location that would provide the sculpture with a wider public reach. Regis College, a Jesuit school of theology federated with the University of Toronto, acquired the first cast in 2013 and installed it outside its main entrance. The acquisition was provided through a donation from Peter Benninger.

Installations in other locations followed. The first location in the United States was located at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Davidson, North Carolina. It was purchased for $22,000 and displayed as a memorial to parishioner Kate McIntyre, who had an affinity for public art. According to the Rev. David Buck, rector of St. Alban's, "It gives authenticity to our church. This is a relatively affluent church, to be honest, and we need to be reminded ourselves that our faith expresses itself in active concern for the marginalized of society". Buck welcomed discussion about the sculpture and considers it a "Bible lesson for those used to seeing Jesus depicted in traditional religious art as the Christ of glory, enthroned in finery." Furthermore, he said in an interview with NPR, "We believe that that's the kind of life Jesus had. He was, in essence, a homeless person."

A painting of a homeless Jesus by Peter Howson was unveiled alongside a cast of Homeless Jesus in Nelson Mandela Place, Glasgow, in December 2017.

A lightweight version of Homeless Jesus, made out of wood and fibreglass, was crafted by Schmalz at the request of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 2017. The lightweight statue was exhibited in several schools, parishes and institutions around Baltimore before it was returned to Schmalz in 2018.

Critical reception
Lennie Bennett, an art critic for the Tampa Bay Times noted that the statue was "technically well done", although also remarked that the design is "nothing new or interesting aesthetically". However, Bennett acknowledged Schmalz intended for the statue to be a social statement.

Public reaction
Reception of the statue has been mixed. NPR said, "The reaction [to the cast in Davidson, North Carolina] was immediate. Some loved it; some didn't." Some Davidson residents felt it was an "insulting depiction" of Jesus that "demeaned" the neighbourhood. Another neighbour wrote a letter, saying it "[creeped] him out". However, according to Buck, residents are often seen sitting on the bench alongside the statue, resting their hands on Jesus and praying.

A proposal to install a cast at the Methodist Central Hall was rejected by Westminster City Council in 2016, who voiced concerns the statue would not maintain or improve the character or appearance of the Parliament Square Conservation Area. The statue's design has occasionally resulted in people mistaking the figure for a real person. When the statue was installed in Davidson, North Carolina, one resident reported they called the police the first time she saw it, mistaking the statue for a real homeless person. After a statue was installed in Hamilton, Ontario, emergency services received several calls during cold and snowy nights from passersby who mistook the statue for a living human. Similar instances of concerned individuals who mistook a Homeless Jesus statue for a homeless person also took place in Minneapolis and Fargo, North Dakota. In October 2020, a Bay Village, Ohio resident mistook a statue installed in the area 20 minutes earlier for a sleeping homeless person and called the police, garnering national attention for highlighting people's privilege and indifference towards homelessness.

Copies
In addition to the original sculpture installed at Regis College in Toronto, a number of copies were on installed in other locations around the world. , over 50 copies were created by Schmalz. The price of statues made between 2014 and 2018 varied, ranging from US$22,000 to $40,000. It typically takes Schmalz three months to form and cast the work into bronze.

The following list shows some places where copies of the sculpture have been installed permanently.