Rio’s Christ the Redeemer Statue Celebrates 89th Anniversary with Full Day Program

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Christ the Redeemer Monument, inaugurated in 1931, turned 89 yesterday, October 12th, with a full day of festivities. Throughout the day religious, social and cultural activities were held. The program was broadcast by the channel of Christ the Redeemer Shrine Rector, Father Omar and by WebTV Redentor.

The festivities began with the traditional midnight prayer vigil conducted by youths from the New Communities (Shalom and Canção Nova) and ended with the Mass in Thanksgiving for the 89 years of Christ the Redeemer, celebrated by the Archbishop of Rio, Cardinal Orani Tempesta.

Then, the traditional commemorative cake, prepared by the Sociedade Amigos da Rua da Carioca e Adjacências (SARCA), which this year contained cake slices individually wrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). Toys collected by the Ativa Criança social campaign were donated by hundreds of people and were distributed to socially vulnerable children from communities in Rio de Janeiro during the Christ the Redeemer anniversary week.

At noon, the rector of the Christ the Redeemer Shrine, along with singer Elba Ramalho, Angelus and the Marian Rosary, prayed in honor of Our Lady of Aparecida, patron saint of Brazil, whose date was also celebrated yesterday. The shrine houses a chapel, located below the monument, dedicated to Our Lady of Aparecida, where people from all over the world pray and give thanks for graces obtained.

Tourists and pilgrims were blessed hourly until 6 PM.

In the evening, with entrepreneur and host Gardênia Cavalcanti as the master of ceremony, the Orquestra Jovem nas Comunidades (Youth Orchestra in Communities) from the city of Itaguaí, in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, performed from 6 PM on, and soon after, there was a projection with some works of the Christ the Redeemer Sanctuary in the year 2020.

The celebration continues on Tuesday, at 10 AM, with the Mass in Thanksgiving for the mark of one million loaves of bread donated by the social campaign ‘Cristo Redentor, Eu Quero Donar’ (Christ the Redeemer, I Want to Donate), in partnership with the Associação Arquidiocesana Tarde com Maria (Archdiocese Association Afternoon with Mary).

The celebration will be led by Father Omar at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, in the neighborhood of Recreio dos Bandeirantes, west zone of Rio. Through the social campaign, the Christ the Redeemer Shrine has also delivered over 200 tons of food and personal hygiene, facial protection and cleaning items. In all, there are over 180 needy communities served throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Christ the Redeemer in Brazil is one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World, chosen in 2007, along with the Ruins of Petra in Jordan, the Taj Mahal in India, the Coliseum in Italy, the city of Machu Picchu in Peru, the ruins of the city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico and the Great Wall of China. The statue, erected on Corcovado hill, 709 meters above sea level, was inaugurated on October 12th, 1931.

Christ the Redeemer weighs 1,145 tons and is thirty meters high, with another eight meters of pedestal. It has a width of 28 meters between its arms. Among the seven wonders of the modern world, it is the most recent. It was designed by engineer da Costa e Silva. The project had the cooperation of the French sculptor Paul Landowski and the engineer Albert Caquot. It is composed of reinforced concrete and soapstone.

The first idea to build a statue on top of Corcovado hill appeared in 1850. The suggestion was to build a Christian monument to honor Princess Isabel, who at the time was the country’s ruler. The princess supported the idea, but it was not implemented.

Years later, in 1888, when the princess signed the Golden Law abolishing slavery, the suggestion to build the statue was raised again, but this time one that represented the princess as the redeemer. The princess did not agree with the idea.

The suggestion was that something be done in honor of the redeemer of men. With the separation of the state and church, these projects were abandoned. In 1920 the Catholic Circle of Rio de Janeiro proposed a new concept for construction on the site.

The group held an event to gather funds and signatures for the work. After discussions about what the work would involve, Christ the Redeemer with open arms was selected. The concept is to represent peace.