CZESTOCHOWA (AFP).- The world's tallest statue of late Pope John Paul II was unveiled Saturday in the Polish city of Czestochowa, already home to a Catholic icon believed to work miracles.

The heavily Catholic country's tribute to its pontiff, who died in 2005, shows him with arms outstretched and all in white save for a gold cross around his neck.

It weighs 10 tonnes and is 13.8 metres (45.3 feet) high, surpassing the 12-metre likeness in Chile, project originator Leszek Lyson told AFP in the southern city.

The statue stands paradoxically in a miniature park, which includes reproductions of sacred sites like the Lourdes shrine in France.

Lyson met Karol Wojtyla in the 1960s before he took on his papal name in 1978.

Since his death, the pope has become a cult figure among Poland's Catholics who eagerly await his canonisation.

With over 90 percent of its 38 million people declaring themselves Catholic, the EU member is among Europe's most devout countries.

Thousands of Poles make an annual trek to Czestochowa to pray before the painting of the Black Madonna, believed to hold special powers.

Poland also is home to the highest statue of Christ, a 36-metre monument that was erected near a motorway in the western town of Swiebodzin in 2011.



© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse