Christ mourns a murder victim in the statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by Timothy Schmalz. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of BaltimoreWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).As advocates in Baltimore work to end violent crime in the area, officials with the Archdiocese of Baltimore are bringing to the city a sculpture of Jesus mourning a homicide victim.The statue, made by Catholic artist Timothy Schmalz, is titled "Thou Shall Not Kill."On Aug. 9 the archdiocese held its third annual gun buyback program, inviting citizens to surrender their guns for cash to help lessen violence in the city. The Baltimore City Police Department, St. Joseph's Monastery Parish, and the Health by Southwest coalition helped the archdiocese sponsor the event.Following the success of the buybacks, St. Joseph's Monastery parish priest Father Mike Murphy, the archdiocese, and community leaders are working to bring Schmalz's work of Christian public art to the city.The life-sized statu...
Christ mourns a murder victim in the statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by Timothy Schmalz. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).
As advocates in Baltimore work to end violent crime in the area, officials with the Archdiocese of Baltimore are bringing to the city a sculpture of Jesus mourning a homicide victim.
The statue, made by Catholic artist Timothy Schmalz, is titled "Thou Shall Not Kill."
On Aug. 9 the archdiocese held its third annual gun buyback program, inviting citizens to surrender their guns for cash to help lessen violence in the city. The Baltimore City Police Department, St. Joseph's Monastery Parish, and the Health by Southwest coalition helped the archdiocese sponsor the event.
Following the success of the buybacks, St. Joseph's Monastery parish priest Father Mike Murphy, the archdiocese, and community leaders are working to bring Schmalz's work of Christian public art to the city.
The life-sized statue by Schmalz portrays Jesus weeping over a murder victim who has multiple gunshot wounds.
The original piece was created in 2024 and is at the Father Augustus Tolton Peace Center, a hub for violence prevention programs in Chicago. The statue that will be placed in Baltimore is awaiting final approval of its designated location.
The statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" is displayed at the Father Augustus Tolton Peace Center in Chicago. Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
Schmalz is an internationally acclaimed Canadian sculptor known for his Christian works of art, including statues of saints, angels, and his well-known depictions of Jesus portrayed as a homeless man.
More than 50 bronze works of "Homeless Jesus" are installed in locations around the world including Capernaum in Israel and Vatican City.
In April, a new Vatican-commissioned sculpture by the artist titled "Be Welcoming" was placed in St. Peter's Square to inspire people to open their hearts to the poor. The bronze statue depicts a man seated on a bench who appears to be homeless, carrying a backpack on his shoulder and a stick in one hand.
In Baltimore, the goal for this year's gun buyback program was to receive around 300 guns after buying nearly 160 in 2023 and 300 in 2024. By July the organizers had raised about $60,000 to fund the purchases of guns brought in. The 2025 buyback ultimately collected 410 firearms.
The latest buyback occurred as crime, including gun violence, has been dropping in Baltimore, though the city has long struggled with high levels of violent crime.
From 2015–2022 the city recorded more than 300 homicides annually, including 348 in 2019, which almost equaled the record of 353 in 1993.
The Catholic University of America. / Credit: Mehdi Kasumov/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 17:07 pm (CNA).Here's a roundup of some of the latest Catholic education news:Catholic University Press will exclusively publish Pope Leo XIV's doctoral dissertationThe Catholic University of America has secured exclusive English-language editorial rights to Pope Leo XIV's doctoral dissertation, "The Office and Authority of the Local Prior in the Order of St. Augustine."The book will be available in print and Kindle editions in October, according to an Aug. 11 press release, with a foreword by Dominican Father Thomas Joseph White, rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, also known as the Angelicum, where the Holy Father defended his dissertation in 1987."While the future pontiff's dissertation focuses on the role of the prior as the local superior in the Augustinians, his insights as a young priest in areas such as Church authority, the sp...
Acolyte Reynaldo José Osorio Muñoz doesn't let his age or disability interfere with his desire to serve God at the altar of his parish in Colombia. / Credit: Marcos CobosACI Prensa Staff, Aug 12, 2025 / 17:38 pm (CNA).At 76 years of age, and despite being wheelchair-bound, Reynaldo José Osorio Muñoz doesn't let these factors interfere with his desire to serve God at the altar of his parish in Colombia. With love and dedication, he participates as an altar server at Mass, dedicating his service to God, the Church, and his fellow parishioners.Osorio lives at the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Senior Citizen Wellness Center, a Christian-inspired institution dedicated to the comprehensive care of vulnerable seniors.According to its website, the center offers meals, medical care, recreational activities, and cultural and spiritual formation, "allowing them to meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life in a safe and harmonious environment, through medical and human car...
St. James Roman Catholic Church in Reading, England, is the starting point of the English route of the Camino de Santiago. / Credit: Kevin Hellon/ShutterstockLondon, England, Aug 12, 2025 / 13:52 pm (CNA).A bishop in the United Kingdom has expressed concern about a proposal to build a huge solar farm on the English stretch of the Camino de Santiago in the south of England.The English leg of the highly popular and historic pilgrimage runs 68 miles from the city of Reading to the port of Southampton, which falls within the Diocese of Portsmouth and has been frequented by pilgrims for more than a thousand years.The Camino de Santiago is made up of many different ancient routes across Europe that all lead to the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain.English pilgrims would traditionally take a boat from Portsmouth and sail to Spain before continuing their pilgrimage.In an email exchange with CNA, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth expressed his worries about t...
Christ mourns a murder victim in the statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by Timothy Schmalz. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
