QUEBEC CITY -- A self-taught hobby to save and restore religious statues has led Lyn Robichaud to reflect on French Canadians’ relationship with these objects of piety that often end up in the garbage.

Statues typically honour those who have done great deeds. They are built so we do not forget our past. To forget the past is to lose hope for a better future. Without a memory of the past, our only vision of reality is that of the present. We are stuck in the ideology of today, reduced to a one-dimensional world. Memory opens horizons.

Canadians enjoy religious freedom unlike many in other parts of the world, so for Jeffrey Susilo the thought that recent church vandalism could be evidence that those freedoms might be under attack is disheartening.  

A familiar face that has greeted visitors entering St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica since the late-1980s is getting a facelift.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio – St. Elizabeth of Hungary stands tall, the bread in her right hand, a gift to the poor, looks like it may have just come from the oven. The roses at her waist, visible from an opening in her cloak, are a symbol of God's protection.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Every time Jose Camara thinks his ministry is completed, somebody else needs a statue of Our Lady of Fatima to spread the devotion.

When the faithful enter the newly refurbished St. Michael’s Cathedral, they will gaze upon statues unlike those found anywhere else. None of these statues come from a catalogue. All were designed by a small team under cathedral rector Fr. Michael Busch that included artisans from a small town in Italy.