Photos from the dedication of the St Peregrine statue - 28th August 2005 - Click here

Press release
Tom has recently been commissioned to carve a life-size marble statue of St. Peregrine, patron saint of people who suffer from cancer, for the pilgrimage centre at Carfin, near Motherwell.  He is working on the two-metre high block of marble in Carrara, Italy.

"It's great to be involved in a project that means such a lot to so many people," he says, "and it's appropriate to be working on this statue in Italy, since Peregrine was a thirteenth-Century Italian."  Tom appreciates the traditional nature of this commission.  "This is the place that Michaelangelo came to quarry his marble for church commissions, and parts of Carrara still have a real historic atmosphere."

It is easier to do the sculpture in Carrara, near the quarries, because all the technical assistance is there.  Carrara is the world capital for marble and the technology of working stone.  In addition, the marble will be much lighter for transport after it has been carved.  Tom expects the sculpture will be completed by mid-July.
 

1.  the block	2.  one profile cut

Peregrine Latiosi was a priest who gave devoted service to the people of the town of Forli, near Rimini, during the years of the plague.  He developed a tumour on his leg, due to his dedicated life-style, hours spent on his feet visiting the sick and in penitential prayer.  His cancer was miracurously cured the night before amputation, the only treatment possible at the time.

There are now Peregrine Centres in many places, which give support and counselling to cancer sufferers and their families.  The Peregrine organisation is also linked to the "Pause for Hope" ecumenical services, set up by an initiative from Professor Ray Donnelly, founder and president of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

The statue is being funded through the generosity of the McKindless Group, and the initiative has come from the founding chairman of the Friends of St Peregrine, Gerry Gallen.  He is keen to point out that the whole impetus of the project is multi-faith.  Indeed the strong impression created by the new Carfin Visitor Centre is of a concern for people that reaches beyond any one religion or church.
 

3.  working on the upright sculpture	4.  roughly blocked out

5.  starting detailed work, with the head

6.  Monday the 27th	7.  St. Peregrine and base
8.  Thursday the 30th	9.  Cutting the base
10.  Tom with St. Peregrine	11.  Boxed saint - ready to travel