THE official blessing of 15 huge new religious statues at Woronora last Saturday signalled a new era for the cemetery.
The solid granite figures are of Christ in a formation which Catholics call the Stations of the Cross, depicting his final hours.
A central 3.5-metre statue of Christ shown as having risen from the dead is surrounded in a semicircle by the 14 other figures.
At Woronora the precinct in which the statues are placed allows for the burial of 100, as well as having space for cremation garden memorials.
It is the first dedicated area for Catholics who have chosen cremation, as previously there has been much higher proportion choosing burial instead.
The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell blessed the statues, and two white doves were released as each statue was blessed.
Cardinal Pell said that the new figures were marks of reverence and respect.
Caringbah parish priest Monsignor Kerry Bayada, who was master of ceremonies, welcomed the crowds who attended the blessing ceremony and noted that the weather for the weekend event was free of the lightning and thunder of the previous night.
Children from St Patrick’s Primary School, Sutherland, sang during the ceremony as well as Sutherland Shire boy Mark Vincent, who sang Ave Maria and Time to Say Goodbye.
Did you attend the blessing?
