Northern Ontario Jesus statue gets shocking replacement head

A new head ona babyJesus statue is causing some to look twice in a Sudbury, Ont., churchyard.

The head which went missingfrom the pearlywhite statue ayear ago has been replaced by a handmade terracottasculpture created by a local artist.

"It really is shocking to the eyes because of the big contrast in colour,"the church's priestGraldLajeunessetold CBC News.

Jesus head easy 'to break off'

The statue head, whichLajeunessebelieves wasstolen, went missingduring the night last October. Itwasn't the first time that part of the sculpturedisappeared.

"The statue had been vandalized before, at least once, maybe twice," he said. "It's always Jesus'head that goes missing. Probably because it's smaller and easier to break off."

In the past, parishioners always found the head nearby and were able to reattach it.

"This time we looked high and low. No head. No Jesus."

Lajeunesse went to several businesses to see if a replacement head could be built.

"It has to be custom made. And nobody even wanted to consider it," he said.

Replacing the entire statue would cost between $6,000 and $10,000.

"You wonder, if we do replace it with a new one, will we be up against the same situation?" Lajeunessesaid,noting the head'sreputation for going missing.

That's whena local artist knocked on Lajeunesse'sdoor,asking about the statue.

"She was quite upset about it and she offered to do something if she could,"Lajeunessesaid.

Current head 'temporary'

Lajeunesse said the artist spent several hours sculpting the new Jesushead onto the bodyout ofclay.

"The difficulty is the artist had to lift the chin so that the head would stay on because it would keep falling off," he said.

The clay head has begun to erode from the rain after less than a week.

"I don't expect it to last long.She plans on sculpting in stone sometime next year," he said.

Lajeunesse said many parishioners have expressed hurt, surprise, and disappointment withthe new head.

"It's a first try. It's a first go. And hopefully what is done at the end will please everyone," he said.

"I wasn't trained for this in seminary."