--- --- # This Priest Made a LEGO Model of the Vatican for the Pope's Upcoming Visit ## Video: 2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy [Watch (HLS stream): 2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYRnrfUV.m3u8) (3:30)  _Published 2013-12-11. From his comments on gays to his penchant for Twitter, Pope Francis's every move has garnered strong reactions from the world media._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 18, 2015 6:49 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 18, 2015 6:49 PM UTC A massive LEGO model of the Vatican is on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in honor of the Pope’s upcoming visit to the United States. Father Bob Simon spent about ten months creating this brick version of St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square, the [Associated Press reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0fd727525f4c413a83c83f53478d100b/everything-awesome-about-lego-vatican-view-philly). He began construction in his rectory at the St. Catherine of Siena church in Moscow, Pennsylvania, (about 100 miles north of Philly), basing the model off of a book cover image and watching YouTube videos to figure out how to make the basilica’s round shape. While he is not sure how many pieces he used to make this replica, he [told CBS Philadelphia](http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/09/14/priest-builds-lego-replica-of-vatican-on-display-at-franklin-institute/) that he may have used as much as half a million— including about 44,000 cobblestones in the square, “6,000 round bricks that make up the colonnade” and “12,000 2×2 tiles” under that. The sculpture is part of [an exhibit](https://www.fi.edu/exhibit/vatican-splendors) on the history of the Vatican opening at the Franklin Institute on Saturday.  Matt Rourke—AP  In this Friday, Sept. 11, 2015 photo, shown a Lego pope figure on a balcony overlooking the crowd in the piazza in a Lego representation of the St. Peter’s basilica and square, at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The Rev. Bob Simon spent about 10 months building it with approximately half-a-million Legos. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Matt Rourke—AP  Matt Rourke—AP  Matt Rourke—AP  Matt Rourke—AP  Matt Rourke—AP  Matt Rourke—AP  Father Bob Simon poses for a photograph with his creation. Matt Rourke—AP LEGO Vatican and Pope in Philadelphia at Franklin Institute ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/"},"headline":"This Priest Made a LEGO Model of the Vatican for the Pope's Upcoming Visit","datePublished":"2015-09-18T18:49:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:59.655Z","description":"The building blocks of faith","url":"https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/","name":"This Priest Made a LEGO Model of the Vatican for the Pope's Upcoming Visit"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy","description":"From his comments on gays to his penchant for Twitter, Pope Francis's every move has garnered strong reactions from the world media.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aYRnrfUV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-11T12:42:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYRnrfUV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/","duration":"PT3M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```