--- title: LEGO Vatican and Pope in Philadelphia at Franklin Institute description: LEGO model of Vatican, St Peters Basilica, on display at Franklin Institute for Pope Francis visit to Philadelphia. canonical: https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-18T18:49:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:49.555Z og:title: This Priest Made a LEGO Model of the Vatican for the Pope's Upcoming Visit og:description: LEGO model of Vatican, St Peters Basilica, on display at Franklin Institute for Pope Francis visit to Philadelphia. og:url: https://time.com/4040472/lego-vatican-philadelphia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Priest Made a LEGO Model of the Vatican for the Pope's Upcoming Visit twitter:description: LEGO model of Vatican, St Peters Basilica, on display at Franklin Institute for Pope Francis visit to Philadelphia. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Priest Made a LEGO Model of the Vatican for the Pope's Upcoming Visit > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## 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 ## Transcript -[ Foreign Language ] >> He is the first named Francis, the first from Latin America, the first Jesuit. >> The first to take selfies, and make personal phone calls in reply to letters written by ordinary Catholics. >> A pope who carries his own bag. A pope who abandoned the isolating opulence of the Vatican's papal apartment for more modest Vatican digs. >> This man who served as a cardinal in Buenos Aires, where he lived a modest life and is known as something of a champion for the poor. -[ Foreign Language ] >> Francis is the choice of cardinals said to be divided into 2 factions: the reformers who want to clean up the Vatican's dysfunctional bureaucracy and focus on bringing new energy to this global institution, and the old guard who want to maintain the status quo. -[ Foreign Language ] >> He has a very open mind in order to analyze all the themes. For him, there is not a closed theme. -" We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage, and the use of contraceptive methods ." >> And specific about gay priests. " If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge ?" >> Choosing to become Pope Francis, he takes the name of 13th century preacher, Saint Francis Assisi, who lived a life of poverty. >> And he spoke of material things saying, " Love of money is the root of all evil ." -[ Foreign Language ] >> He seems somebody who lives out the teachings of Christ. Incredible humility, incredible sense of empathy to the least of these, to the poor. >> He comes from a country where the church has had to learn how to be missionary again, and I think he wants the entire church to learn from that experience. >> And he's also somebody who's, I think, first and foremost, thinking about how to embrace people as opposed to push them away. How to find what's good in them as opposed to condemn them. -[ Foreign Language ] >> Vinicio went with his aunt, Caterina, to St. Peter's Square, where Pope Francis approached him, and without a moment's hesitation, kissed and hugged him. " When he embraced me ," he recalls, " I quivered and I felt a great warmth ." >> He laughs with a big laugh, and it's coming out from his heart, because he knows that he must transmit an image of hope, of a-- of hope through his laugh. -[ Foreign Language ] ```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":"2026-08-04T07:43:49.555Z","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. 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