ST. JOHN, Ind. (CNS) — As lightning streaked across the afternoon sky May 22, people gathered inside St. John the Evangelist Church for the consecration of the 33-foot-tall stainless steel statue of Mary in the church parking lot.

The statue, Our Lady of the New Millennium, was commissioned by Chicago resident Carl Demma in 1995 and has visited “pretty close to 300 parishes,” mostly in the Chicago Archdiocese. It was blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1999 during his visit to St. Louis.

Demma died in 2000. His wife, Francine, who attended the May 22 ceremony, was pleased that the statue now has a permanent home.

Despite the threatening storm, an overflow crowd came to the church by cars and buses for what was planned as an outdoor ceremony. The weather eventually cleared enough for the Rosary to be prayed by the statue following the dedication ceremony.

Demma, who sat in the front row during the ceremony, said she realized the parish would be a good fit for the statue when she visited it to promote a book.

She said the parish location for the statue was ideal for “visibility and evangelizing.”

“I knew it would inspire many people. I knew in my heart this was the appropriate place. They’ll take care of it for the next generation,” she told Northwest Indiana Catholic, the newspaper of the Gary Diocese.

Father Sammie Maletta, pastor of St. John the Evangelist, told the crowd that Carl Demma said when he was 9 years old that he wanted to build a statue of Mary so big “that all of Chicago can see her.”

“And today she comes to St. John, Indiana,” Father Maletta continued, “not to end her journey, but to begin anew the work of a good mother in this place and time, caring for all who will come. Just as St. John was given to Mary at the foot of the cross, may we be good and faithful children, loving our Mother today and always.”

Bishop Dale Melczek of Gary said in welcoming remarks that he hoped the statue of Mary with her hands open “will draw many pilgrims to express and deepen their devotion to Our Lady.”

Chicago Cardinal Francis George noted that, “like a lot of Chicagoans, (Mary) has found a home in northwest Indiana.”

He said that “without a devotion to Mary, the Church itself fades away” and instead becomes a “spiritual club.”

He hoped the statue would restore public devotions and be part of a “spiritual renewal.”