A new statue of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was unveiled on Oct. 15, 2022, in the courtyard of Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral in celebration of the 75th anniversary of her canonization. Born in Italy, Mother Cabrini was the first American citizen to be canonized, and her statue in Chicago has a great Italian backstory. The sculpture was created by Lou Cella and Jessica LoPresti, both of whom are of Italian descent.

While Cella’s name isn’t well known, his works are. They include sculptures of baseball legends Harry Caray, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo at Wrigley Field, as well as Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko at Guaranteed Rate Field. Bart Starr, Gale Sayers and Ken Griffey Jr. are among the many other sports greats to have been captured in bronze by Cella.