Overview

• A ceremony on September 9 at the Bastione del Maestro installed the image, led by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
• Argentine cardinals Víctor Manuel Fernández and Leonardo Sandri attended, with Sandri giving the blessing, alongside Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Álzaga and other Vatican officials.
• Ambassador Luis Pablo Beltramino said Pope Francis had encouraged the project, viewed the completed work on February 7, and an earlier May 8 date was considered before the papal transition.
• The mosaic by artist Florencia Delucchi was made with Argentine ceramic techniques and funded by private donors Mario Montoto, Luis Calendo, and Ricardo Trigo, with the Argentine Foreign Ministry promoting the project.
• Parolin thanked contributors on behalf of Pope León XIV and described the installation as a sign of friendship between Argentina and the Holy See, situating it among other Latin American Marian images in the gardens.