We came across this wonderful sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in the Bishop’s Palace Gardens at Wells Cathedral. It depicts eight children bearing the weight of the cross, with each child symbolising a crime against children in today’s world. They include a child suffering from Aids, a baby victim of genocide, a child blinded by a land mine and a homeless child.

A plaster version of the statue was created by Vasconcellos in 1999 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the United Nations’ International Year of the Child, when she was 94. A home was subsequently found in Wells for a more permanent version.

What a wonderful depiction of the weight modern generations are placing on those coming. We could easily add to the list climate breakdown, rising sea levels, pollution, extinction of species, victims of modern warfare and on and on…

A representation like this makes that burden so much clearer than mere words.