Massive mural honoring New York City migrants unveiled at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

A new mural painted by artist Adam Cvijanovic, the south and west panels seen here, was unveiled at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in New York. The mural, which is the largest permanent artwork commissioned for the cathedral in its 146-year history, celebrates the 1879 Apparition at Knock, Ireland, the faith of generations of immigrants to New York, and the service of New York City’s first responders. / Credit: Diane Bondareff/AP Content Services for the Archdiocese of New York

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2025 / 18:20 pm (CNA).

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan has unveiled a 25-foot-tall mural honoring migrants to New York City. 

Housed in the entryway of the iconic New York church, the mural, “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding,” portrays the apparition of Mary, Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist to the Irish village of Knock as well as immigrants from all over the world, including well-known figures such as Dorothy Day, Pierre Toussaint, and Alfred E. Smith. 

The mural also shows the first Native American saint, Kateri Tekakwitha.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is set to bless the mural this coming Sunday, said at a press briefing on Thursday: “This became not only an ode to Jesus and Mary and Joseph and St. John and the faith of the Irish people who were so instrumental in this archdiocese, it also became an ode to those who followed them and found in this city, this country, and yes, in this Holy Mother Church, an embrace of welcome.” 

Dolan, who will be joined for the official dedication by the rector of the Knock Shrine in Ireland, said he had intended the mural to go up with the last renovations at St. Patrick’s in 2012 but was advised to wait. 

“I’m kind of glad now, because it matured — it was like a Crock-Pot,” he said. 

Adam Cvijanovic, the mural’s painter, said: “I thought when I started making this painting that the important thing to do was to make it about people and portraits. So, everybody in this painting is an actual person. They’re all portraits. Even the angels.”

Dolan’s late mother, Shirley, was the model for one of the immigrants Cvijanovic portrayed. First responders are also depicted in the mural.

“That seemed to me to be a really, really important thing to do,” Cvijanovic continued, “to talk about the people of the city, all of them, and to have it in some place that people could go in New York and feel themselves recognized in the context of respect and hope.”

Major benefactors covered the cost of the mural, according to Dolan.

The cathedral’s rector, Father Enrique Salvo, an immigrant from Nicaragua, weighed in on the mural, saying: “If you would have told me that I was going to be the rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral when I came to this country, I would have never believed it. But with God, all things are possible, and hopefully it’s an inspiration for everyone that walks in, that we’re not only welcome, but we’re also invited to make a difference and to let God shine through us.”