Long tucked away, a Pieta will get new life at Detroit Mercy Law

A statue depicting Mary holding Jesus’ body after his crucifixion is getting a new life after being tucked away for decades in University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Law. 

The Pieta, which depicts Jesus and Mary at Mount Golgotha during the “Sixth Sorrow” of the Virgin Mary, will become the focal point of a new reflection room on the Riverfront Campus. 

The Phoenix Project, as it is called, will include restoration of the Pieta and an update of its new home complete with stained glass windows saved from a former Archdiocese of Detroit parish. 

Kurt Godfryd, associate dean of Finance and Operations at Detroit Mercy Law and a deacon of the Catholic Church, believes it’s important to restore the Pieta and display it after its many years of solitude. 

“What great mercy is found in the Pieta,” he said. “It really leans on one of our sponsors of the University, the Sisters of Mercy.” 

For decades, the Pieta has been stored at Detroit Mercy Law after making a short move next door from Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Church. No one knows when that might’ve been, but it is believed that the statue was once displayed in the church’s day chapel before it was dismantled many years ago. 

Time has taken its toll on the Pieta. Cracks have formed on its plaster surface and paint has peeled off. The statue was moved to the basement during renovations in 2011 after being stored in the Detroit Mercy Law campus attic, which exposed it to hot summers and cold winters. A hole was cut in the roof, allowing the statue to be carefully delivered to street level with a crane. 

“Before, it was in this extreme heat and cold, and now it was dark and damp” said Fr. Patrick Dorsey, S.J., director of development for University Special Projects. “The statue can’t tolerate those variations. And in the process of all that movement, only two fingers were broken, which I think is astonishing." 

No one is completely confident of who knew about the statue before it was found during the renovation. 

“I get the impression it was discovered, but it was known at one time,” Dorsey said.  

“Out of sight, out of mind, one of those things,” Godfryd added. “Obviously it came back into sight for those who were doing the renovation and they felt that it was worthy enough to move out of that space.” 

Since he started in UDM’s Office of University Advancement in 2023, Dorsey has worked with Godfryd to find a home for the Pieta. 

Originally, Dorsey thought it would fit symbolically in the Gardella Honors House on the McNichols Campus, bookending the “Jesus our neighbor” statue on Sacred Heart Square. 

But that space was unavailable, so Dorsey and Godfryd worked to secure a location on the Riverfront Campus. The new reflection room that will contain the Pieta is a former conference room on the Jefferson Avenue side of the campus, near the founder’s plaque for the University. 

Dorsey and Godfryd estimate that the reflection room may be completed by 2027, in time for UDM’s 150th anniversary celebration. 

“It has a real historical flair to it,” Godfryd said. “We feel like it would be a beautiful space for private prayer or on special occasions, you could have a small Mass set in that location as well.” 

Once the Phoenix Project is completed and the Pieta has its new home, Godfryd hopes it has a positive impact on everyone at Detroit Mercy Law. 

“Because the law school environment can be very challenging, not only for our students, but also for our faculty and staff, I'm hoping that it will be a welcoming space for someone to get away from the pressures of school or life that day and just sort of dwell in this very special, prayerful space,” he said. 

Make a gift in support of the Phoenix Project.