Overlooking the city of Czestochowa, the 13.8 meter tall depiction of John Paul II is the tallest Pope statue in the world, and has one of the strangest origin stories for a religious monuments of its time.

The person who funded this holy project was a businessman by the name of Leszek Lyson, who believed that the pope had helped him when he rescued his son from drowning during a family vacation in Croatia in 2010. As a humble thank you to John Paul II, Lyson put his money towards building a huge statue of the late pope. 

The company commissioned with the huge endeavor is one that specializes in fiberglass statues of dinosaurs for European theme parks. Of course, a statue this imposing has come with criticism. Most of the complaints range from sarcastic remarks on how the statue resembles the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters, to how such a garish monument to John Paul II poorly represents his principles. The Czestochowa architects' association has even gone as far to say that the statue lacks quality.