World's largest monument to the Sacred Heart to be built in Madrid

 It will be located in Boadilla del Monte

The project, promoted by lay people and blessed by several bishops, was presented coinciding with the feast day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The 37-meter-high sculpture will be erected in Boadilla del Monte and will be open to visitors. Its inauguration is scheduled for 2030.

 Last week, coinciding with the Feast Day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the ambitious project for what will be the world's largest monument to the Sacred Heart was presented in Madrid. The Association of Devotees of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Boadilla, together with the Vía del Arte Foundation, has promoted this initiative, which has the support of church and civil authorities, but is exclusively a secular proposal.

Eva María Fernández-Antón, spokesperson for the promoting association, and Javier Viver, the sculptor responsible for the design, appeared during the presentation. The event served to explain the scope of the project, which has a dual objective: to foster devotion to the Heart of Christ and to channel that spirituality into specific charitable works. In fact, 10% of the funds raised for the sculpture will be donated to social programs run by Cáritas and other organizations.

The monument, 37 meters high by 60 meters wide, will be located in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), visible from the M-50 motorway. The sculpture will integrate technology and symbolism: it will be open to visitors, and will include a heart-shaped tabernacle 2.5 meters in diameter and will reproduce the wounds of Christ on the Shroud, allowing natural light to pass through these points. The heart inside will descend each morning so visitors can touch it, while a symbolic heartbeat will be heard inside.

The total project budget is €17 million, of which €104,000 has already been raised, thanks to more than 500 donors. The funding campaign is based on individual contributions starting at €5, and donations benefit from tax benefits.

The roadmap envisions three phases. The first, already underway, will run until February 2026 and includes the preparation of the preliminary sculptural design and the start of the communications campaign. Between 2026 and 2028, the architectural development and obtaining permits will be addressed. Finally, between August 2028 and June 2030, the monument will be built, with its inauguration scheduled for June 27 of that year.

The project also aligns with a historical tradition: devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose modern impetus comes from the visions of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, was adopted by the Society of Jesus and officially approved in the 19th century. In his latest encyclical, Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis underscored the present-day value of this devotion as a source of active compassion for the world's wounds.

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As the artist himself explained, the figure will be 25 meters tall, and this Sacred Heart will have a peculiarity: it will be hollow. Therefore, the image will not show Christ's burning heart on its chest, but will be hidden within the sculpture, which can be entered on foot. Pilgrims "will encounter the Heart of Jesus inside the sculpture," Viver assures. He explains that "we wanted to create a monument to the Sacred Heart of the 21st century."

A play of light between the sun and the Eucharist

And the heart inside will be no small feat. A gigantic golden heart will serve as the center of the sculpture and as a tabernacle, where the Body of Christ will be guarded: as the promoters explain, this Sacred Heart "will have the real presence of a Risen Christ." The interior of the monument will also be illuminated by sunlight, by the first rays of light "of the rising sun."

It is no coincidence that the wounds on Christ's side, which will be visible from the outside, act as stained-glass windows through which light passes. After an analysis of the Shroud of Turin, the replicated wounds will illuminate the space, in a play of light between the exterior light and the golden figure of the heart, which will occupy several meters and be covered in gold.

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