Harvey’s hidden history: Harvey Catholic Church’s rare painting and restored statue tell tale of immigration

A statue crafted in the hills of Italy and a painting blessed by a Pope have made Harvey their home for more than four decades, with each one bringing an unlikely story of immigration with it.

Residing in the peaceful halls of Harvey’s Catholic Church the two relics — a painting titled Our Lady of the Imigrants and a statue named The Flight of Egypt — are markers for religious immigrants in the town and have been highlighted after a recent restoration project.

Hand crafted from lime wood by 140-year-old studio Stuflesser, in Northern Italy, The Flight of Egypt is set to be fully returned to its former glory by Waroona artist Carmen Tyrer and has a history in Harvey dating back between 1973 to 1976.

The statue celebrates the nativity of Jesus Christ’s birth as St. Joseph leads his family through the desert.

Fears that King Herod would kill their newborn child — as he initiated the massacre of innocents intent on the slaughter of every two-year-old male born in the vicinity of Bethlehem — Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus left Israel and fled to Egypt.

Exiled, the three became migrants in an “unknown land” according to Farther Jess who likened the biblical story to that of current events in countries such as Ukraine and Afghanistan.

“They left Israel and went to the south in Egypt, which was a long way at that time . . . They became refugees, and of course, refugees are a migrant in an unknown world,” he said.

“For me personally when I think and look at (the statue) I always relate it to those people who have left their countries, you know, with few belongings, so it’s a really topical issue.”

Aged and rundown The Flight of Egypt has been undergoing a refurbishment by Tyrer, who said as a Chilean artist now living in Waroona she felt connected to the statue.

“It represents having to leave your country and having to go somewhere else and that’s a hard thing to do,” she said.

“There was just this feeling that I had while working on it, it was really unusual . . . In the very beginning I said I have to bring it to life, I have to do the very, very, very best I can do.”

Praising the previous work of its Italian sculptor Tyrer said the restoration was reminiscent of her time as a dentist in Chile.

“I was a dentist, basically it’s different materials but it’s a crack and a fix whether on a big scale or little scale . . . Luckily it was plaster because it was easy to work with, it’s a material that I really know having worked with ceramics for so many years,” she said.

“You couldn’t really see the donkey but now you see it and he is a humble little creature that needs to be revealed . . . It’s really, really beautifully done, I thought at the beginning he’s a great sculptor but as I was doing the faces I realised he is a good painter too.”

Among its trove of Catholic artefacts the church also houses one of only four official paintings in the world dedicated to Our Lady of the Immigrants — or the Virgin Mary — the saint Harvey’s church is devoted to.

Blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1953 — five years prior to his death in 1958 — each of the paintings were sent to countries home to a large number of Italian migrants.

In 1965 on a return journey from Rome, at the request of a Capuchin monk, Bishop John Goody brought one with him to Harvey.

Originally placed in the town’s first church the painting was later moved to the one standing today and depicts Mary and her child — baby Jesus — as they sit atop a cloud above a bed of roses. Surrounded by angels the pair watch over migrants as they go about their building and working.

According to Father Jess the lamp held in Mary’s right hand symbolises the “guidance she provides to migrants and ensures they take the correct path to their new home”.

“This church is dedicated to that title, Our Lady of the Immigrants, and she has a great influence on this because of the migrations of the Italians in this part of WA,” he said.

“It is so unique because there are only four of those paintings in the world — one in Italy, one in New York, one in Argentina and one in Australia which is housed here.”

A painting was not the only thing that returned from Rome; six small stones were also placed beneath the image’s altar, each one representing one of Italy’s six principal Marian Shrines — shrines devoted to the Virgin Mary.

Set to be on display during Harvey’s October Festa — a celebration of culture and the church’s 50-year milestone — the painting and statue will be paraded along the town’s streets.