An artist's remarkable new vision for St. Patrick's Cathedral

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How do you improve on a sacred space? That was artist Adam Cvijanovic's assignment when he was approached early last year: a mural for St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. "The Catholic Church hasn't done a significant piece of art like this in a long, long time," he said.

But Cvijanovic's commission made him part of a tradition that has gone on for centuries. "Yes," he said, "and that made it all the more daunting."

While drawing inspiration from the old-world masters, Cvijanovic, who works primarily on a large scale, wanted to create something distinctly American. The mural, called "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding," now graces the entrance – the narthex – to what many call America's parish church.

"Even those who love the cathedral said, 'Eh, this entranceway is kinda dreary, it's kinda dull," said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Catholic Archbishop of New York. "There's enough dreariness to the world that, when you go into a church, you don't need it."

Dolan initially conceived of the mural as a depiction of an incident that took place in the Irish village of Knock in 1879: dozens of villagers reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary. Now known to Catholics as the Apparition at Knock, it happened the very same year St. Patrick's opened in New York to serve a largely Irish immigrant congregation.

But the cardinal's idea became something more once Cvijanovic was chosen to paint it. Dolan recalled, "He said, 'What would you think of making it a celebration of the continual pilgrimage of God's people? … The Lamb of God, Mary, Joseph, and John kind of were immigrants from heaven to visit the little village of Knock. Literally, Jesus, Mary and Joseph were refugees as they had to flee to Egypt. So, what would you think of an ode to the immigrants, which has always been such a tantalizing part of New York and the American dream?' I said, 'Bingo, show me what you got.'"

The mural depicts the Apparition at Knock and significant figures from the Church's history in America, including Mother Frances Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized. There's a stirring scene of nineteenth century immigrants disembarking in New York, and another of first responders, many of them descended from those immigrants.

But what may be most talked about are the portraits of present-day arrivals waiting to be welcomed.

I asked Dolan, "Were you worried that you were stepping into a little bit of a hornet's nest?"

"I didn't think about it," he replied. "Now subsequently, people have said, 'You know, they're gonna look at this as a political statement.' And I said, 'Well, it kind of wasn't intended to be a political statement, but if that's the way they interpret it, fine with me.'"

Dolan delivered the invocation at President Trump's Inaugurations in 2017 and 2025. But he's also criticized the administration's approach to immigration. In January, in a "Good News Room" video, Doland said, "My Irish gets up when I hear these blanket attacks on immigrants, threats of massive deportations, breaching of houses of worship. this isn't good for our country, folks."

Dolan said, "I can't understand why we would want to deport people who are not a threat to us, who we really kind of have gotten to know as neighbors and really kind of need. So, you'd think there could be some via media, to use a Latin word, a middle ground there."

I asked, "Does it pain you?"

"Oh, it does," he replied. "Yeah, it does. And even my own people, you know, even Catholic people. I will not tell you the parish, but there's a parish with an Italian background, and Catholic Charities wanted to use their unused school for immigrant children. And they said, 'No, not in our neighborhood.' And when I went up there and I said, 'You realize that's what they said to your grandparents and great-grandparents, You are not welcome here. We don't want your kind here'?"

"And I said, 'You know, if somebody wanted to rent this out to Planned Parenthood, you would expect me to say absolutely not. Someone wants to rent it out to better the immigrant? I'd like to think you would say, oh, bravo, we need to get behind this.

"Things simmered down a bit," Dolan continued, "but it really irritated me."

Cvijanovic said, "It's hard to eschew politics here, but there's been a shift in America recently. And one of the most important things that's happened in this last tumultuous decade is that there's been a permission to be cruel. This is not about saying, Well, there should be, like, open borders, or there should be these quotas – the Church isn't saying anything like that. The church is just saying, People are people. Treat them with respect."

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St. Patrick's completed a three-year, $177 million restoration in 2015. But the new mural marks the first major addition to the cathedral in seventy-five years. The cathedral is one of the most-visited landmarks in New York, welcoming more than five million people a year (nearly as many as the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Which is one reason why Cvijanovic hopes his mural will speak to more than just the faithful. "It is filled with, as accurately as I could do it, Catholic imagery very specific to this church," he said. "And that is for people who are devout. But it's also a painting for the city of New York. And it's a painting for everybody in the city. And the thing that's been really amazing to me is that friends of mine who were devout atheists, friends of mine who are Jewish, friends of mine who are Muslim, are all like, This is great."

Dolan said he wanted the cathedral's entrance to be sparkling: "It was so dull, and it was so dark. It was so drab. And now look, it's just popping. It's snap, crackle and pop here!"

For the 75-year-old cardinal, the mural is sure to be part of his legacy, but not, he says, the most important. "When all is said and done, when I stand before Jesus, he's not gonna say, 'Hey Dolan, good work with the mural, good work with the restoration and repair of the cathedral…. I need to ask you something: when I was an immigrant, did you welcome me?' And if I said, 'I'm afraid I didn't, Lord,'" he's gonna say, 'Well, get the hell outta here,' right?"

For more info:

Mural: "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding" by Adam Cvijanovic, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City
Adam Cvijanovic, Saatchi Gallery
His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Story produced by Mark Hudspeth. Editor Jason Schmidt.

Mo Rocca

Mo Rocca is an award-winning correspondent for "CBS News Sunday Morning," where he reports on a wide range of topics. Rocca is also the host and creator of the hit podcast "Mobituaries," and the host of the CBS Saturday morning series "The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation."

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