An actor from Tamaulipas has created a project that would give the state’s capital, Ciudad Victoria, the world’s tallest statue of Jesus Christ.

Eduardo Verástegui Córdoba explained that the 77-meter-high statue and a complex to be built around it will be known as The Christ of Peace.

He said that the purpose of the project is to leave a legacy of peace for the state in which he was born.

Verástegui said that architect Fernando Romero, whose firm designed the ill-fated Mexico City airport, will design the statue, whose arms will be outspread, as if offering citizens a hug.

The project will include an esplanade with capacity for 10,000 people, a church, restaurants, stores, a convention center, a shelter for pilgrims, a hotel, an amphitheater, a handicrafts market, funicular and cable car stations and a residential area.

Verástegui said he planned to travel to Rome to present his project to Pope Francis.

Cochabamba, Bolivia, is currently home to the world’s tallest Christ statue. It stands 34.2 meters tall.

No details have been released about the cost of the statue project or the source of the funding. The Catholic church said construction would begin early in the new year.

Unnamed promoters of the statue were quoted as saying that the Christ of Peace would represent “a message of faith, love, hope and peace” in Tamaulipas, one of Mexico’s most violent states.

Source: El Diario de Victoria (sp)