(ANSA) - KONOTOPIE, 25 LUG - In a village in central Poland, a statue of the Virgin Mary soars above the fleecy July skies: while churches are emptying in this country with a long Catholic tradition, a tycoon has had Europe's tallest Marian monument erected there. Rising to a height of 55 meters, the white silhouette of concrete and steel beams stands, rigid and solemn, amid a sea of greenery and parking lots in the rural town of Konotopie, a three-hour drive northwest of Warsaw. Its dedication and blessing are scheduled for the Feast of the Assumption, August 15. For now, construction is still in full swing, under the dazed or fervent gaze of visitors. The Poles owe this gift to a multimillionaire compatriot, Roman Karkosik, who has spent some 100 million zlotys (23.1 million euros), according to local media. He himself lives nearby, in the neighboring town of Kikol, in a restored 18th-century palace across from the parish church. - Funding Devotion - For the faithful interviewed by AFP, devotion is priceless. "People come here (...) in search of faith," says Marek Gizinski, who traveled dozens of kilometers to pray. "And as with any miracle (...) you simply can't forget it—it's downright impossible to forget," he whispers, his gaze fixed on the Virgin Mary. Some local residents, however, believe that this giant statue is not the best way to represent the Catholic faith in a country already dotted with religious monuments, many of which commemorate the Polish Pope John Paul II. The country's main site of Marian devotion—a painting known as the "Black Madonna," located in the south—attracts between 3.5 and 5 million pilgrims each year. "Rather than for the Virgin, that money 'should have been invested in a hospital or an orphanage,'" laments a couple who came from the neighborhood. Entrepreneur Karkosik and his wife, among the wealthiest people in Poland, recently came to admire their creation—in a luxury car with a chauffeur. "Last Sunday, he came to visit the construction site from the back seat of his Maybach," jokes Andrzej, the site's caretaker. - A New Pilgrimage Site? - Local officials hope the project will bring economic benefits—unanticipated in this impoverished region. "I haven't heard any negative opinions (...) Everyone is generally satisfied," Renata Golebiewska, mayor of the neighboring town of Kikol, told AFP. In 2024, municipal tax revenue per capita in Kikol amounted to just 1,117 zlotys (258 euros), according to data from the Ministry of Finance—making it one of the least well-funded municipalities in the region. The statue in Konotopie is the second-tallest in the world after the "Mother of All Asia—Tower of Peace," completed in 2021 and standing 98.15 meters tall in Batangas City, Philippines, another deeply Catholic country. The Virgin Mary holds a special place in Poland's religious and national identity, where she has been venerated for centuries as the country's patroness and protector—even as the country experiences one of the fastest rates of secularization in the world. "We hope that this place will bear the fruits of a deeper return to the faith, or at least help people deepen their faith," says the parish priest, Marek Mrowczynski. Not entirely convinced, Wanda, who came with two friends, wonders above all how much the developers "are going to pocket." kw/ks/pop/jrt (ANSA).