Project HOME announced it will open a public art installation inspired by one of Pope Francis’ favorite religious images, Mary, Undoer of Knots. The organization commissioned artist Meg Saligman to create the installation as a way of drawing attention to the stories of those in need.

"It provides a spiritually-based gathering site to foster faith, hope, and collective action," stated the organization.

The installation will be dedicated on Thursday at 11 a.m. outside the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, an inter-faith ceremony that will feature prayers from various Philadelphia religious leaders.

The Grotto includes over 30,000 strips of woven cloth inscribed with descriptions of real life struggles faced by members of the Philadelphia community and beyond.  Many of the knots were collected over the past several months at workshops held at homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and prisons, as well as churches, synagogues, and mosques.

“We invited Meg to create this work of art so that people will be moved to acknowledge a higher power and to also acknowledge the power within themselves to act.  We need God’s grace to untie the knots, but we also need each other,” said Sister Mary Scullion, co-founder of Project HOME and co-chair of the Hunger and Homeless Committee of the World Meeting of Families.

The Undoing the Knots project is part of “Mercy and Justice Campaign,” an initiative with concrete efforts to respond to the crisis of poverty and homelessness in the community.