The Divino Niño, also known as Divino Niño de Bogotá or Divine Child Jesus, is a 20th-century religious wooden statue of the

child Jesus The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of life of Jesus, Jesus' l ...

originating from Bogota, Colombia. A cross originally in the back was removed upon purchase by Father Giovanni Rizzo. The 17-centimeter high statue with arms stretched out wide and wearing a traditional pink robe or

tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...

has an inscription "''Yo reinaré''" ("I will reign") at its base. It is one of the most popular religious images in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, especially among

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and it is claimed to have miraculous powers of fertility and healing.

History

The statue's image and religious devotion began with a

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

priest named Father Giovanni Rizzo (Anglicized: John Rizzo), from

Arenzano Arenzano (local ) is a coastal town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Liguria, northern Italy, facing the Ligurian Sea. , it has a population of 11,445. This varies during the holiday seasons due to tourist flow. There are a num ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. His bishop once assigned him to an impoverished town or ''barrio'' in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. In 1914, Rizzo and his

priestly companions were building a new church in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

, Colombia. With limited financial resources, Rizzo is believed to have had a mystical vision of the

in a standing posture while beckoning out his arms. The boy in the vision spoke "Take me with you, I want to accompany you."

The statue

In 1942, after years of finishing church construction, Rizzo discovered a child Jesus statue in a nearby shop called ''El Vaticano''. In the shop was the statue by an anonymous Italian sculptor who fashioned a likeness of the child Jesus with a cross in the back, as in Rizzo's vision. Rizzo ordered the cross to be removed from his back and that the owner inscribe the words ''Yo reinaré'' (English: I will reign) at the base of the statue, which he brought to his new parish, where he began to preach about the favors the Christ Child does for those who have faith and who help the poor."Our Stained Glass Windows", St. Thomas Acquinas Chapel, park Slope, Brooklyn

Apparition to Mother Angelica

Foundress of Eternal World Television Network,

Mother Angelica Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation (born Rita Antoinette Rizzo; April 20, 1923 – March 27, 2016), commonly referred to as Mother Angelica, was an American Roman Catholic nun of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. She was known fo ...

has a strong devotion to the

. Various religious reports claim that in 1995, she travelled in

to expand their evangelizing work of her then-new network in the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

. In

, Angelica met Padre Juan Pablo Rodriguez, who introduced her and her companion sisters to the shrine of the Divino Niño. Angelica recalled that upon praying before the image, the statue came alive and spoke to her, commanding her to build a temple where he will bless her benefactors. In a later biography by Raymond Arroyo, Angelica recalls that she has brief conversations with the child Jesus and has also seen him in the hallway of her convent. Mother Angelica brought this devotion back with her to

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, where she and her companion sisters propagate the devotion. A variant of their child Jesus image portrays him holding a burning heart, rather than with the traditional outstretched arms found in Bogotá. Angelica also attributes her many network and television successes to this pious religious devotion. On her visit to Colombia noted that she shared the same last name as the founder of the devotion,

Father John Rizzo. Mother Angelica's birth name was Rita Antoinette Rizzo."El Divino Niño in Columbia", EWTN
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History

The statue

Apparition to Mother Angelica

References

See also