As a gift for Pope John Paul II the archbishop of Salzburg ordered the “Heart of the World“. The words of the prophet Ezechiel (XXXVI, 26) engraved on the base (“Et dabo vobis cor novum, et spiritum novum ponam in medio vesti: et auferam cor lapideum de carne vestra, et dabo vobis cor carneum”) provide the theme for the sculpture:
To throw away our hearts hardened through envy, avarice, greed and arrogance and replace them with a new heart of flesh full of love for our next – symbolized by a portrait of Pope John Paul II protecting a child. The pilgrims stick and the empty coat symbolize the end of our long voyage to purity as explained by the apostle Paulus in his letters to the Colosseas (3, 9-11).