Ploermel, France - A French town has gone ahead with plans to erect a giant statue of Pope John Paul II despite protests from residents who complain it is a waste of public money.
The eight-metre (25-foot) bronze statue of the late pontiff -- mounted with an arch and a cross -- was set up in the town of Ploermel in northwestern Brittany on Tuesday, according to a group opposed to the project.
Some 500 people marched earlier this month against the plan by the local mayor and have filed a legal appeal accusing him of misuse of public funds.
The concrete and granite plinth on which the statue stands cost the Breton municipality 8,000 euros (10,200 dollars) and the mayor has allocated an overall budget of 30,000 euros to the project.
The statue itself is a gift from the Russian artist Zurab Tseretely, president of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts.
Its formal inauguration was pushed back a day to December 10 to avoid coinciding with the anniversary of a much-treasured French law separating the church from the state.