Photo via DAILY MAIL
USA TODAY: When Father Bob Simon was in 7th grade, he tried to build a replica of the Vatican out of red and blue Legos but it didn’t look “anything like the real thing.” Since his first attempt, he’s “had it in his mind” that he would one day build a replica of the Vatican and St. Peter’s Square. In September of 2014, he began building a replica ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia. “It took about ten months,” Simon, 50, told USA TODAY Network. “I was buying bricks [Legos] for about two years before I started.” Simon said he used nearly half a million Legos to complete the replica, which is on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The replica features a mini figure of the pope waving to a crowd and an array of other figures from nuns with iPhones to robbers, characters with sombreros and Elvis. MORE