‘Weeping’ statue of Our Lady is nothing but a fake, says archbishop

BY FREDDY GRAY
THE CHURCH in Australia has rejected as fraudulent an apparently miraculous “weeping” statue of the Virgin Mary.
Thousands of pilgrims have flocked to the Vietnamese Community Centre church at Inala, near Brisbane, Western Australia, to wonder at the statue, as well as a “bleeding” crucifix, and other phenomena. But a commission established by Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane concluded that the “extraordinary occurrences” were not miraculous.
Fr Adrian Farrelly was put in charge of an investigation of the Vietnamese Community Church. The statue of the Virgin Mary, the object that attracted most attention from visitors, was X-rayed and subjected to rigorous scientific tests, and people associ ated with the centre or the apparitions were interviewed.
The rose-scented oily drops found on the statue were not supernatural tears, but a substance readily available in shops. The red liquid discovered on the crucifix was also suspicious, and had no chemical resemblance to blood.
The discoveries led investigators to suspect that the tears were not divine intervention but a hoax. “It is possible that the substance was applied by human hands,” said Archbishop Bathersby. “The commission cannot therefore be satisfied that the phenomenon was, within the proper meaning of the word, a miracle.
“As Archbishop of Brisbane, I must declare that what has happened at Inala cannot be said to be of supernatural origin.” The Christian Supplies Shop, which sold the statue of Mary to the Vietnamese Community Church, was cleared of its stock after news of the extraordinary ‘“Weeping Mary” emerged. The shop manager, Damian Salvati, claimed to have sold more than 120 statues of the Virgin Mary and 10 kilograms of rosary beads to enthused Catholics. “I would estimate we have sold between $6,000 [£2,300] and $10,000 [£3,800] worth of stock because of this,” he said.
Archbishop Bathersby ordered local Church officials to remove all the controversial religious objects from areas of public veneration, and called for a thorough account of all donations from pilgrims to the spurious shrine. “When that task is completed I shall, in full consultation with the executive committee of the Vietnamese Catholic Community, make decisions as to where those funds shall be directed,” he said.
On Palm Sunday this year, a fibreglass statue of the Virgin Mary in Perth, Western Australia, apparently began to weep again. In 2002, scientific tests revealed tears on the statue were a combination of rose oil and vegetable oil, and Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth asked Patty Powell, the owner of the statue, to remove it from her local church.
However, thousands of pilgrims still flock to worship at Ms Powell’s home, where she displays the statue four times a week.
Last year, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith announced that between 1905 and 1995 there were 295 reported visions, messages, stigmata, weeping statues and Eucharistic miracles, only 11 of which might possibly be authentic.