Civitavecchia, Italy. This port city located not far from Rome, between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Tolfa Mountains, was the scene of a “supernatural phenomenon” about thirty years ago. As our colleagues at franceinfo recall, it all began on February 2, 1995, when a man, Fabio Gregori, claimed to have witnessed a real miracle. In his private garden, a statuette representing the Virgin Mary, brought back from a trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina, is said to have cried tears of blood. Tears that are said to have left a white handkerchief used to wipe them completely immaculate.
The man hastens to entrust the statue to the town priest, who also claims to have witnessed the red tears. John Paul II, then Pope, became interested in the matter and an investigation began. The analyzes then revealed that the statuette showed no cavity or porosity, and that the blood found was human blood. Two months later, in April, the public prosecutor Antonio Albano became interested in this alleged miracle, and the statue was placed under sequestration.
“The statue was returned to the church of Civitavecchia in June. The Vatican, however, did not conclude that the facts were supernatural. In question, the multiplication of miracles on other statues and images in the house of the Gregori family and the fact that Fabio has always refused any analysis of his blood to compare it to that allegedly cried by the statue”, specifies franceinfo. The same year, and following the miracle of the statuette of Civitavecchia, more than 30 similar cases were declared across the four corners of Italy.
This incredible adventure is just one of many stories about “supernatural phenomena” that the Vatican has taken an interest in. To put an end to the endless debates about miracles and other divine apparitions, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has published new rules.
According to an article from the American media The Debrief, relayed by Korii, a press conference took place in Rome on Friday May 17. Spokespeople for the Holy See said they were updating “procedural standards for the discernment of alleged supernatural phenomena.” This text indicates that the Holy See will systematically make a public declaration to recognize a miraculous phenomenon. “Until now, believers were often left to their own devices, disoriented by the lack of official validation from the Catholic Church,” Korii explains.
Further investigations will be carried out, more precisely on the phenomena which would trigger strong enthusiasm on social networks. The bishops will then be required to open an investigation. As part of the latter, a commission will be dispatched. This must be composed, at least, of a theologian, an expert and a canonist. But how will the supernatural nature or not of the phenomenon be evaluated?
To enable a proper assessment of the phenomenon, a grid has been put in place. The positive and negative points will allow us to come to six conclusions, in order of credibility:
