Tear of blood on statue challenges authority and creates crisis among senior clergy

The discovery was made in April, when a parishioner noticed an unusual detail on the face of the saint of Pietrelcina: a reddish tear, similar to blood, seemed to fall from his left eye.

The news quickly reached the parish priest, Father Girolamo Capuano, who went to the church to check what had happened and tried, unsuccessfully, to clean the stain. The statue of Padre Pio, which has stood at the entrance to this Italian church for two decades, was removed for examination to determine the origin of the phenomenon.

In an interview with Mediaset Italia’s Mattino Cinque program, Capuano called for caution and emphasized that bringing the matter public to clarify the facts “does not stem from any desire for popularity.”

Furthermore, he insisted that such “signs” are “given to everyone to be shared with prudence, love and discernment”, while also stating that they must be disseminated “because many people begin a journey of faith” through them.

The Italian priest, who verified through security cameras that no one had tampered with the statue, reiterated that, in his opinion, it is “an authentic sign that comes from God”, although he asked people to wait for the necessary verification.

“What convinces me most is that we have had a camera monitoring the statue day and night for more than 10 years. I personally reviewed all the recordings from the 1st to the 30th of April. The tear appeared on the 18th, or at least that was when we saw it. No one approached the statue, day or night, to do anything with it. This reinforces my personal conviction and my faith in Padre Pio,” he said.

The priest noted several striking elements: “The statue is made of fiberglass, and the reddish color of the tear raises questions. Furthermore, the path of the tear is so perfect that not even a painter like Michelangelo could reproduce something like this.”

Regardless of the results of the research, which must determine whether the stain contains hemoglobin or another substance, Capuano insists that “they cannot take our faith away from us.”

In 2015, a reported case of an image of the Virgin Mary weeping circulated in the same city, although investigations concluded that the phenomenon was caused by rainwater infiltration.

In accordance with the Vatican’s Standards for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena, the bishop of the Diocese of Capua, Pietro Lagnese, will lead the preliminary investigation before submitting the conclusions to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Vatican body responsible for Catholic orthodoxy).

According to these norms, published by the Vatican in 2024, it is up to the diocesan bishop to examine cases in dialogue with their respective episcopal conference and under the supervision of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Once the facts have been investigated, the bishop must send the results to the dicastery, which analyzes both the material received and the procedure followed by the prelate. Until the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues a definitive judgment, the bishop “will refrain from any public declaration regarding the authenticity or supernaturality of these phenomena.”

This story was originally published by ACI Prensa, EWTN News’ Spanish-language service. It was translated and adapted by EWTN News English.