VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said yesterday that Catholic Church authorities were still investigating the case of a statue of the Madonna which some faithful believe has wept blood. "The question is still under study," said the chief Vatican spokesman, Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
He issued a statement after a Rome newspaper reported that theological experts had concluded that the event, which provoked miracle mania in Italy, was "supernatural". Dr Navarro-Valls said the local church in Civitavecchia, a port city north of Rome, was not close to making a pronouncement on the case.
The Rome newspaper Il Messaggero reported that a commission had concluded after 14 meetings and some 50 eyewitness accounts that the white plaster statue had indeed shed tears of blood.