Scientific investigation of Christ statue weeping blood in Bolivia

[Spiderman]

Since March of 1995, a statue of Jesus crowned with thorns in Cochabamba has been shedding tears and blood.

Bishop Bialasik said scientific studies under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Castanon, who has also captured the phenomenon on video, have shown that the blood coming from the statue is human.

Bolivian bishops cautiously investigate bleeding statue of Christ

 

[psychoslice]

I don't buy it at all.

 

[Spiderman]

I don't buy it at all.

I guess the part that intrigues me is that there has been a scientific investigation of it

 

[psychoslice]

I guess the part that intrigues me is that there has been a scientific investigation of it

Yes, but who are the scientist, and I suppose they are catholic, India is the same, they have so many preforming so called miracles, but all have been proven to be mere tricks.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

If I were Jesus, I'd be weeping, too.

 

[psychoslice]

Non-drying oils, such as olive oil, have been used in the past to saturate statues that later appear to be bleeding or weeping.

 

[Spiderman]

Non-drying oils, such as olive oil, have been used in the past to saturate statues that later appear to be bleeding or weeping.

That is something to consider

 

[psychoslice]

That is something to consider

I think that is why the bible is full of so called miracles, the simple minded people back then were drawn to such things as miracles, and I think its the same with the weeping statues, whoever is doing this probably doing it to bring more believes to god, so in their heart they believe they are doing good, well that's what I believe.

 

[psychoslice]

For those who wish to create their own weeping statue, Italian skeptic Luigi Garlaschelli describes one way to do it:

What is needed is a hollow statue made of a porous material such as plaster or ceramic. The icon must be glazed or painted with some sort of impermeable coating. If the statue is then filled up with a liquid (surreptitiously, through a tiny hole in the head, for example), the porous material will absorb it, but the glazing will stop it from flowing out. If the glazing, however, is imperceptibly scratched away on or around the eyes, tear-like drops will leak out, as if materializing from thin air. If the cavity behind the eyes is small enough, once all the liquid has dripped out there are virtually no traces left in the icon. When I put it to the test, this trick proved to be very satisfactory, baffling all onlookers.*

 

[Spiderman]

I think that is why the bible is full of so called miracles, the simple minded people back then were drawn to such things as miracles, and I think its the same with the weeping statues, whoever is doing this probably doing it to bring more believes to god, so in their heart they believe they are doing good, well that's what I believe.

You could be right. I don't know what to believe

 

[psychoslice]

You could be right. I don't know what to believe

Don't believe anything, just keep asking questions and observe thoroughly, and you will never be wrong, or right lol.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Holy crap... he almost looks like he has been up all night trying to win a debate on RF.

 

[George-ananda]

I do believe there are miracles such as this giving signs to the faithful. First I've heard of this particular one though so I can't say much.

 

[George-ananda]

@PopeADope This got me intrigued so I looked it up on the internet and learned more.

Skeptics Convinced
On 25th May 1995, Oswaldo Rioja, a reporter from Channel 4 Television in Cochabamba, and his camera assistant, were assigned to report on the story. They did not believe the claims. At 5:00 pm on that day they set up their camera in front of the statue, and watched and waited. Within about 45 minutes the statue began to shed what seemed to be tears from the eyes which turned to blood, and to then shed what seemed to be blood from locations on the head. They were convinced that what they saw and filmed was not the product of a trick or fraud.

A Commission of Enquiry, set up by the local Bishop, Bishop Rene Fernandez, has declared the event authentic and has authorized the veneration of the statue.

The Camera Records the Falling Tears
During the production of the documentary, the statue wept on two occasions whilst the camera was rolling. The film footage of the tears falling is probably unparalleled in history.

The Scientific Examination
Within hours after the weeping, the statue was subjected to a CAT scan analysis which was filmed. That analysis showed that the statue was solid plaster with a void of air inside. No liquids or mechanisms were found inside it. If there was a perforation in the plaster at any point, even the thickness of a human hair, the CAT scan would have detected it.

The sample of the blood like substance from the statue was given to Gentest Laboratories in the United States for testing. The laboratory was not told the origin of the sample. They found that the substance was blood and that it contained human DNA. An Australian State Government Forensic Testing Laboratory confirmed the American findings when they tested another sample which was given to them.

In August 1995, whilst Dr. Castanon and I were in Cochabamba for the filming of the documentary, Dr. Castanon removed from the head region of the plaster statue a piece of what appeared to be a dried blood scab from the many encrustations of blood that had formed around the crown of thorns region of the head of the statue of Christ.

The scab like substance was transported in a test tube to Australia where I had it analyzed by another Australian Forensic Laboratory. In transit the particle seemed to have broken apart, and part of the sample was found to be blood. One part was found not to be blood, nor to be of human origin, and this surprised us. Subsequent examination of this particle by a forensic specialist, who knew nothing of the origin of the sample, concluded that the particle was "the tip of a vicious thorn or spine from an arid region possibly from a date palm or hawthorn bush". Legend has it that Christ's crown of thorns was made from such a hawthorn bush.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

I guess the part that intrigues me is that there has been a scientific investigation of it

Bishop Bialasik said scientific studies under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Castanon, who has also captured the phenomenon on video, have shown that the blood coming from the statue is human.

It was a study to show it was human blood. That is all the article says about the nature of the study. It also does not provide that study. Without the actual study we can't determine its scope or legitimacy.

 

[danieldemol]

They should record the DNA of the blood, so it can be tested against the dna of other alleged items such as the shroud of Turin, various tombs of Jesus etc.

If the dna all match or mismatch it would tell us more scientifically.

 

[Altfish]

@PopeADope This got me intrigued so I looked it up on the internet and learned more.

Skeptics Convinced
On 25th May 1995, Oswaldo Rioja, a reporter from Channel 4 Television in Cochabamba, and his camera assistant, were assigned to report on the story. They did not believe the claims. At 5:00 pm on that day they set up their camera in front of the statue, and watched and waited. Within about 45 minutes the statue began to shed what seemed to be tears from the eyes which turned to blood, and to then shed what seemed to be blood from locations on the head. They were convinced that what they saw and filmed was not the product of a trick or fraud.

A Commission of Enquiry, set up by the local Bishop, Bishop Rene Fernandez, has declared the event authentic and has authorized the veneration of the statue.

The Camera Records the Falling Tears
During the production of the documentary, the statue wept on two occasions whilst the camera was rolling. The film footage of the tears falling is probably unparalleled in history.

The Scientific Examination
Within hours after the weeping, the statue was subjected to a CAT scan analysis which was filmed. That analysis showed that the statue was solid plaster with a void of air inside. No liquids or mechanisms were found inside it. If there was a perforation in the plaster at any point, even the thickness of a human hair, the CAT scan would have detected it.

The sample of the blood like substance from the statue was given to Gentest Laboratories in the United States for testing. The laboratory was not told the origin of the sample. They found that the substance was blood and that it contained human DNA. An Australian State Government Forensic Testing Laboratory confirmed the American findings when they tested another sample which was given to them.

In August 1995, whilst Dr. Castanon and I were in Cochabamba for the filming of the documentary, Dr. Castanon removed from the head region of the plaster statue a piece of what appeared to be a dried blood scab from the many encrustations of blood that had formed around the crown of thorns region of the head of the statue of Christ.

The scab like substance was transported in a test tube to Australia where I had it analyzed by another Australian Forensic Laboratory. In transit the particle seemed to have broken apart, and part of the sample was found to be blood. One part was found not to be blood, nor to be of human origin, and this surprised us. Subsequent examination of this particle by a forensic specialist, who knew nothing of the origin of the sample, concluded that the particle was "the tip of a vicious thorn or spine from an arid region possibly from a date palm or hawthorn bush". Legend has it that Christ's crown of thorns was made from such a hawthorn bush.

Can you provide a link to that study please.

 

[Altfish]

I've googled quotes from that article they all seem to lead back to this web page...

Visions of Jesus Christ.com - The Weeping and Bleeding Jesus statue in Bolivia.

On the Visions of Jesus Christ webpage!!

It is interesting that all the scientific tests on blood seem to have been carried out on samples handed to laboratories - what is to stop the samples being from blood of anyone? I think you call it the 'chain of evidence' to prove that it hasn't been tampered with.

As usual, I'm very sceptical of this sort of story. More Evidence please.

 

[Kapalika]

For those who wish to create their own weeping statue, Italian skeptic Luigi Garlaschelli describes one way to do it:

What is needed is a hollow statue made of a porous material such as plaster or ceramic. The icon must be glazed or painted with some sort of impermeable coating. If the statue is then filled up with a liquid (surreptitiously, through a tiny hole in the head, for example), the porous material will absorb it, but the glazing will stop it from flowing out. If the glazing, however, is imperceptibly scratched away on or around the eyes, tear-like drops will leak out, as if materializing from thin air. If the cavity behind the eyes is small enough, once all the liquid has dripped out there are virtually no traces left in the icon. When I put it to the test, this trick proved to be very satisfactory, baffling all onlookers.*

I was thinking something along this lines could be done but actually with blood. If you're going to that way, why not go all the way?

 

[Spiderman]

@PopeADope This got me intrigued so I looked it up on the internet and learned more.

Skeptics Convinced
On 25th May 1995, Oswaldo Rioja, a reporter from Channel 4 Television in Cochabamba, and his camera assistant, were assigned to report on the story. They did not believe the claims. At 5:00 pm on that day they set up their camera in front of the statue, and watched and waited. Within about 45 minutes the statue began to shed what seemed to be tears from the eyes which turned to blood, and to then shed what seemed to be blood from locations on the head. They were convinced that what they saw and filmed was not the product of a trick or fraud.

A Commission of Enquiry, set up by the local Bishop, Bishop Rene Fernandez, has declared the event authentic and has authorized the veneration of the statue.

The Camera Records the Falling Tears
During the production of the documentary, the statue wept on two occasions whilst the camera was rolling. The film footage of the tears falling is probably unparalleled in history.

The Scientific Examination
Within hours after the weeping, the statue was subjected to a CAT scan analysis which was filmed. That analysis showed that the statue was solid plaster with a void of air inside. No liquids or mechanisms were found inside it. If there was a perforation in the plaster at any point, even the thickness of a human hair, the CAT scan would have detected it.

The sample of the blood like substance from the statue was given to Gentest Laboratories in the United States for testing. The laboratory was not told the origin of the sample. They found that the substance was blood and that it contained human DNA. An Australian State Government Forensic Testing Laboratory confirmed the American findings when they tested another sample which was given to them.

In August 1995, whilst Dr. Castanon and I were in Cochabamba for the filming of the documentary, Dr. Castanon removed from the head region of the plaster statue a piece of what appeared to be a dried blood scab from the many encrustations of blood that had formed around the crown of thorns region of the head of the statue of Christ.

The scab like substance was transported in a test tube to Australia where I had it analyzed by another Australian Forensic Laboratory. In transit the particle seemed to have broken apart, and part of the sample was found to be blood. One part was found not to be blood, nor to be of human origin, and this surprised us. Subsequent examination of this particle by a forensic specialist, who knew nothing of the origin of the sample, concluded that the particle was "the tip of a vicious thorn or spine from an arid region possibly from a date palm or hawthorn bush". Legend has it that Christ's crown of thorns was made from such a hawthorn bush.

Knew I could count on an awesome post from saint George. Thanks!