A Roman Catholic archdiocese has concluded that no miracle was involved in a communion wafer showing red spots resembling blood, refuting earlier claims.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis investigated claims that a communion host from a mass held at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Morris had showed signs of miraculously bleeding.
However, the results of a laboratory examining the wafer showed no signs of bleeding, according to a statement the archdiocese gave to the Catholic site Our Sunday Visitor.
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“A biochemical analysis of a host from St. Anthony Catholic Church in Morris, Ind., that was displaying red discoloration revealed the presence of a common bacteria found on all humans,” stated the archdiocese. “No presence of human blood was discovered.”
“Following policy established by the Holy See, the host was submitted for professional, biochemical analysis at a local laboratory. … The results indicate the presence of fungus and three different species of bacteria, all of which are commonly found on human hands.”
The Indianapolis Archdiocese went on to state that in “the history of the Catholic Church, there have been well-documented miracles and apparitions, and each has been thoroughly and carefully reviewed.”
Last month, a Catholic group known as the Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace posted on Facebook the claim of an unnamed individual that a miraculous event took place at her church.
According to the account, two pieces of the wafer were dropped during a mass and they were put into water to dissolve. Hours later, however, the host was found to have red spots on it.
“She immediately showed the priest, they removed it from the water and kept it in the tabernacle. When I saw it today it looked like a very thin piece of skin with blood on it,” stated the witness, as quoted by CCUP.
For its part, CCUP posted a link on Tuesday to a news report announcing the results of the wafer test, with the caption: “Sad to report.”
For centuries, there have been periodic reports in Catholic churches of communion wafers miraculously bleeding. These purported miracles allude to the Catholic teaching of transubstantiation, which says that, during the mass, the communion elements transform into the body and blood of Jesus.
In 2016, Bishop Zbigniew Kiernikowski of Legnica, Poland, announced that a communion host that appeared to bleed after a 2013 worship service had been confirmed as miraculous.
According to the bishop’s announcement, the host had been examined and found to have “fragmented parts of the cross striated muscle” which “is most similar to the heart muscle.”
