Spirituality

Pope comments on Virgin Mary statue 'tears of blood' controversy

By T.K. Randall
June 5, 2023

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Maria Giuseppe Scarpulla is certainly no stranger to divine intervention - for many years she had attracted considerable crowds to a statue of the Virgin Mary at a park near Lake Bracciano where various miracles, including the weeping of tears of blood, had allegedly occurred.

While many of those in attendance had prayed to the statue for healing, local bishop Marco Salvi recently called upon people to boycott the scene while an investigation could be carried out.

According to reports, several of Scarpulla's followers had complained that they had been scammed and a private investigator found evidence to suggest that the blood on the statue was from a pig.

Scarpulla herself has a history of dubious conduct including bankruptcy fraud and had set up a foundation accepting donations that she claimed would go towards setting up a children's center.As things stand, she still attends the statue at the park, but her audience is significantly reduced.

"Don't look there," Pope Francis recently stated during an interview.

"There are images of the Madonna that are real, but the Madonna has never drawn [attention] to herself. I like to see her with her finger pointing up to Jesus."

"When Marian devotion is too self-centred, it's not good. Both in the devotion and in the people who carry it forward."

Source: The Guardian

Tags: Pope, Mary