An investigation into a Virgin Mary statue seen crying at a church in New Mexico has produced more questions than answers. The sculpture, located at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in the town of Hobbs, made headlines back in May after members of the congregation noticed that it appeared to be weeping. As is often the case with such potentially miraculous events, word of the crying statue soon spread, the site was swamped with visitors, and church officials promised to look into the matter to see if they could determine what caused the weird weeping.
However, in something of a departure from what we've seen with other crying statue stories, the results of the promised investigation have come to light and they are rather remarkable. A test of the 'tears' by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces reportedly determined that they were composed of scented olive oil akin to the kind used for various church ceremonies such as confirmations and baptisms. While more cynical observers may declare that the findings prove the tears were fabricated by someone within the church, investigators say that such a scenario, while possible, is pretty doubtful.
According to them, the statue itself was subjected to a rigorous examination and church officials found no indication of anything amiss on the inside of the piece. They exterior, they say, is composed of a hardened bronze which led the lead investigator to concede that, were the tears an elaborate hoax, "we are not sure how it would be done, physically." The possibility that the liquid was somehow produced by the bronze itself was also ruled out after they tracked down the manufacturer of the statue and were told that this was an impossibility.
Following the fairly comprehensive investigation, church officials are largely left scratching their heads as to what may have caused the tears. Lest one believe that this means that the phenomenon was definitely a miracle, the bishop in charge of the study noted that, should the tears be deemed supernatural by the church, there is another chilling possibility: that they came from an evil spirit. That said, he suggested that testimony from members of the congregation have, so far, revealed a positive impact from the event, indicating that this was probably not a nefarious trick performed by sinister forces.
As to who makes the final call regarding the nature of the statue, the bishop said that he is "checking best practices" and, while he would be able to provide his own take on the matter, would likely "defer to the wisdom of Pope Francis" when it came to the final word. What's your take on the results of the investigation? Let us know at the Coast to Coast AM Facebook page.