Believers rush to witness 'miracle' as Virgin Mary statue 'cries blood' over plan to relax abortion laws
It has been reported that a statue of the Virgin Mary in Argentina has allegedly cried "tears of blood" with many believers rushing to the scene to see what some pious devotees have described as a "miracle". The small figurine, painted in gold, is known as the Virgin of the Mystic Rose and is located in the town of San Jose de Metan in Argentina. The figurine is said to have been caught on camera with a red liquid flowing down its face. Some of the locals have claimed that the small statue is "weeping" because there was a push to relax the strict Catholic country's abortion laws. The owner of the figurine has said that it has cried blood before but that there was now "evidence" of the strange phenomenon captured on camera.
The footage that was captured shows the face of the figurine with what looks like blood running down both the cheeks. The small stature was initially located in a home in a small town located in the north-western province of Salta. It was moved to the church at some point where it now resides, reported The Sun.
Frias Mendoza, the owner of the statue, has said that he has personally seen the figurine shed tears, which are reportedly made of crystals at times and a blood-like liquid at other times, a few times in the past year. He has also claimed that the Virgin Mary had visited him in a dream the night before he had first seen the "miracle". He said: "I thought it was some kind of punishment and was scared."
The small statue, which is 50cm (20in) tall, had been moved to the local church after the family it was previously owned by started getting so many visitors that their living room had to be turned into a shrine. Locals in the area, however, are split over the claims of the blood-like tears. Some of them have said that the statue is crying because of the government's proposals to relax the country's strict abortion laws.
On August 9, the Argentine Senate almost rejected a bill to legalize abortion in a fierce debate that had thousands in the South American nation gathering outside the government buildings waiting for some news as the arguments went on well into the early morning hours. In the end, however, the bill was defeated by 38 to 31 with two abstentions.
Others in the community are not so convinced by the tears. One commentator online, who was quite skeptical of the phenomenon, said: "The local parish priest must have done a degree in marketing."
Crying statues of the Virgin Mary have been an occurrence in many places around the world for many years now. Recently, a 7ft statue of the Virgin Mary in the US state of New Mexico was reported to have cried tears of olive oil. The church has maintained that it would always look for a scientific explanation for the phenomenon before coming to the conclusion of the supernatural being involved. So far, however, there has not been any scientific explanation for the San Jose de Metans incident.