Priest to study weeping Madonna

A SMALL fibreglass Madonna hailed as a miracle

Tue, 18 Feb, 2003 - 00:00

thousands of pilgrims because it was reportedly weeping, has been taken off display order of the Catholic Archbishop of Perth, Barry Hickey.

The Australian archbishop yesterday said he had decided to move it south from Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Rockingham, while he examined the findings of a panel of experts appointed to report on the phenomenon.

“The parish priest will be absent from the parish for a while and I thought it wise to cease public veneration pending conclusion of my consideration of the investigation,” he said.

In November he commissioned a team of scientists to determine whether the statue was a fake.

The team have handed him a report after studying the 70 centimetre (28 inch) sculpture.

The Madonna reportedly began to “cry” last March during the feast of St Joseph.

Church officials say it stopped weeping in mid-January.

The statue was bought by a parishioner, Patty Powell, for US$85 (79) in a Thai religious shop eight years ago.