Naples blood boils at miracle's 'debunking'

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Naples blood boils at miracle's 'debunking'
Times Online, UK
Sep. 20, 2005
Richard Owen in Rome


For centuries the faithful have gathered in their thousands to watch one of Christianity’s most enduring mysteries. But yesterday they were told that the “miracle of the blood” was an elaborate hoax.

Every year Neapolitans pack into the city’s cathedral to witness the “miracle”. In an atmosphere nearing hysteria, the archbishop holds up a glass phial that is said to contain the dried blood of San Gennaro, the city’s patron saint, and declares that it has liquefied.

Liquefaction, a central part of life in Naples, is held to guarantee good fortune. By contrast, its failure is thought to presage disasters ranging from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius to the defeat of Napoli football club.

But yesterday’s ceremony, which marked the 1,700th anniversary of the martyrdom of San Gennaro, was overshadowed by a claim made by an Italian scientist that the liquefaction was nothing but a fake.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/12250