Case file · Apparition / miracle
Weeping statuette of Civitavecchia
From 2 February 1995 a small Medjugorje statue in the garden of the Gregori family at Civitavecchia was reported to weep blood 14 times; DNA tests found male human blood.
1995 CE · 42.09, 11.80 · status: disputed
The sceptical view
A magistrate's inquiry for fraud was dropped; the family refused DNA tests. The Church never approved it.
The researched reading
A statue that wept human male blood, in a family that declined to be compared with it. Fraud was never proven in court, but human application of the liquid remains the most likely explanation.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Undetermined | 43% | The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way. |
| A cultural story | 18% | The statue came from Medjugorje, and the Civitavecchia events followed a long Italian tradition of weeping images, which shapes expectations and how traces are read. The bishop, who said he saw it weep, became a devoted promoter. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 15% | The blood was human and male; the statue had no internal reservoir, so the liquid was applied, and the male Gregori family members refused DNA comparison. Every proven weeping statue so far has turned out to be a human application of a liquid. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 12% | Witnesses including Bishop Grillo reported seeing tears form; expectation and an already-wet surface can make liquid seem to appear. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 10% | The fraud case was closed and the family acquitted in 2000, and a bishop testified to a direct sighting, so fraud was never proven in court. Still, human male blood on a hollow statue is a strong pointer to human action. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 2% | Condensation or glaze faults cannot produce human blood. |
Official position: A magistrate’s fraud inquiry was closed and the family acquitted; the local bishop supported the events, but the Church has never formally approved them.