Last month, the Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace X account shared a story of what it said could be a “Eucharistic Miracle,” centered around communion wafers. However, an analysis revealed that the apparent miracle was just common bacteria.
KYW Newsradio reported on the incident out of Morris, Ind., this week.
“The archdiocese had the wafer tested at a lab, and it turned out the red stuff wasn’t the blood of Christ, but rather a colony of bacteria that usually turns up when people don’t wash their hands,” said KYW, citing an Associated Press report. “The only miracle they’re hoping for now is that everyone at St. Anthony’s church starts using hand sanitizer.”
According to the Feb. 24 X post, a communion host – consecrated wafers that represent the “body of Christ” – was dropped at the church on Feb. 21 during daily mass. That wafer was put into water and left in the church’s tabernacle, a locked box where the hosts are kept.
“A few hours later the priest found another host that had been dropped somewhere and placed that in the tabernacle as well,” said the post. A follow up post said that when a sacristan – a person responsible for taking care of items used by the church – was preparing for evening mass the following day, they found that the hosts had dissolved.
They also found what looked like spots of blood in the water where the hosts were left to dissolve.
“She immediately showed the priest, they removed it from the water and kept it in the tabernacle. When I saw it today it looked like a very very thin piece of skin with blood on it,” said the X post.
This Monday, Catholic News Agency followed up on the discovery and a subsequent investigation into whether it could be a miracle. It explained that the Vatican developed its practice regarding potential supernatural events such as miracles and issued new guidelines on the topic last year. In the case of the Indiana communion wafers, CNA reported that a scientific analysis found that the cause of the red spots was natural, not miraculous.
“A biochemical analysis of a host from St. Anthony Catholic Church in Morris, Indiana, that was displaying red discoloration revealed the presence of a common bacteria found on all humans,” said a statement the Archdiocese of Indianapolis provided to CNA. “No presence of human blood was discovered.”
Red spots that looked like blood were actually due to common bacteria and fungus, the report added.
“The host had fallen out of a Mass kit used at the parish, and when it was discovered, red spots were present,” the archdiocese stated. “Following policy established by the Holy See, the host was submitted for professional, biochemical analysis at a local laboratory. The results indicate the presence of fungus and three different species of bacteria, all of which are commonly found on human hands.”