Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega of Guadalajara, Mexico, recently spoke out about an alleged Eucharistic miracle posted on social media that supposedly occurred at a parish in his archdiocese.
Speaking to the press July 31, Cardinal Robles said the case is “very serious, because it’s a matter of the greatest sacrament of our faith, where we are certain, sure of the real, living presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.”
“It’s a very sensitive issue that some extraordinary element be recorded or made official without the ecclesiastical authority knowing what happened, reviewing the details that have to be reviewed in order to say that it’s a supernatural, prodigious act, a miracle,” he said.
The cardinal noted that “up to this moment I haven’t received any report from the parish priest, nor from the priest who led the prayer, nor from the faithful themselves who experienced what they saw.”
“Absolutely no one has approached me to say, ‘Here’s what happened, the evidence we have; you decide.’ No one has approached me,” he noted.
The cardinal spoke in response to concerns about the alleged Eucharistic miracle, which was video recorded July 22 at Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Zapotlanejo, about 20 miles east of Guadalajara.
The videos, posted on social media, seem to show the Host, exposed in a monstrance for Eucharistic adoration, “beating” or “palpitating,” as if it were a heart.
Father Carlos Spahn, who offered the preceding Mass and led the prayers for Eucharistic adoration during which the alleged Eucharistic miracle took place, on July 26 told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency, that what is seen in the videos is “authentic” and the fact that not everyone present saw it “shows its divine origin.”
Father Spahn is an Argentine priest, the founder and superior of the Religious Family of the Immaculate Heart and Divine Mercy. He was conducting a mission at Our Lady of the Rosary parish and was only there a short time.
Speaking July 31, Cardinal Robles warned: “Imagine that someone puts together a possible miracle scenario and then the authority simply declares it to be so, and afterward it’s proven to be a vile setup.”
“Where is the seriousness of the issue, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, and where is the authority of the Church?” he questioned, warning that “it’s a very sensitive and serious issue.”
The archbishop of Guadalajara reiterated that, “up to now, I have no means to make a pronouncement” on the authenticity or falsity of the alleged Eucharistic miracle.
“I would have to do a painstaking investigation and come to determine what it is,” he said.
The archbishop said that “there are videos of so many things, and so many things can be created that seem real and are not.”
“It is very sensitive, feelings are at play, with the faith of the people, it discredits the authority, the seriousness of the Church,” he lamented.
The cardinal also stressed that, “for the Church, in each Eucharist that is celebrated, Jesus becomes really and truly present in the consecrated bread and in the consecrated wine, regardless of whether it bleeds, palpitates, or it doesn’t palpitate.”
“The miracle is that the living presence of Jesus Christ is realized, and our faith does not ordinarily need these supernatural manifestations,” he pointed out.
“That which is presented as a Eucharistic miracle,” he said, “must be verified with all seriousness and all formality.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.