TIXTLA, Mexico — The case of the alleged Eucharistic miracle of Tixtla in Mexico has not yet been concluded and the decision of Pope Francis must be awaited, explained the recently retired Bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Salvador Rangel Mendoza.

In a Feb. 15 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language sister news agency, Bishop Rangel, 75, whose resignation was accepted Feb. 11,  said that “investigations continue” into what the Vatican has temporarily considered a “Eucharistic phenomenon.”

According to the local press, during the celebration of Mass on Oct. 21, 2006 in Tixtla, about 10 miles east of Chilpancingo, a nun serving as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion said she saw a reddish substance similar to blood exuding from a consecrated Host.

The investigations commissioned by then Bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Alejo Zavala Castro, led him to conclude in an Oct. 12, 2013 pastoral letter the “supernatural nature” of what happened, qualifying it as “a divine sign” and “a true miracle.”

However, his successor, Bishop Rangel, decided to carry out a new investigation, this time consulting the Vatican.

Bishop Rangel said that “I sent to ask Rome and Rome called it a ‘Eucharistic phenomenon,’ because a miracle is when the Pope declares it, as when he declares a saint, a blessed.”

The Mexican prelate said that “I ordered investigations and the conclusions have not been presented,” so “the diocesan process has not been concluded.”

The bishop emeritus of Chilpancingo-Chilapa said that when the diocesan process of investigation into the alleged Eucharistic miracle of Tixtla is completed, the findings will be forwarded to the Holy See, where the Pope will have the final decision.

“Here they kind of went ahead to declare a miracle, but officially the Pope has to declare it,” he reiterated.