Mexico: host bleeds, medicine confirms the miracle

On 12 October 2013, Rev. Alejo Zavala Castro, Bishop of the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, announced through a Pastoral Letter the recognition of the Eucharistic Miracle which took place in Tixtla on 21 October 2006. The letter reads: “This event brings us a wonderful sign of God's love that confirms the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist ... In my role as Bishop of the Diocese I recognize the supernatural character of the series of events relating to the bleeding Host of Tixtla ... I declare the case as a "divine sign … ”On 21 October 2006, during the Eucharistic Celebration in Tixtla, in the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, the effusion of a reddish substance from a consecrated Host was noted. The Bishop of the place, Mgr.Alejo Zavala Castro, then convened a Theological Commission of Inquiry and, in October 2009, invited Dr. Ricardo Castañón Gómez, to take the lead of the scientific research program whose purpose was precisely to verification of this event. The Mexican ecclesiastical authorities turned to Dr. Castañón Gómez because they were aware that, in the years 1999-2006, the scientist had conducted some studies on two bleeding consecrated Hosts also in the Parish of Santa Maria, in Buenos Aires. The Mexican case begins in October 2006, when Father Leopoldo Roque, pastor of the parish of San Martino di Tours, invites Father Raymundo Reyna Esteban to lead a spiritual retreat or his parishioners. While Father Leopoldo and another priest were distributing Communion, assisted by a nun who was to the left of Father Raymundo, the latter turns to him with the "pix" containing the Sacred Particles, looking at the Father with eyes full of tears. , an incident that immediately attracted the celebrant's attention: the Host he had taken to give Communion to a parishioner had begun to pour a reddish substance.

The scientific research conducted between October 2009 and October 2012 reached the following conclusions, presented on May 25, 2013 during an international symposium held by the Diocese of Chilpancingo, on the occasion of the Year of Faith, and which saw the participation of millions of people from four continents.

1. The reddish substance analyzed corresponds to the blood in which hemoglobin and DNA of human origin are present.
2. Two studies conducted by eminent forensic experts with different methodologies have shown that the substance comes from within, excluding the hypothesis that someone may have placed it from the outside.
3. The blood group is AB, similar to that found in the Host of Lanciano and in the Holy Shroud of Turin.
4. A microscopic analysis of the enlargement and penetration reveals that the upper part of the blood has been coagulated since October 2006. Furthermore, the inner layers below reveal, in February 2010, the presence of fresh blood.
5. They also found intact active white blood cells, red blood cells, and macrophages that engulf lipids. The tissue in question appears torn and with recovery mechanisms, exactly as it happens in living tissue.
6. A further histopathological analysis determines the presence of protein structures in a state of degradation, suggesting mesenchymal cells, highly specialized cells, characterized by a high biophysiological dynamism.
7. Immunohistochemical studies reveal that the tissue found corresponds to the heart muscle (myocardium). In consideration of the scientific results and the conclusions reached by the theological commission, on 12 October the Bishop of Chilpancingo, His Eminence Alejo Zavala Castro, announced the following: - The event has no natural explanation. - It has no paranormal origin. - It is not attributable to the manipulation of the enemy.