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A weeping statue is a statue which has been claimed to be shedding tears or weeping by supernatural means. Statues weeping tears of a substance which appears to be blood, oil, and scented liquids have all been reported. Other claimed phenomena are sometimes associated with weeping statues such as miraculous healing, the formation of figures in the tear lines, and the scent of roses. These events are generally reported by some Christians, and initially attract some pilgrims, but are in most cases disallowed by the upper levels of the Church or proven as hoaxes. Reported weeping statues are most often of the Virgin Mary and are at times accompanied by claims of Marian apparitions. However, to date only one single example of a combined weeping statue and apparition (namely Our Lady of Akita) has been approved by the Vatican and the rest have usually been dismissed as hoaxes. An unusual nature of the Our Lady of Akita apparitions was that unlike other cases the entire nation of Japan was able to view the tears of the statue of the Virgin Mary on national television.〔''The Everything Mary Book: The Life and Legacy of the Blessed Mother'' by Jenny Schroedel, John Schroedel 2006 ISBN 1-59337-713-4 page 137-138〕 ==Hoaxes and skepticism== Authorities of the Catholic Church have been very careful in their approach and treatment of weeping statues, and generally set very high barriers for their acceptance. For instance when a statue of the popular Saint Padre Pio in Messina, Sicily was found to have tears of blood one day in 2002, Church officials quickly ordered tests that showed the blood belonged to a woman and then dismissed the case as a hoax.〔(Weeping statue of Padre Pio )〕〔(Church rules out Padre Pio tears )〕 Even at the local level, Catholic priests have expelled people who claim weeping statues from their local Church.〔(Priest Expels Weeping Statue Man )〕 Skeptics point to the fact that making a fake weeping statue is relatively easy. At some skeptic conferences, "do it yourself weeping statue kits" are on sale. Skeptics have provided examples of weeping statues that have been obvious hoaxes.〔(Hoaxes exposed )〕 Weeping statues have also been dismissed by rationalists as a purely psychological and/or fraudulent phenomenon. The witnesses are said to be deluded by their own state of mind or strong group suggestion. In this altered state of mind, they believe they see something that isn't really there.〔Nickell, Joe. (1993). ''Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions & Healing Cures''. Prometheus Books. pp. 56-57. ISBN 1-57392-680-9〕 Another possible explanation attributes the so-called tears to condensation. The tears that statues appear to weep are said to actually be beads of condensation from microscopic cracks on the surface of the statues. Unpublished reports of the testing have supposedly been able to verify this theory, but peer reviewed scientific research is rarely, if ever, carried out into the phenomenon. A number of weeping statues have been declared fake by Catholic church officials.〔YouTube on fake statue ()〕〔(Fake statues )〕〔(Fake Rockingham statue )〕〔( Fake Statue article )〕 In 1995, a Madonna statue appeared to weep blood in the town of Civitavecchia in Italy. About 60 witnesses testified to witnessing the miracle.〔(The Guardian )〕 The local bishop said that he himself had seen it weep. The blood on the statue was later found to be male. The statue’s owner, Fabio Gregori, refused to take a DNA test. After the Civitavecchia case, dozens of reputedly miraculous statues were reported. Almost all were shown to be hoaxes, where blood, red paint, or water was splashed on the faces of the statues.〔(Catholic News on Fake Weeping Statue )〕 In 2008 church custodian Vincenzo Di Costanzo went on trial in northern Italy for faking blood on a statue of the Virgin Mary when his own DNA was matched to the blood.〔(Court Trial for Fake Statue )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Weeping statue」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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