From: "Santosh Helekar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As you can see from the post quoted below, contrary to earlier claims
not even a bureaucratic committee meeting was called to certify these
incredible "miracles", let alone follow any kind of genuine scientific
procedure.
***It was subsequently studied by a Committee. Dr.Santosh is conveniently
forgetting that it has happened instantly: the white host made out of bread
has turned into flesh and blood. It has been witnessed several times by the
people who were present. If this happens while we are distributing
Communion, what proof do we require? What scientific phenomenon is this? He
can always coin new terms for these phenomena, but is not able to explain
them away. Not being a scientist, I would explain it in terms of Jesus, who
spoke of his own body and blood, his glorified body. This would be for me
more than a proof... But we do not need to see all these phenomena, since
our faith is rooted in the words of Our Lord. These cases abound.
The supernatural claims made by an individual and her priests were
accepted without any independent verification by unbiased expert
observers or by any kind of actual tests to ascertain whether real flesh
and blood had materialized.
***These are facts witnessed by sound people. Senses do not fail. These
phenomena have been witnessed by the late Holy Father John Paul. Was it
nuclear cloning? Was it hallucination? It was flesh and blood. How can flesh
and blood be produced in believer's mouth after she received the sacred
host? Can an "unbiased expert observer" deny the fact? Where is bias in this
case? Where is deception in this case? I am ready to hear from Dr.Santosh
any scientific explanation for the phenomenon and then verify it with the
help of another scientist.
Nobody bothered to investigate whether they were human flesh and blood.
***What else could be? Bird's flesh and bird, produced by a magician in that
sacred moment?
No samples of the flesh and blood were preserved for a subsequent
thorough scientific examination to rule out the very likely possibility
of pious fraud, and to establish the validity of not just the immediate
extraordinary claims, but indeed the tenability of the entire belief
system surrounding them.
***This is wrong. The report speaks of later investigation. How can it be
"pious fraud"? Has Julia Kim done it in the presence of so many people? Has
she put hen's meat in her mouth? Is this the scientific explanation? How is
at stake the "tenability of the entire belief system"? On the contrary,
these are signs of faith rooted in historical facts, the Last Supper, the
death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
Dr.Santosh is trying to condemn religious rites with his scientific myopia.
Let him be more serious in his statements, or at least recognize that it is
not possible for him to give a verdict on these Christian dogmas. Dogma has
arisen from the faith in the words of Jesus. The words of Jesus can be
verified in several ways. Dr.Santosh is welcome to shed light on
superstitions and snatch them away from our society...
A real scientific procedure would demand one to find out if the tissue
and blood in question matches that of anybody connected with this
event, primarily Julia Kim.
***The host is turned into flesh and blood as soon as she receives the
sacred bread into her mouth. How can it be of Julia Kim? Magic? Common sense
would exclude this "scientific" hypothesis of Dr.Santosh. This has been
repeating itself several times in the presence of so many people. The Bishop
is a witness. Julia Kim is not a magician, but a simple believer. She
believes in the dogma of "transsubstantiation". Here is a sign.
Scientists would want to know if both X and Y chromosomes were present in
the cells from the flesh and in the white blood cells, because of the
claim of virgin birth.
***Why to involve the scientists in another controversy? There are grounds
to accept "virginal conception" (not "virginal birth") of Jesus in the
historical tradition of the Gospels. I shall not delve into this more
complex question whether there are X and Y chromosomes?
They would ask that nuclear and mitochondrial DNA be sequenced, so Korean
ancestry could be ruled in or out, and the correct geneology be
determined.
***Whose genealogy? Korean ancestry? Why? Is this flesh coming from her
stomach?
The level of gullibility displayed in the quoted post indicates that the
people involved in propagating such "miracles" do not want their claims
to be subjected to real scientific tests, and face the prospect of
disillusionment.
**The best solution would be to take Dr.Santosh for the scientific
"discovery". To speak of "gullibility" in this case is another un-scientific
statement. We do not need to propagate these "miracles", they have happened
several times in history of Christianity and have been investigated by
scientists, except by Dr.Santosh... Thanks for suggesting "scientific tests"
for these phenomena! I shall propose them to the bishops, whom I know. I
know one of the bishops of Sarawak in Malaysia, where this phenomenon took
place...
Regards.
Fr.Ivo
