Weeping crucifix in Mumbai

The Weeping crucifix in Mumbai is a statue of the crucified Jesus in Mumbai which attracted widespread attention in 2012 when a constant stream of water began to seep from its feet. Some of the local Catholic faithful believed the incident to be a miracle; however, the skeptic-rationalist author Sanal Edamaruku proved that the water stemmed from a faulty sewage system, which seeped due to capillary action. Edamaruku mocked the Catholic Church on television and called it "anti-science", and became subsequently subject to multiple first information reports (FIR) under blasphemy laws.[1][2][3][4] A Catholic lawyer and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mumbai called for him to apologise for the comments. After receiving a barrage of threats, he migrated to Finland.

Phenomenon

On 5 March 2012, the feet of a statue of a crucified Jesus in Irla near to the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni (Mumbai) started weeping water and was discovered by a Hindu woman who reported it the local parish priest; the weeping stopped on 8 March. The parish priest of the church, Augustine Palett, stated "whether science can explain what happened or not, a miracle did occur in Irla, namely that of having dozens of Christians, Hindus and Muslims pray together under the cross."[5]

On 12 March, Agnelo Gracias, the auxiliary bishop of Mumbai, stated: "One can doubt if this has a supernatural cause. I have not seen the cross yet. It is quite possible that water dripping from it may have a natural explanation."[6]

Scientific explanation

The Indian rationalist Sanal Edamaruku was invited to investigate by TV9 of Mumbai with the consent of the church authorities. He went with an engineer to the site where the alleged miracle had happened, and traced the source of the drip to the rear side. Edamaruku found that the water was seeping through the feet because of capillary action and faulty plumbing.[7][8] Moisture on the wall where the statue was mounted seemed to be coming from an overflowing drain, which was in turn fed by a pipe that issued from a nearby toilet.[3]

In a debate on TV9, Bishop Agnelo Gracias from Mumbai said, "We will never say it is a miracle. The church will investigate and investigate very carefully." He said it was possible this particular incident had "natural causes" and agreed that Edamaruku has a "right to doubt."[9]

Aftermath

After Edamaruku's televised comments mocking the Catholic Church and the Pope, Catholic Secular Forum filed 17 first information reports against Edamaruku under IPC section 295-A, a blasphemy law of India.[10][11] The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mumbai was not involved with the criminal charges, but issued a statement asking for his apology and for the prosecution to drop the charges. The All India Catholic Union said the law was being applied incorrectly.[12] Colin Gonsalves, the founder of the India Center for Human Rights and Law, stated his opinion that no criminal offence had been committed.[13] There were further complaints that the law was being misused to suppress free speech. Vishal Dadlani and James Randi spoke publicly in support of Edamaruku.[14][15] On 31 July 2012, Edamaruku left India and settled in Finland.[10] As of 2014, the Catholic Secular Forum were still saying they would call for his prosecution if he returned to India.[10]

See also

References
  1. A Rationalist Fights to Disprove Miracles in India (Audio file). Public Radio International. 23 Nov 2012.
  2. "Blasphemy law is unworthy of secular democracy". Firstpost. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  3. McDonald, Henry (2012-11-23). "Jesus wept … oh, it's bad plumbing. Indian rationalist targets 'miracles'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  4. "Withdraw case against Sanal – John Dayal, Veteran journalist and member, National Integration Council – The Sunday Indian". www.thesundayindian.com. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  5. "Miracle in Irla brings Christians, Hindus and Muslims together in prayer". www.asianews.it. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  6. "Church reacts to Irla cross incident | Mumbai News – Times of India". The Times of India. The Times of India. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  7. White, Jon. "Miracle buster: Why I traced holy water to leaky drain". New Scientist. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  8. "Why Jesus wept in Mumbai: The church versus the rationalist". Firstpost. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  9. "Why Jesus wept in Mumbai: The church versus the rationalist". Firstpost. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  10. Dissanayake, Samanthi (2014-06-03). "The miracle-buster afraid to go home". BBC. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  11. "Indian rationalists use Facebook to fight intolerance". BBC. 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  12. Brady, Kathy (July 2012). "Erlich,Radio Utopia: Postwar Audio Documentary in the Public Interest". Journal of Radio & Audio Media. 19 (2): 322–324. doi:10.1080/19376529.2012.722493. ISSN 1937-6529.
  13. Priyanka Dube (4 Dec 2012). "Indian rationalist stays in Finland fearing arrest for hurting religious sentiments". News18. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  14. "A Matter of Very Great Concern". archive.randi.org. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  15. "Support pours in for Indian rationalist forced to live in Finland". News18. Retrieved 2019-09-25.

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