Eucharistic Miracles of Argentina

The parish of Saint Mary in Buenos Aires was the scene of three extraordinary Eucharistic events that occurred in 1992, 1994, and 1996. Dr. Ricardo Castañón Gómez was called upon by the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis), to scientifically investigate the 1996 event.

In May 1992, a Eucharistic minister found fragments of a consecrated Host on the corporal. The priest placed them in a vessel of water and left it in the tabernacle to allow them to dissolve. Seven days later, the fragments had turned into a reddish substance resembling blood. On the following Sunday, small drops of blood were also discovered upon the patens used during the distribution of Holy Communion.

In July 1994, during a children's Mass, a minister saw a drop of blood flowing down the wall of the ciborium. On August 15, 1996, a Host that had fallen to the floor was placed in water to dissolve. On August 26, upon opening the tabernacle, a minister discovered that a substance resembling coagulated blood had appeared in the vessel.

Australian lawyer and investigator Ron Tesoriero, who took part in the scientific investigation of the 1996 case, described his involvement as follows:

On October 5, 1999, I arrived in Buenos Aires at the invitation of Dr. Ricardo Castañón. We interviewed the priest, Father Alejandro Pezet, and other eyewitnesses, and obtained samples. I documented the essential phases of the investigation on video.

On October 21, 1999, we sent a sample for DNA testing to the Analytical Genetics laboratory in San Francisco. On May 1, 2000, they informed me that although human DNA was present, a genetic profile could not be obtained. Different scientists offered varying perspectives.

For over a year I examined histological micrographs until I found one matching the Buenos Aires sample: human heart tissue inflamed due to an obstruction of blood supply. I then searched for a specialist who was both a renowned pathologist and a cardiologist, and found Dr. Frederick Zugibe in New York.

On April 20, 2004, Australian journalist Mike Willesee accompanied me to present the blind samples to Dr. Zugibe. He knew nothing of the origin of the sample or our investigation, and examined it under the microscope while I recorded.

Looking through the microscope, Dr. Frederick Zugibe declared:

This is muscular tissue of the heart: myocardium from the wall of the left ventricle, near a valvular area. The heart muscle is inflamed and contains white blood cells that have left the bloodstream in response to severe trauma or injury.

The presence of living white blood cells indicates that the heart suffered traumatic injury and was alive when the sample was taken. The blood supply had been severely compromised.

Tesoriero added:

What astonished Dr. Zugibe was the preserved condition of the white blood cells and the cardiac tissue, despite the fact that the sample had remained immersed for years in distilled water. Without any chemical preservative, he never expected to find white blood cells in such viable condition.

In his formal report of March 26, 2005, Dr. Zugibe concluded that the tissues showed degenerative changes in the myocardium, consistent with severe hypoxia from coronary obstruction or severe blunt trauma to the chest.

Ron Tesoriero published his extensive findings in the book Reason to Believe: Where Science and Faith Collide and across several documentary films.

Text and photographs: international exhibition «The Eucharistic Miracles of the World», by Saint Carlo Acutis. Original panel at miracolieucaristici.org.