July 26, 2005
Parishioners use mobile phones to film 'walking' Virgin
Thousands of Italians have flocked to a small southern town after witnesses claimed to have filmed a miraculous “walking statue” of the Madonna with their video phones, reports the Times Online.
"Acerra, near Naples, is now likely to become a Roman Catholic shrine.
Rumours began at the weekend when several people at the modern church of San Pietro shouted out that a statue by the altar was moving. The hands and feet of the Madonna had begun to “take human form, flesh and blood”.
The knees then appeared to move beneath her white robes, “as if she wanted to move closer to the faithful” and a cross appeared on her breast. "
The 160cm (63in) high statue, made of plaster and marble dust, was installed at the church last December. Father Oreste Santoro, the parish priest, said that he had not seen the statue move but a number of parishioners had allegedly taken footage of the “miracle” with their mobile phones. These had been forwarded to the local bishop, Monsignor Giovanni Rinaldi, who would decide whether to refer the apparition to the Vatican for authentication.
Picture left is not the actual statue, just an illustration of this story.
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