Pilgrim's progress: Vatican radically reforms 'weeping statue' rule to fight hoaxes

The Vatican has radically reformed its rules for evaluating reported supernatural events such as weeping Madonnas and blood-dripping crucifixes that have for centuries whipped up the Catholic faithful.

- NICOLE WINFIELD

Its doctrine office has overhauled procedures, first issued in 1978, arguing that they were no longer viable in the internet age. Nowadays, word about apparitions or weeping Madonnas travels quickly and can actually harm the faithful if hoaxers are trying to make money off people's beliefs or manipulate them, the Vatican said.

The Catholic Church has had a long and controversial history of the faithful claiming to have had visions of the Virgin Mary, of statues purportedly weeping tears of blood and stigmata erupting on hands and feet mimicking the wounds of Christ. Church figures who claimed to have experienced the stigmata wounds, including Padre Pio and Pope Francis's namesake, St Francis of Assisi, have inspired millions of Catholics even if decisions about their authenticity have been elusive.