Utah Diocese: ‘Bleeding’ Communion Wafer Caused By Mold, Not A Miracle

In this May 29, 2013 photo, a Eucharistic Minister serves communion during Mass at a Catholic church in Caracas, Venezuela. Church officials say food shortages and foreign exchange restrictions are causing a lack of ... In this May 29, 2013 photo, a Eucharistic Minister serves communion during Mass at a Catholic church in Caracas, Venezuela. Church officials say food shortages and foreign exchange restrictions are causing a lack of ingredients needed to celebrate Mass: altar wine as well as wheat to produce communion wafers. Economists say the shortages stem from the socialist government’s controls on the prices of some goods and on foreign currency, which makes it hard for producers to pay for things they need to import. President Nicolas Maduro blames the shortages on hoarding and says anti-government forces are trying to destabilize the country. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) MORE LESS
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City says a bleeding host reported after a communion wafer turned water red was caused by bread mold, not a miracle.

Officials said Wednesday that a scientist found the conclusive natural explanation for the wafer that turned water in an ablution bowl a dark red color at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Kearns.

The diocese appointed a committee to investigate after the host that went uneaten on Nov. 8 appeared to bleed after being left unattended for several days.

Committee chair Monsignor Francis Mannion says the church sets a high bar for proving a miracle and rules one out if an event has a conclusive natural explanation.

He says in a statement that miracles have occurred in the church’s history, but false claims undermine its credibility.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. It doesn’t qualify as a miracle unless you can see an image of caucasian Jeebus.

  2. I firmly believe that many so-called “miracles” throughout history were the result of molds. Specifically, the ergot fungus which commonly forms in stores of wheat, and which LSD is made from. Many people experience “finding God” while high on psychedelics, and the Indigenous people all over the world use psychedelic plants to tap into the spirit world.

  3. Of all the “miracles” god could have performed, say healing the sick or bringing someone back from the dead, some folks believed instead he had nothing better to do so he chose to make a wafer, that’s supposedly jesus’s flesh and blood after a priest prays over it, bleed just enough to make some water turn red… holy shit, literally!

  4. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    They appointed a committee. Really. For mold. That’s on par with the sacred eternal BENGHAZI committee! Well, close anyway. Jesus only rose from the dead once, and the BENGHAZI committee seems to return again, and again, and again…

  5. Avatar for beccam beccam says:

    Doesn’t the hope many of these people had that it really was blood indicate something rather disturbing about possible cannibalism fantasies?

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