ARCHBISHOP Barry Hickey of Perth has announced a formal investigation into the weeping statue of the Virgin Mary in Rockingham.
He has appointed a commission of three members to look into the phenomenon of the statue which has been weeping rose oil tears for several months.
Archbishop Hickey said: ‘The faithful and the community at large are entitled to as clear a statement as I can make about whether the tears can be explained by some natural process or human intervention, or whether they defy scientific explanation.’
‘The owner of the statue, Mrs Patty Powell, whom I trust completely in this matter, has agreed to my appointing a commission,’ he added.
The three commissioners appointed by the archbishop are rector of St Thomas More College, Crawley, Fr Kevin Long; Dr Thelma Koppi, a scientist from the University of Western Australia; and a non-Catholic surgeon, Dr Michael Shanahan.
The commissioners will not be personally responsible for tests carried out on the statue.
Instead they will arrange whatever scientific tests they consider necessary and will determine who is best equipped to carry them out.
