No blood, sweat or tears
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1586139,00.html
An Italian committee is causing uproar by debunking a host of the
nation's favourite religious 'miracles', writes Barbara McMahon
Thursday October 6, 2005
Italy remains a profoundly superstitious country and there was uproar
recently when a group of scientists queried a religious rite in Naples
in which the dried blood of a saint beheaded in AD305 "miraculously"
liquefies.
According to tradition, the transformation of the blood of San Gennaro,
preserved in two phials, protects the city from disasters such as
earthquakes or an eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Scepticism about this popular event on the religious calendar, held in
Naples cathedral and witnessed by thousands of people every year, has
been heard before.
Italy
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/669243740d07ae6b
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