He says tears that the two metre-plus sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe weeps have the same chemical makeup as olive oil treated with perfume.

If blessed, the tears would be chrism, a sacred oil used in the Church in various rituals including anointing the sick and dying.

Photos and a video released by the church show the statue with what appears to be liquid inside the eyes and down the cheeks, mouth and chin.

In one photo, it looks as if tears may have started on the upper eyelids.

The phenomenon has drawn visitors to the church.

It is not merely how it's happening (or whether it's happening) but how people are responding to the phenomenon and why they may want to believe in it, one expert says.

"The Catholic Church has a long history of believing in supernatural signs," John Thavis says.

"There's a kind of curiosity and enthusiasm when something like this happens because it seems to confirm the traditional belief that God works in our own world and sometimes the supernatural is visible in our world."

The first sighting of the tears occurred on 20 May - Pentecost Sunday.

Parishioners noticed tears seemed to have been streaming from Our Lady's eyes.

A church spokesperson said the statue continued "weeping" the next day — something that she said has since occurred several more times.

The priest, Jose Segura says he has never seen anything like it and he first struggled to believe it was real.

He says there are cameras in the church, and no man-made explanation has been determined; if there were evidence of that, he would not allow it to continue, he says.

He believes the tears are authentic.

Source

• Independent
• Washington Post
• Image: YouTube

This statement came during his general audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday.

The Pope said: "Before beginning the catechesis, I would like to ask forgiveness in the name of the Church for the scandals that have happened in this last period both in Rome and at the Vatican. I ask forgiveness."

The Pope's apology came at the beginning of a catechetical reflection that was focused on caring for children.

There has been speculation as to which specific scandals the Pope was apologising for.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, Vatican told reporters later, "if the Pope uses a broad and general formula, that is what he intended".

Fr Lombardi said Francis wanted to reach out to ordinary people who are "disturbed or pained" when they read about scandals caused by "the Church or men of the Church".

Vatican commentator John Thavis wrote in his blog that there were several scandals for the Pope to choose from.

• "The gay official of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation who recently came out with his partner, saying the climate at his workplace was homophobic?"
• "Accusations of sexual impropriety made by a group of Catholics against priests and an official of the Carmelite religious order in Rome? "
• "The resignation of Rome's leftist mayor, Ignazio Marino, following press reports that the Pope was unhappy with the mayor's action on a number of issues?"
• "The accusations of sexual abuse against a Vatican diplomat, who was found dead in his Vatican residence in late August before he could stand trial?"
• "Or this week's leak of a ‘Letter of 13' cardinals to the Pope, contesting the direction and methods of the current synod of bishops on the family, which was followed by a series of confusing denials and clarifications?"

Thavis also said that the Pope's subsequent references to the care of children could suggest that it was a reference to clerical sexual abuse.

But he added that there is also growing concern at the return of the "Vatileaks" syndrome that helped convince Pope Benedict XVI to resign in 2013.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Catholic Herald
• John Thavis
• Reuters
• Image: Manila Bulletin