Tests show no explanation for weeping Mary statue in Australia

PERTH, Australia (CNS) -- Scientific tests conducted by an Australian television program on a weeping statue of Mary have shown no obvious explanation for the phenomenon. Mario D'Orazio, executive producer of the Today Tonight current affairs television program, which airs on Perth's Channel 7, said university tests showed the tears to be an olive oil with a jasmine scent. He said scientists at Perth's Curtin and Murdoch universities had taken X-rays of the statue at his program's request, and the statue was found to be fiberglass. Internally the material was porous, but externally it appeared to be sealed, he said. The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes caught worldwide media attention after a report on it appeared Sept. 5 in The Record, weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Perth.