Various media coverage about the weeping Christ portrait

 

 

 

 

May 20, 2004 - [See here] article with photo and a testimony from a pilgrim who saw the weeping Christ.

 

May 14, 2004 - Weeping Christ Won't Undergo Church Investigation. Reported in [team4news.com]. A Roman Catholic bishop said a cardboard portrait of Jesus does not show enough evidence of weeping for a formal church investigation. Bishop Edmond Carmody had asked the Rev. Gerry Sheehan to view the portrait after 34-year-old Gloria Fino said tears were coming out of the eyes in the portrait. Sheehan told him that while the cheeks were streaked, Jesus no longer appeared to be crying.

"It's a very strange phenomenon ... there were signs that something had come from the eyes and the back of the paper print was dry, but there were no tears coming down. We see no reason to move it or to investigate now because it has stopped," Carmody said in today's Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Fino said she was shocked by the international attention that came after she told people the picture she received as a gift three years ago began weeping last week. She said the tears started when she was praying for a 3-month-old grandson who was born with his internal organs outside his body. She said she had asked Jesus for a sign.She was continuing to welcome people who came to pray in front of the portrait. Thursday afternoon, dozens of people had lined up to see the picture.

 

May 13, 2004 - Many Show Up To See Jesus Painting Weeping.Reported in [team4news.com]. Woman says painting started weeping while praying for grandson. Many are asking if there is more to a painting of Jesus than meets the eye, news channel 5 reported. A painting of Christ is getting a lot of attention after a Texas woman called a TV station and said her picture of Jesus was crying. Gloria Fino said tears started streaming from the painting Friday while she was praying.

Ever since, she's been soaking up an oily substance from the corner of Jesus' eye to give to visitors. The liquid hardens into a wax-like substance. Fino believes the tears are in response to her prayers for her 3-month-old grandson, who was born with organs on the outside of his body, Wews reported. Her grandson is in Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. She also said that a while she was praying, a tear fell on her Bible.

 

May 11, 2004 - Pilgrims View Image Of Weeping Jesus. Reported in [local6.com]. Robston, Texas - Gloria Fino said tears started streaming from the painting Friday while she was praying for her grandson. Religious pilgrims have come to Robstown, a Texas Coastal Bend town, by the hundreds to catch a glimpse of an image of Jesus they say is weeping inside a wood-framed house. The Catholic Church has not yet investigated the claims. In a small living room where Gloria Fino, 34, clutched a Bible to her heart, the cardboard print of Christ was displayed.

Fino, a Catholic, dabbed cotton balls against two streams of oily substance that trickled from the outside corners of the image's eyes. She gave them to visitors, one after another. "I got to wipe the tears," Jamie Gonzalez, 30, said as she steadied herself on the porch with the walker she needed to enter the home. "It's just faith." As the droplets continued to form, visitors took photos in hopes of capturing the mysterious fluid. Fino took the print off the wall, turning it around to show the back.

She said the droplets began to flow late Friday night. She had been praying for her 3-month-old grandson, Isaac Tijerina, who was born with his internal organs outside his body. Isaac remained in Texas Children's Hospital in Houston and Fino said doctors' reports have not been encouraging. "I'd been praying to Jesus to send him home," Fino told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Tuesday's editions. "He had a tumor the size of a volleyball that busted. "If you're here and hearing me, give me a sign," was her request to Jesus, she told about 30 people in her home at noontime Monday. "At first there was a big tear just hanging there, not running. Just there in the corner of his eye." She said she summoned her father from his bedroom to see. "We can't always rely on the scientific," said Monsignor Richard Shirley, vicar general for the Diocese of Corpus Christi. "If it's God, it will endure."