a weeping icon and the crime laboratory (joe nickell)
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A Weeping Icon and the Crime Laboratory (Joe Nickell)
On September 3, 1996, at the request of the Toronto Sun, I traveled to Canada to investigate the worlds
latest !weeping i"on#$ I was to meet with reporters at the newspapers %ing Street offi"es and from there
be es"orted to a &ree' Orthodo( "hur"h in Torontos )ast *or' distri"t# Chur"h offi"ials had promised
staffers at the Sun that the+ would be able to e(amine the i"on at 11 p#m#, and I was enlisted for that
purpose# In addition to m+ overnight bag, I also pa"'ed a !weeping i"on 'it$ "onsisting of a "amera and
"loseup lenses, a stereomi"ros"ope removed from its base, and various vials, pipettes, bibulous paper,
and other "olle"tion materials#
THRON O! "ILRI#$
-s we arrived in the neighborhood, however, I saw not the nearl+ deserted "hur"h I had e(pe"ted to be
awaiting our spe"ial appointment but rather traffi" "ongestion and a line of pilgrims stret"hing far off intothe night# I waited outside with m+ "onspi"uous "ase while reporters went to learn that the promise of an
e(amination had been retra"ted# I was determined to pro"eed an+wa+ and to do the best I "ould# - Sun
reporter of &ree' e(tra"tion feared I might start a riot, but his "olleague, S"ot .agnish, who had brought
me there, was onl+ "on"erned for m+ safet+# /It was not wise for him to go inside, given rumored
responses to his "riti"al arti"le on the phenomenon published in the latest edition of the newspaper#0 -fter
retrieving some essentials from m+ 'it, whi"h I stuffed into m+ po"'ets, I handed S"ot m+ "ase, turned,
and bounded up the steps of the little "hur"h# ehind me, Sun photographer Craig 2obertson rushed to
'eep up# e passed a lad+ who shouted the admission pri"e /!two dollars fift+ "ents$0 at us4 I shouted
ba"', !Toronto Sun5$ and 'ept going#
Inside, the "hur"h was swelteringl+ hot# evertheless, people milled about for a time after viewing the
"ontroversial i"on of the .adonna and Child, while new pilgrims passed before it# - table filled with
"andles and a "rude sign that read !78)-S) O OT TO:C; T;) ICO O< =I2&I .-2*$ 'ept
the "urious at ba+# -n attendant refused m+ request for a sample of the tears and pretended to ignore me
when I as'ed again, in a louder voi"e#
OIL% T&AR$
- hanging oil lamp partiall+ obs"ured the fa"e of the .adonna, but b+ moving m+ head from side to
side and thus "at"hing the light on the surfa"e of the pi"ture, I made several important dis"overies# <irst,
the i"on itself was a fa'e>not an original woodpanel painting at all but merel+ a "olor photographi"
print# In addition, the !tears$ did not emanate from the e+es but from somewhere near the top of the
=irgins head, and so, b+ definition, the image was not !weeping#$ .oreover, one of the four tear rivulets
was smeared and loo'ed !suspi"iousl+ oil+$ /as I told the Sun0#
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The latter point was quite signifi"ant, sin"e real tears, or even mere water, would qui"'l+ dr+ in the hot
atmosphere of the "hur"h# ut a nondr+ing oil /su"h as olive oil0 would remain fresh and glistening for
hours or da+s>?ust the tri"' for !weeping$ i"ons and one apparentl+ more "ommonl+ used than the
hidden tubes and spe"ial "hemi"als so often proposed b+ theorists# uring the quarter of an hour or so that
I observed the image, there was no fresh flow of !tears$>?ust the same un"hanging rivulets I saw at the
beginning# /There were also fine droplets between the strea's, as if the painting had been spattered on,
possibl+ from the oil lamp that almost tou"hed the print#0
-fter length+ appeal, I persuaded the priest, 2everend Ieronimos %atseas, to provide a better view>at
least for the photographer# %atseas pulled the lamp awa+ with one hand while holding a "andle "lose to
the .adonnas fa"e with the other# 7hotographer 2obertson "li"'ed awa+#
In the subsequent arti"le b+ .agnish and two "olleagues, I was quoted as sa+ing that the phenomenon
was !more "arnival sideshow than mira"le$ and that I was troubled b+ the withdrawal of the promise to
allow the i"on to be e(amined# !It would seem to me a mira"le "ould withstand a little s'epti"ism,$ I
stated, "omplaining further about being 'ept at a distan"e and being refused a sample of the !tears$
/.agnish et al# 19960#
R&'&LATION$
In the meantime, reporters learned that %atseas had been embroiled in "onsiderable earlier "ontrovers+#
It turns out that he had also prea"hed at a &ree' Orthodo( "athedral in @ueens, ew *or', when an i"on
there>that of a midnineteenth"entur+ nun, St# Irene>began "r+ing and drawing hundreds of thousands
of pilgrims, some from as far awa+ as India and Aapan# .ore than a +ear later, after I had investigated that
i"on with the ew *or' -rea S'epti"s and "on"luded that the phenomenon was bogus /i"'ell 19930, the
i"on was stolen at gunpoint# Supposedl+, %atseas refused to "ooperate in produ"ing the 'e+ to the "ase
that housed it and was pistolwhipped, after whi"h the bandits bro'e the lo"' and made off with the
!mira"ulous$ i"on# It was subsequentl+ returned>minus BDD,DDD in gems and golden ?ewelr+ that
de"orated it>under "onditions that remain "ontroversial /Christopoulos 19960#
%atseas was also defro"'ed in 1993 when it was learned he had previousl+ wor'ed in a brothel in
-thens# - "hur"h do"ument on the priests e("ommuni"ation states that a ew *or' e""lesiasti"al "ourt
found him guilt+ of slander, per?ur+, and defamation, as well as being !in the emplo+ of a house of
prostitution$ /&oldhar 19960# In fa"t, in 19E, in sworn testimon+ before a &ree' ?udge, %atseas admitted
he had been so emplo+ed /.agnish et al# 19960#
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- rumor I heard from neighborhood residents was soon "onfirmed b+ a newspaper report, namel+ that
the Toronto i"on began weeping after the )ast *or' "hur"h found itself finan"iall+ strapped with an
a""umulated debt from mortgages of almost BFE1,DDD# In Aune, in response to the debt situation, the
"hur"h dispat"hed <ather -r"himandrite ®or+ from Colorado with instru"tions to evi"t %atseas from
the "hur"h, but the matter be"ame mired in the "ourts# -fter the i"on began !weeping,$ ®or+ "ast
doubt on the phenomenon, stating in a letter, !It would not be surprising if this were a hoa(, in order to
attra"t people to spend mone+$ /&oldhar 19960# Su"h revelations and opinions, however, had no effe"t on
some pilgrims# Said one womanG !I dont "are if theres a pipe and a hose behind that pi"ture# I dont "are
if the =irgin .ar+ ?umps right out of the painting# *ou either believe in mira"les or +ou dont# I believe$
/i.anno 19960# On the other hand, a woman living in the neighborhood stated, !e all need something
to believe in, but this is pre+ing on those who reall+ need a mira"le$ /&oldhar 19960#
LAORATOR% T&$T$
Subsequentl+, on -ugust FE, 199E, I returned to the "hur"h, invited b+ attorne+s for the parent
Orthodo( Chur"h authorit+# -ttended b+ a poli"e guard stationed outside, a dete"tive from the poli"e
fraud squad, and members of the Canadian news media /figure 1D#10, I e(amined the i"on "arefull+# /<or
the purpose, a "arpenter assigned to assist me dismantled the frame the i"on had a"quired#0
This time putting m+ !weeping i"on 'it$ to good use, I too' samples of the oil and signed them over to
the dete"tive for testing b+ the poli"e "rime laborator+ /%udreH 199E0# 8ater, at a forensi" "onferen"e in ova S"otia /where I was a le"turer0, I learned that the oil had indeed proved to be of a nondr+ing
variet+# ;owever, sin"e obviousl+ there was no one to sa+ who put it on the i"on, the "ase went nowhere#
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