If this doesn't take the cake !

This simply has to be one of the all time „hard to believe“ stories !

Now pay close  attention, or something might slip past you !

In March of 2015, a couple of months ago, Pope Franciscus, visited the City of Naples.

There he spoke to a group of Seminarians and gave them, I'm sure good advice, like:

„Don't join the Priesthood unless you are sure. If you are not certain of your calling, wait a little, and join later.“ 

Great advice if ever I heard one.

Then there was a Holy Mass, presided over by Naples Archbishop, Crescenzio Sepe.

He, the Archbishop, brought out a vile containing some reddish dust, which was identified as the dried up blood of Saint Gennaro, a former Bishop of Naples who was beheaded in 305 AD.

Pope Franciscus „venerated and kissed“ this container and :

see there !!!

Half of the dried up blood became liquefied. In other words: The dust which had been in this hermetically sealed container since 305 AD, turned into liquid blood.

( The Catholics are great magicians when it comes to blood:

There is the Eucharist, where red wine turns into the blood of Jesus and here we have dried up blood in a sealed container for 1,710 years and because the Pope „venerated and kissed“ it, it turns to real and true blood of holy Gennaro.)

Immediately, Crescenzio Sepe, the above referred to Archbishop of Naples declared this happening a miracle, performed by the Pope.

Now I am not certain about the Pope's reaction:

He is said to have made a joke of the fact that seemingly only half of the powder turned into blood. He is reported to have said: „Maybe Saint Gennaro does not love us enough, so that only half of his dried up blood liquefied, and we must pray some more.

I have a question: Was the Pope so embarrassed about this theatre, that he tried to make light of it, or did he truly believe that what he saw and heard was real and just had to be perfected by additional prayer ?

At the end of this tale we hear that this „miracle“ happens at least three times each and every year on specific dates, and in fact has happened as often as 18 times per year.

I understand that for a person to become a Saint, at least three miracles must be ascribed to him or her. It seems to me that despite Crescenzio's speedy pronouncement, Franciscus will have to do better than turn dust into blood, considering that it happens at least thrice each year.

Aren't they ashamed of themselves ?