The Roman Catholic Church said on Friday that an Australian community centre did not commit fraud or gain financially from a weeping-statue hoax that drew worshippers from around the world.
Thousands of people flocked to the Vietnamese Community Church in the eastern city of Brisbane after several religious statues were reported to be weeping tears and bleeding.
But claims of a miracle were quickly dispelled when a church investigation found the tear-like substance was commercially available rose oil.
A church audit revealed the community centre raised about Aus$41 000 from the time the weeping statues were first reported until they were removed from public view, Brisbane’s Archbishop John Bathersby said on Friday. It was not immediately clear how long they were on display.
Of that, roughly Aus$16 000 was raised from the sale of statues and other religious items.
Archbishop Bathersby said the money — which had been deposited in the centre’s accounts — will be donated to Catholic aid projects in Sudan and Bangladesh.
The archbishop said the results of the audit have assured him that ”no known financial fraud had been committed”.
”However, if any person felt they were a victim of or had been defrauded by the events, I would give them every encouragement to contact police and report their concerns,” he said.
Archbishop Bathersby said Father Joseph Liem, the associate pastor at the centre who publicly expressed his belief in the phenomena, will stay in Brisbane for the duration of his current assignment. — Sapa-AP