Water oozing from cross draws crowds in Mumbai

An unusual occurrence at a church in south Mumbai attracted large number of people from different faiths on Monday.

People crowded at St. Joseph Church in Umerkadi area after water was seen flowing out of a cross that people believed was 'holy water'.

The head of the 72-year-old church, Fr Dominic Pereira, also witnessed the occurrence, but said he does not have any explanation to it.

Apparently some youths got vessels and filled it with the 'holy water', later distributing to people in tiny plastic cups.

Father Anthony Charanghat, spokesperson for the Archbishop of Mumbai, said it was too early to comment on the development.

"Before we give it any name, we have to first scientifically verify the phenomenon and that is a long process. However, if it helps people in coming closer to God, we welcome it. Though we don't want religion to be reduced to such incidents alone," Charanghat told IANS.

In Varanasi, some years ago, he recounted that the cause of a similar scene was traced to rainwater accumulated inside the cross.

Speaking of the subject, last year over 100,000 people thronged a church in Mumbai after they claimed to have seen blood oozing out from the heart of Jesus in a painting.

After a lab testing, it was established that there were no traces of blood and the phenomenon might have been caused by moisture.