Statue's Tears Draw Thousands

By Alastair Lawson, BBC correspondent in Dhaka

Thousands of people in the Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong are flocking to a Roman Catholic church where tears are reported to have been seen on a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Many of those visiting the church are Muslims, eager to see what some locals believe is a sign of the Virgin's dismay over the recent outbreak of violence in the country and elsewhere in the world.
Roman Catholic believers say it is the first time in Bangladesh that tears have been seen on a statue of the Virgin Mary.

In a country which is overwhelmingly Muslim, it is unusual for a symbol of the Christian faith to attract much interest.
But so many people are gathering outside the Chittagong church that police have been deployed to ensure law and order is maintained.

'Inquisitive'
Muslims are queuing to see the statue even though the Koran warns believers against showing an interest in religious idols.
Roman Catholics in Chittagong say that most people are queuing up to see the statue because they are inquisitive.
Around 90% of Bangladesh's 130 million population is Muslim.
In Chittagong, the second-largest city in the country, there are only around 8,000 Christians in a city of over four million people.
Many churchgoers claim the cause of the Virgin Mary's tears is recent outbreaks of violence in Bangladesh.
They point out that she has had a lot to be upset about in the last week alone.
On Monday, five people were gunned down in local election violence in the south-western district of Jhenida and, before that, there were a series of bomb explosions in the northern town of Dinajpur.

Scientists have already said that one possible explanation for the tears is the fact that the marble statue is kept in a glass case, which could lead to condensation appearing on the Virgin Mary's face.

Hundreds flock to see Virgin Mary statue weep in Bangladesh
Story filed: 08:48 Tuesday 18th February 2003

Hundreds of people have flocked to a church in Bangladesh to witness the 'miracle' of tears rolling down the cheeks of a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The crowds gathered after a guard at the Catholic Church at Patherghata near the port city of Chittagong, reported tears on the marble statue.

The Bishop of the church and other clergymen have reportedly convened a meeting to investigate the phenomenon.

A police contingent has been deployed to control the rush of visitors to the church.

The statue was imported from Italy and installed in 1928 and has been kept in an airtight glass box.

Saroj Kanti Sinha Hazari, professor of Chemistry at Chittagong University, told the Bangladesh Independent: "Rolling down of water from a marble statue has no scientific basis. But some people in our country believe in such miracles."

But a spokesman for a local Catholic association claimed the Virgin was weeping to remind the people to pray for peace in a strife-torn world.

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AP) -- Tue, February 18, 2003

Hundreds of people have been flocking to see a marble statue of the Virgin Mary said to be weeping at a church in southeastern Bangladesh, news reports said Tuesday.

Worshippers noticed the white marble statue shedding tears after an evening mass at a 150-year-old Roman Catholic church in downtown Chittagong, the Janakantha newspaper reported.

The statue was brought from a church in Italy in 1955 to Chittagong, a port city 215 kilometres southeast of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

As word spread, hundreds of people -- including Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists as well as Christians -- arrived to see the statue, the newspaper quoted church officials as saying. Police were deployed to control the crowd.

Reporters who visited the scene said they saw water droplets accumulating under the statue's eyes, and then dripping onto its chin.

"We don't know why tears are coming out of the statue," Janakantha quoted Father Philip de Rozario, the head priest at the church, as saying.

Church officials were to meet later to try and find an explanation, Rozario said.