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CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican has confirmed the miraculous appearance of Christ’s face on a consecrated host during a Mass in the Archdiocese of Thalassery, India, 12 years after the occurrence.
On May 10, CNews Live reported that Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplani announced at Vilakkannoor Church — the site of the 2013 miracle — that the Vatican has officially recognized the event as a miracle.
The face of Christ appeared on the Host during consecration on November 15, 2013, when Father Thomas Patikkal was offering Mass. The Host was then sent to the archdiocese for observation and safekeeping.
From September 2018 to January 2020, the archdiocese sent the Host back to Vilakkkannoor Church for public veneration.
The Syro-Malabar Church’s Theological Commission, which investigated the event, found strong theological grounds supporting that it was a Eucharistic miracle. In January 2020, the Host was taken to the Syro-Malabar headquarters in Kakkanad and presented to then-apostolic nuncio Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro.
Archbishop Pamplani told the congregation that the Holy See found that the miracle deepens faith in the Real Presence of the Eucharist, and thus permitted the faithful to honor the miraculous Host in the same way the faithful honor the Blessed Sacrament.
The archbishop added that the reality of the True Presence is a doctrine of the Catholic faith and does not depend on miraculous appearances.
The official proclamation will take place May 31 at Vilakkannoor Church, and Pope Leo XIV’s representative in India, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, will preside over the Mass.
