Cheapens Catholic faith .. peasants .. Middle Ages
Lack of disclosure over the years has not really helped Churches much
Statue probe under attack

Secrecy does not help
Church: commentators

CATHOLIC Archbishop Barry Hickey should release the results of an investigation into the authenticity of the weeping statue of the Virgin Mary in a Rockingham church, religious commentators say.
   The secrecy surrounding the investigation last month was reminiscent of the religion followed by peasants in the Middle Ages and was beneath one of the world's great faiths, Anglican Dean John Shepherd and Canon Frank Sheehan said.
   A panel investigated whether moisture flowing from the eyes of the 70cm statue in Our Lady of Lourdes Church constituted a miracle. On Monday, Archbishop Hickey ordered the statue be taken off display.
   Dr Shepherd said the findings should be made public.
   "I don't see the point in having an investigation if the results of what is being investigated is not made known," he said. "If God is going to make himself known in this world I would find it unlikely that he would do it through a statue in Rockingham."
   Canon Sheehan, director of the Christ Church Grammar School centre for ethics, stressed that it was up to Archbishop

Hickey to decide whether to release the results.
   "Given that amount of money (in donations from the faithful), then disclosure would be helpful," he said. "A lack of disclosure over the years has not really helped churches much."
   Canon Sheehan -- a Catholic priest before joining the Anglican priesthood -- suggested phenomena like the weeping Madonna cheapened the Catholic faith. "It can offer people genuine help regarding spirituality," he said. "It is a huge organisation and includes the highest standards of scholarship. This is a long way from that."
   University of Notre Dame College of Theology Dean Brian Boyle said Archbishop Hickey should not be pressured. "I would have exercised caution about this phenomenon in the first place and caution still needs to be exercised," he said.
   Murdoch University Professor of New Testament Bill Loader said he did not believe the statue was representative of Christianity. Such claims should be investigated thoroughly and the findings recorded.
   "I have come to believe that anything is possible but I would need to be persuaded that there was no other adequate explanation," he said.