L’Observateur / April 14, 1999

LAPLACE – What many believed to be a miracle at Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church tested negative last week, according to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which ordered a battery of scientific tests.

In mid-February, a church custodian discovered a quarter-sized piece of a blessed Host after a mass and gave it to the pastor, the Rev. BenjaminPiovan. He, in turn, attempted to properly dispose of it by dissolving it inholy water.

Instead of dissolving, however, it seemed to transform into human flesh with flecks of apparent blood, leading some to believe a miracle had occurred.

After nearly two weeks of scientific testing by Dr. Wayne V. Vedeckis,professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at LSU Medical Center in New Orleans and himself a practicing Catholic, it was determined that such was not the case.

In a statement issued by the Very Rev. Gerald L. Seiler, J.C.L., executivedirector of pastoral services for the Archdiocese, the spokesman said solid samples and a sample of the water which contained it were all repeatedly tested for the presence of human DNA.

None was found in four tests.

The substance was later properly disposed of in a sacrarium, a sink which drains into the consecrated church grounds.

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