The Vatican is reviewing claims of a potential miracle, in which the number of communion wafers at a church in the United Sates spontaneously multiplied.
The reported supernatural event happened at St Thomas Catholic Church in Connecticut, on the east coast of America.
The priest, who was leading Mass at the time, boldly proclaimed the mysterious incident to his congregation at the time, but experts say the “miracle” will be hard to prove, as only one person saw the number of hosts in the vessel - known as a ciborium - double in number.
Rev Crowley said: “One of our eucharistic ministers was running out of hosts and suddenly there were more hosts in the ciborium. God just duplicated himself.”
Despite the “miracle” occurring in March, the Holy See was only recently informed. The report was referred to Rome after the Archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut, Leonard Blair, had an expert in church law conduct a thorough investigation locally. In talks with the Archbishop later, it was decided that the matter should be elevated.
The Vatican will continue with further investigations before confirming whether or not a miracle has taken place. The sometimes lengthy process is designed to protect the Church from heresy.
The Vatican’s initial thoughts on the nature of the "miracle" have not been announced.