What happened
During a retreat in October 2006 in Tixtla, a consecrated host being given in Communion was found to be oozing a reddish substance. The bishop opened a formal investigation and commissioned years of scientific study.
In 2013, after the findings were presented, Bishop Zavala approved it for the faithful of his diocese. Rome has since been careful to call it a "Eucharistic phenomenon" rather than a formally declared miracle.
What science found
ContestedStudies led by Dr. Ricardo Castañón reported type AB blood and cardiac tissue, with the blood appearing to come from inside the host. Honestly: independent reviewers note that muscle-specific markers tested negative and the DNA was degraded — so the cardiac finding is contested.
Where it stands
Diocese-approved by Bishop Alejo Zavala Castro (2013). Note: Rome later referred to it as a "Eucharistic phenomenon," not a declared miracle.
Church recognition is a judgment about devotion — not a claim of scientific proof. We keep the two distinct.
Visit it
Parish of St. Martin of Tours, Tixtla, Guerrero, Mexico
View on Google Maps →“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”
John 6:53–54
Sources
- International Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles (St. Carlo Acutis) Devotional source
The bigger picture
This case is one witness in a much longer story — the Catholic teaching that Christ is truly, substantially present in the Eucharist.