Knock Shrine Apparition Miracle: Solar Retinopathy

December 4, 2009 | Filed under: Science about Belief,Strange but True | Posted by: Jenny Donati

Recently, 10,000 of the faithful gathered at the Catholic Knock Shrine in County Mayo, Ireland, to stare at the sun because charlatan Joe Coleman told them they’d see an apparition. Some are now seeing a lot less. About fifty percent less.

As reported in The Independent, Dr. Eamonn O’Donoghue of University College Hospital in Galway is presently treating five patients for severe eye injuries resulting from staring at the sun at the October 2009 gathering promoted by Joe Coleman and co-fraud Keith Henderson.

Reversing the miracle: Going blind

These faithful, like those interviewed in October, indeed saw things:

John Tunney, from Islandeady, Castlebar, said: “I’m 53 years old and I never seen the sun go like that before. I witnessed the sun go all different colours, yellow, red and green. Then it completely darkened and began shimmering. Sometimes the sun emitted a clean, bright light, then it would darken again.”

Mr Tunney’s wife, Nina, said: “The sun was spinning in the sky. I experienced a feeling of total happiness. It is a feeling I would love to experience again. It was amazing. I felt marvellous.”

Dr. O’Donoghue has a different take, describing it as

“monstrous” to mislead people into thinking that altered vision and effects, such as seeing the sun dance, were a religious apparition when they were classic symptoms of solar retinopathy.

“If it did not have such monstrous effects you could describe it as a cheap circus trick,” he said.

That’s right, the “apparition” seen was damage occurring to the retinas, not a miracle.

O’Donoghue asserts that, while his patients will likely recover some of their sight over time, the permanent damage may cause severe vision problems in later age. He is particularly concerned that young children will suffer more severe and permanent damage than adults, as their eyes are more vulnerable to sun damage.

In an interesting twist, both the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, and the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, have both appealed to Catholics to stay away from the event. They did so in October . . . and 10,000 showed up to stare at the sun.