This is a response by Ron Tesoriero, Lawyer and Documentary Filmmaker, who was central to the investigation of the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires of 1996, to an Article published by Crisis Magazine in December of 2024 viewable on this link.

https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/exaggerations-and-eucharistic-miracles

What has been written in the Article about the investigation and results of the Buenos Aires case is incorrect and it leads readers to a negative view about the authenticity of this most significant case.

The Crisis Magazine Article has been published worldwide and the world deserves to know the truth about this case and the extraordinary results,

After all, the main point of their Article was to stress the need for accuracy and truth in the reporting on the scientific investigation of Eucharistic Miracles so that people are not led by astray by falsehoods.

 I have written to the Editor in Chief asking that the matter be corrected by –

a. posting the short version of my response below as a comment after the Crisis Magazine Article. And

    b. publishing and transmitting in the same way and to the same people as was originally used to publicly disseminate the Article, my response in full, which I have also set out below.

    EXAGGERATIONS AND EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES

    Not so in the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires of 1996.

    I, Ron Tesoriero, am a lawyer and documentary filmmaker and have been centrally involved in the investigation of the Buenos Aires case since 1999.

    I see that the Article advances the view that proper protocols were not followed in the investigation of this case and that certain claims about the results are questionable.

    Unfortunately, what has been presented about the case is incorrect and does not take into account more recent scientific testing outlined in my book, My Human Heart: Where Science and Faith Collide by Ron Tesoriero (2021).

    I respond to two key areas that have been identified as failures in the Buenos Aires case.

    The reliability of Human Heart findings of Forensic Pathologist Dr Frederick Zugibe.

    On 20th April 2004, after I gave Dr Zugibe the microscopic slide to examine, I recorded on film his assessment which in summary was…-

    “This is heart muscle from a traumatically injured living human being”.

    The Author carries the view that these results were so remarkable and that given their potential importance the test should have been done as a blind test without Zugibe knowing anything of the history.

    The tests were in fact done on a blind basis. Strict measures were put in place to ensure this happened. The evidence is contained in prior email correspondence, film recordings, and personal testimonies. Zugibe confirms all this in this line of his formal report to me of March 26, 2005, “Prior to rendering my opinion I was not informed of the history of the material.”

    The claim of divine DNA

    The Article points out that in early PCR testing there was found “a very low concentration of human DNA” possibly as a result of human handling contamination.  I agree with this. But in 2016 I utilized new technology discovered by Italian scientists to overcome this problem. The technology enables white blood cells from the sample to be selected and genetically tested with 100 per cent accuracy. The cells selected were tested with next generation sequencing [NGS] targeted on the non coding region of the human genome which gives genetic information on the maternal ancestral line of the “person”. The testing yielded specific data on the genetics of the “person’s” mother and her maternal ancestral line which will provide a basis for comparison with results that might be obtained on future similar testing of blood on the Shroud of Turin.

    This will become the final chapter in the investigation of the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires of 1996 – a Eucharistic Miracle which will be found to be one of the most significant in human history.

    For more detail, see my full response below.

    Ron Tesoriero


    Below is a full response to the Crisis Magazine Article.

    EXAGGERATIONS AND EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES but not in the BUENOS AIRES CASE OF 1996. 

    By Ron Tesoriero, lawyer and documentary filmmaker who was central to the investigation of the Buenos Aires case.

    My attention has been drawn to an Article titled Exaggerations and Eucharistic Miracles published in December 2024 in Crisis Magazine written by Stacy Trasancos.

    The Article endeavours to show that in the investigation of certain recent claimed Eucharistic Miracles proper protocols have not been followed and that therefore certain claims and even the validity of some of these Eucharistic Miracles, are questionable. Included in the list is the believed Eucharistic Mirace of Buenos Aires of 1996.

    Unfortunately, what has been presented in the Article on the Buenos Aires case is incorrect and also does not reflect the results of recent further scientific testing that has been done.

    I was fortunate to have been centrally involved in the investigation of this case for over 25 years from time of taking a sample for scientific testing in October of 1999. It was an investigation that was asked for by Pope Francis when he served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

    The areas of investigation principally were Genetic Testing and Forensic Pathology testing. My journey of investigation and the latest developments in the story I have documented in my book, My Human Heart: Where Science and Faith Collide by Ron Tesoriero (2021). It is a pity that the author of the Article and those who have contributed to it did not have the benefit of knowing the content of my book to get the story right before publishing the Article.

    In this response I focus on certain key areas that the author of the Article has identified as failures in the Buenos Aires case.

    The reliability of Human Heart findings of Forensic Pathologist Dr Frederick Zugibe.

    On 20th April 2004, I gave Dr Zugibe, a renowned world expert in Forensic Pathology and Cardiology, the microscopic slide of the Buenos Aires sample to look at. I recorded him on film as he gave this assessment.

    “This is heart muscle from a traumatically injured living human being. The heart tissue is infiltrated with white blood cells. These cells come into the heart to address trauma and injury and they are fed by a living body. There has been a compromising of the blood supply to the heart. The injury is not unlike what I have seen in cases where someone has been severely beaten over the chest in the region of the heart.”

    The Author carries the view expressed by Dr. Kelly Kearse in his scientific paper that she has referenced, that Dr. Zugibe’s results were remarkable and that given their potential importance the test should have been done as a blind test without Zugibe knowing anything of the history. Kearse rejects what had been reported that Zugibe knew nothing of the case beforehand and prefers to speculate that Zugibe might have been tipped off that this was not an ordinary “John Doe case” by the presence of a camera crew.

    On this critical issue it is important that I set out what in fact I did to ensure that Zugibe’s examination was done on a blind testing basis.

    How I came to the decision to engage Dr Zugibe is set out fully in pages 101 to 105 of my book, My Human Heart: Where Science and Faith Collide.

    Then, on March 2, 2004 I sent an email to Zugibe saying “I am a lawyer. I am working on a case where I need to identify some material on a microscope slide. It is a sensitive case. I will tell you the history after you have given your assessment”

    In April 2004 I travelled From Sydney to New York by plane and then by train one hour north of New York City to meet with Dr Zugibe at his home in Poughkeepsie. I was accompanied by a most senior and famous Australian investigative television journalist, Mike Willesee. I, as a lawyer, and Mike as a journalist knew the importance of ensuring and documenting that Zugibe was to know nothing of the case before giving an assessment.

    Upon our arrival, Zugibe asked that he be told first the history of the sample.

    Mike responded saying that it had to be a blind test, and that we would tell him the history of the sample after his assessment.

    Zugibe then said. “Well, that’s no good for me. I have been a County Medical Examiner for more than 30 years. The police call me. I go to the scene of a crime, the scene of an accident. They say, “it’s a white male, six foot, 200 pounds, suspected gunshot wounds”. So, I know a lot before I get there, and you’re telling me nothing? I always have a history before I start.”

    We did not bow to his demand. He then proceeded on a blind basis.

    There was no camera crew. I had carried with me in my backpack a small semi -professional handheld video camera which I used to document some of my investigations. Dr Zugibe permitted me to use it to film his investigation and our interview. (The significant parts of what was recorded are contained in documentaries that I have made and which can be found on my website www.reasontobelieve.com.au and particularly in my documentary, The Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires, Darwin’s Downfall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jimAT0bXhZM at 15.55 to 19.41)

    In that you can see the section where after giving his assessment Dr Zugibe asks “Now, what’s the history?”. As Mike was telling him the history I filmed Dr Zugibe’s face in full frame. It is clear from his facial expressions and reaction that Dr Zugibe knew nothing of the history and was truly astonished at what he was being told about it.

    It is significant also that in Dr Zugibe’s formal report to me March 26, 2005, he includes this sentence “Prior to rendering my opinion I was not informed of the history of the material.” (Dr Zugibe’s full report can be viewed on page 249 of my book, Unseen: New Evidence – The Origin of Life Under the Microscope (2017).)

    My report of Dr Zugibe’s findings was handed to Pope Francis, when he served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires on 17th March 2006, when I met with him.

    At that meeting he gave his consent for us to speak publicly about Zugibe’s findings.

    THE CLAIM OF DIVINE DNA

    Stacy Trasancos has drawn attention to the fact that a sample from the Buenos Aires case was subjected to a Forensic DNA test, known as an amplified PCR test and that the test indicated that “a very low concentration of human DNA was recovered” and that the sample contained a good amount of DNA from a “non-human origin.” She attributed those results to possible handling contamination. I agree with her on this.

    The DNA lab did go on to report also that they were unable to generate a human genetic profile from the sample.

    The potential contamination issue is a difficult one to deal with in the type of testing that was performed. 

    But in 2016, as I explain fully in my book, My Human Heart, I learnt about and was able to utilise new technology to overcome any potential contamination. Italian Scientists within Menarini Silicon Biosystems of Bologna, had just created breakthrough technology called the Deparray system which could from a given sample identify white bloods cells, separate them and genetically test each one with 100 percent accuracy. White blood cells were distinguishable from skin cells that might be a contaminant. It meant that you could target and genetically analyse directly the white blood cells of the “person” to tell much about that person.

    A new sample (taken on December 9, 2005) from the Buenos Aires Case was in February 2016 handed to Menarini for this advanced genetic testing.

    A number of white cells were extracted from the sample. (It is to be noted that forensic pathologist Dr Robert Lawrence of San Francisco had identified white blood cells in the sample back in 2000 saying on camera ‘these are white blood cells which were living at the time that the sample was collected”).

    Some were used for Nuclear DNA testing (PCR) using Power Plex FUSION 6. Menarini reported back that it seemed unusual that they were unable to generate a human genetic profile from any of those cells.

    From other white blood cells that were extracted Menarini went on to apply Mitochondrial DNA analysis in an attempt to obtain the maternal ancestral code of the “person”. The cells that were selected were tested with Next generation Sequencing (NGS), advanced technology that can sequence the whole human genome. The non coding region of the human genome was targeted. This area of analysis is used in Forensic cases and for determining genetic information on maternal ancestry.

    Menarini reported that having identified and isolated white blood cells “we were able to get good mitochondrial data. We were surprised at how much genetic data we obtained. We got unprecedent results in the history of Forensic DNA testing.”

    So the results from genetic testing of the white blood cells of the Buenos Aires case show that the “person” would appear to

    1. Have no human genetic code from the Nucleus of the cell.
    2. But does have impressive results from Mitochondrial DNA testing done on the Control Region of the human genome yielding valuable specific data on the genetics of the “person’s” mother and her maternal ancestral line.

    It is expected that the data so obtained will form a basis for comparison with results that might be obtained on future similar testing on blood on the Shroud of Turin. This hopefully will provide the answer as whether the “person” is possibly Jesus Christ. It will become the final chapter in the investigation of the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires of 1996 – a Eucharistic Miracle which will be found to be one of the most significant in human history.

    Ron Tesoriero
    admin@reasontobelieve.com.au