The Miracle Detective

Book excerpt: As sightings of the Virgin Mary have increased around the world over the last couple of decades, the Vatican has placed increased importance on a group of theologians, scientists and physicians whose job is to investigate them. These are the miracle detectives. Randall Sullivan's book follows these investigators on the trail of the Virgin Mary from the Vatican City in Rome to Oregon, Arizona, Venezuela, Switzerland, Ireland, Japan and Kenya. What he discovers is that every road and each mystery leads back to a tiny village in Bosnia. There, against the background of the ongoing war, eight young visionaries have been receiving what they say are the final apparitions of the Madonna. These appearances, which began in 1981 in a small village in the former Yugoslavia, have been more thoroughly examined than any purported miraculous phenomenon in history. To date, the results defy explanation. This is an amazing story of religious mysticism, as well as a testing of the author's own faith and beliefs.