RENEWED INTEREST IN AUDREY SANTO

SkeptInq@aol.com
Fri, 4 Jun 1999 15:32:42 EDT 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 Contact Joe Nickell at 716-636-1425 X310

 LATEST MEDIA ATTENTION RENEWS WORLDWIDE FASCINATION WITH
 "MIRACLE GIRL" AUDREY SANTO

 INSIDE EDITION to Air Report Tonight at 7pm

 Skeptic Investigator Points to the Deceptive Power of Belief

 AMHERST, NY-- Bed-ridden and comatose, eleven-year old Audrey Santo has
received international media attention as hundreds of thousands have made the
 pilgrimage to her home in Worcester, MA, believing that little Audrey has the
 power to heal. Adding to the worldwide interest, the Santo home has also
 been the site of icons that mysteriously "weep" oil.

 In January, a commission put together by the Worcester Catholic Bishop
issued a preliminary report that found nothing miraculous about Audrey or the
Santo home.  However, despite the negative findings of the Bishop commission,
worldwide belief persists. (For more on the Bishop's report, visit the CSICOP
website at http://www.csicop.org/articles/19990121-audrey-santo/index.html.)

 Another round of Audrey Santo frenzy was sparked on May 31 when ABC 20/20
re-ran a story on the Audrey case, prompting Internet Audrey fervor,
desperate pleas from members of the public to obtain Audrey healing oil, and
renewed media attention. (INSIDE EDITION is scheduled to run a report on the
case this evening, June 4.)

 The on-going interest in Audrey Santo is not surprising to investigator Joe
Nickell who has been following the case closely for the past two years.
Author of the book _Looking for a Miracle_(Prometheus) and columnist for
Skeptical Inquirer, The Magazine for Science and Reason, Nickell has
investigated or reviewed dozens of miracle claims over the last two decades.
As in the Santo case, the power of belief often hides the obvious.  "People
seem to hunger for some tangible religious experience, and wherever there is
such profound want there is the opportunity for what skeptics call 'pious
fraud.'" says Nickell.  "Money is rarely the primary motive, the usual
impetus being to renew the faith of believers and confound the doubters."

 Nickell says the conditions under which the statues and other objects yield
oil
 are consistent with the surreptitious application of a non-drying oil.  ABC
20/20, who consulted Nickell before their investigation, was allowed to take
a sample of the oil which proved to be 75 percent olive oil, "the rest
unidentifiable." Other independent tests have all yielded different results.
In fact, analysis of one sample by a Pittsburgh laboratory revealed it to be
80 percent vegetable oil and 20 percent chicken fat, according to The
Washington Post (July 19, 1998) which commissioned the test. The chemist said
such a mixture could be prepared in any kitchen.

 For more information, visit the CSICOP website at
http://www.csicop.org/articles/19990121-audrey-santo/index.html
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