A self-styled clairvoyant who said a statue of the Virgin Mary cried tears of blood and claimed she could multiply gnocchi for her followers, has been charged with fraud, along with her husband. They are due to stand trial in April.
For years, faithful Catholic pilgrims flocked to a field outside Rome, belonging to Gisella Cardia – born Maria Giuseppa Scarpulla – and her husband Gianni Cardia, to pray in front of the statue of the Madonna of Trevignano. The statue was said to weep blood and transmit messages Gisella Cardia claimed were both from God and Satan, according to court documents.
The couple, who have been denounced by the Vatican, created a shrine to the Madonna statuette and regularly held prayer events, during which Gisella Cardia would take to the stage and preach.
Her followers have told media that, although Gisella Cardia did not multiply bread and loaves, she would often show up with one box of pizza or a plate of gnocchi that somehow multiplied to feed the masses.
The couple also collected nearly €400,000 ($465,000) between 2018 and 2024 from those who came to pray in front of the statue, promising that the money would go to children’s hospital, the prosecutor’s office in Civitavecchia, which has charged them with fraud, confirmed to CNN Thursday.
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