The Shroud Codex - Jerome R. Corsi [84]
Then, as suddenly as he had levitated, Bartholomew’s body came crashing to the cathedral’s floor.
Examining Father Bartholomew quickly, Dr. Castle could see that the stigmata on the priest’s wrists had opened once again, as gaping, bleeding wounds. Reaching under the priest’s purple vestments, the doctor felt blood soaking the tunic, meaning the scourge marks on his body were likely also raw and bleeding.
Running into St. Patrick’s, the New York Police Department assisted Father Morelli in shutting down Fernando Ferrar’s film crew and escorting them outside.
The ambulance medics rushed in and took over. Within a minute Father Bartholomew was in the ambulance, headed back to the hospital.
“His pulse is weak,” Castle told the medics. “His blood pressure is probably low and falling. He’s in the first stages of going into shock. But don’t be alarmed; he’s been through this before.”
“I don’t understand,” one of the paramedics said loudly as he jumped into the back of the ambulance.
“It’s what I expected,” Castle said, trying to calm things down. “I’ll explain it on the way downtown.”
Squeezed into a corner in the back of the ambulance, Father Morelli quietly took out his stole and his prayerbook, ready to administer extreme unction once again to Father Bartholomew.
Dr. Castle ordered the driver to get to Beth Israel Hospital as fast as possible.
Ahead of them a police escort led the way once again with lights and sirens blaring.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Sunday afternoon
News Headquarters, Forty-eighth Street and Sixth Avenue, New York City
Day 18
Fernando Ferrar and his mobile television crew raced their van back to television news headquarters, a few blocks away from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Already the editors were working to package his video into a breaking news segment, aiming to be the first with live coverage of Father Bartholomew and what was being called the “Miracle at the Cathedral.”
Anchor Dave Dunaway broke into the Sunday afternoon coverage with a “news extra.”
“I have with me here on the set today our correspondent Fernando Ferrar, who has just returned from St. Patrick’s Cathedral here in New York City, where something extraordinary has just happened. New Yorkers are buzzing about what is being called the ‘Miracle at the Cathedral.’ Fernando was there. Tell us, Fernando, what happened?”
“It was quite extraordinary.” Ferrar began with obvious excitement at having just recorded the scoop of a lifetime. “Father Paul Bartholomew, the Catholic priest we have been covering—the one who has manifested on his wrists the stigmata, the nail wounds of Christ crucified on the cross—was saying Mass.”
As Ferrar related what had happened, the national TV audience saw the video his crew had captured inside the cathedral.
“Just as the Mass was getting to Communion, the high point of the Mass, Father Bartholomew grabbed his head and fell to the ground. Our film crew was inside the church and we rushed forward to get a close-up.”
“Looking at this for the first time, it’s quite remarkable,” Dunaway said. “It looks like blood is coming through his fingers as he grabs his head there. He looks like he’s in severe pain.”
“That’s right, Dave,” Ferrar said. “You’re not going to believe this, but what it looked like to me was that Father Bartholomew was suffering the wounds Christ received with the crown of thorns.”
“How is that possible?” Dunaway asked in amazement.
“Wait,” Ferrar continued. “That’s not half of it. Just watch the film clip. Within a minute or two, Father Bartholomew’s body looked like it was being jerked upward in several distinct motions.”
“I can’t believe it,” Dunaway said. “It looks like the priest is levitating.”
“He was,” Ferrar said anxiously. “At least, that’s how it looked to me. But there’s more. As you can see, his arms were outstretched, just like he was the one being nailed to the cross. And then—take a look at this close-up—the nail wounds on his wrists began bleeding again.”
“It’s amazing. I can’t believe it,” Dunaway