rome
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A self-proclaimed clairvoyant who claimed a statue of the Virgin Mary could shed tears of blood and produce more gnocchi for her followers has been charged with fraud along with her husband. They are scheduled to go to trial in April.
For years, faithful Catholic pilgrims of Gisella Caldia, born Maria Giuseppa Scarpulla, and her husband Gianni Caldia have gathered in a field on the outskirts of Rome to pray in front of the statue of Our Lady of Trevignano. According to court documents, the statue bleeds and carries messages that Gisela Cardia claims come from both God and the devil.
The couple, who have been condemned by the Vatican, built a shrine to a statue of the Virgin Mary and held regular prayer services during which Gisela Cardia took to the stage to preach.
Her supporters told the media that although Gisela Caldia did not increase bread or bread, she often appeared with a box of pizza or a plate of gnocchi that had somehow been increased to feed the masses.
The couple also collected nearly 400,000 euros (about $465,000) from people who came to pray at the statue between 2018 and 2024, and promised to donate the money to children’s hospitals, the Civitavecchia prosecutor’s office that prosecuted them for fraud confirmed to CNN on Thursday.
Prosecutors allege that the money was used to spruce up the pilgrimage site and buy a $40,000 car, and that no taxes were collected on religious donations.
The couple are scheduled to go on trial in April, and are accused of staging a “ghost” statue of the Virgin Mary to appear to have blood flowing from its eyes for financial gain.
The alleged fraud was discovered in 2023 when a former believer reported it to the police. In an interview with state broadcaster RAI, he said he told police officers that they had found a coffin in his car after the collision with Gisela Cardia.
Emiliano Giardina, a geneticist at the Civitavecchia public prosecutor’s office, said in a court report that police launched an investigation and conducted blood tests that showed a match with Gisella Caldia’s DNA.
At the time, the Vatican issued a statement warning pilgrims to be wary of “alleged apparitions and revelations reported by Mrs. Gisela Caldia and Mr. Gianni Caldia,” which it said had not been determined to be supernatural.
Solange Marchignoli, the couple’s lawyer, told CNN on Thursday. “(Gisela) Cardia is relieved because she believes this moment is an opportunity to transparently reveal the truth of the facts and to definitively put an end to all the speculations, misunderstandings and controversies that have arisen against her in recent months,” the statement said. Marchignoli added that the couple “welcomed the trial and said it was a necessary step to finally clarify all aspects of the case in which she was involved in an appropriate forum.”
A woman later told a local news channel in an interview broadcast by RAI that she witnessed Gisela Caldia making more pizzas.
“We had gone to her house for a rosary, and there were about 20 or 25 of us. After the rosary, we decided to stay there for a while and talk. One day, someone brought a box of pizza. Someone nearby cut it, and we each went there and took a little at a time…we all ate. The pizza is never finished, and this is all the work of God’s providence through Gisela,” the woman said.
Gisela Caldia herself told a similar story in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper when the fraud charges first surfaced in 2023.
“I had some lunch left: gnocchi and a little rabbit,” she said. “There were 15 of us and we all ate the gnocchi and the rabbit. It was incredible. While I was plating the gnocchi, the food didn’t get any smaller, and the pot didn’t get any smaller.”
