Incident: February 2025; social account specifies 21–22 February; laboratory findings announced 24 March. Sources reviewed 13 November 2026. Historical case addition; publication date is not the incident date.
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An apparent sign and an investigation
In late February 2025, a red-discoloured Communion host at St Anthony of Padua parish in Morris became the subject of a possible-miracle claim. OSV News confirmed with the Archdiocese of Indianapolis on 3 March that an investigation involving a professional laboratory was underway. Its 4 March report distinguished that confirmation from a social-media account describing hosts falling on 21 February and red marks the next day.
The later finding belongs with the original story
On 24 March, the archdiocese announced that biochemical analysis found fungus and three bacterial species commonly associated with human hands, and no human blood. Catholic News Agency’s Kate Quiñones reported the statement that day. The archdiocese said the host had fallen from a Mass kit and was later found discoloured. It concluded that the cause was natural, not miraculous.
Keeping the accounts separate
The early social description and the later official account are not identical narratives of handling and discovery. UKPX preserves that distinction rather than reconstructing an exact sequence from different sources. The February occurrence date, March investigation announcement and March result are also separate events in the chronology.
Confirmation that an inquiry exists is not confirmation of the claim being investigated. Reporting only the initial announcement would leave readers with a materially incomplete account once the result had been published. Here, the eventual laboratory statement changes how the original red appearance should be classified.
What the reported testing establishes
The reported analysis directly addresses the suggestion that the red material was human blood. That is a different and more specific evidential question than whether an image looks blood-like to a viewer. Appearance alone cannot establish biological identity.
UKPX has read the attributed official statement in the originating news coverage, not raw laboratory worksheets, retained samples or an independent repeat analysis. It does not add the name of a particular bacterial species, a precise growth mechanism or a tissue finding that the reviewed statement does not supply.
Assessment
This entry is Closed (Explained), reflecting the publicly announced investigation result rather than a broad judgment about religious belief. The claim can be documented respectfully while its physical explanation is made clear. The older church photograph shows the parish building; it is not an image of the host or a laboratory sample.
The case is indexed to 2025 because the reported discovery occurred then. It is not presented as an unresolved Eucharistic event, and later articles repeating the initial excitement should not displace the dated result.
Map reference: Rounded Morris hamlet reference from OpenStreetMap/Nominatim. Not the host’s storage location, a private home or an invitation to inspect church material.
Sources and review trail
OSV News, Simone Orendain, 4 March 2025. Original confirmation of inquiry and separately attributed social account; read 13 November 2026.
Catholic News Agency / EWTN News, Kate Quiñones, 24 March 2025. Archdiocesan statement supplied to CNA and laboratory outcome; read 13 November 2026. Direct Criterion PDF access failed, so no claim that its full issue was read.