“We’ve been swamped:” Twenty thousand people travel to see weeping statue, church says

Twenty thousand people from as far away as Hong Kong have traveled to see the statue of the Virgin Mary reportedly crying at a Hobbs church, parishioners say.

“We’ve been swamped,” said Judy Ronquillo, the church manager.

Not only that, the church told ABC-7 the statue began weeping again on Saturday.

“We need to stay together and unite each other and pray,” Ronquillo said. “All I ask is for everybody to forgive and pray.”

The Las Cruces Catholic Diocese, the governing body of all Catholic churches in southern New Mexico, will interview witnesses tomorrow, Ronquillo said.

Bishop Oscar Cantú told the Las Cruces Sun-News the diocese will first try to determine if the tears are a supernatural occurrence. This part of the probe includes laboratory tests of the liquid believed to be tears, eyewitness interviews and scrutiny of possible natural causes, including human tampering.

It is unclear how long the investigation will take to complete. The church is open daily, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.