blemished flesh" beneath ...Another fake was Palma Maria Matarelli who not only exhibited the stigmata but also "miraculously" produced Communion wafers on her tongue. Pope Pius IX privately branded her a fraud, stating that he had the proof in his desk drawer and adding, "She has befooled a whole crowd of pious and credulous souls" ... A more public condemnation awaited Gigliola Giorgini (b. 1933): Discredited by church authorities, in 1984 she was convicted of fraud by an Italian court... The authenticity of some stigmata may be questioned in light of the mystic's character. For example, Teresa Helena Higginson (1844-1905), an English stigmatic, was dismissed as a teacher on accusations of theft, drunkenness, and unseemly conduct. And Berthe Mrazek, a Brussels-born circus performer turned stigmatic, was first regarded seriously but doubts came in 1924 when she was arrested for fraud and committed to an insane asylum (Nickell 1993, 223). Still other stigmatics must be viewed in light of their propensity for self-punishment and self-mutilation. These include the thirteenth-century masochist Lukardis of Oberweimar, who, before exhibiting the stigmata, "had the habit of driving her fingernails into her palms" (Joe Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer)Nickell aslo credits Theresa Neumann and Padre Pio, two of the best known stigmatics form the twentieth century, with being ungeniune, or at least raising questions. Theresa Neumann was observed by Professor Martini who said the blood only flowed after he had left the room, as if something was being hidden. Padre Pio wore gloves to hide his wounds, but after his death only "unblemished" skin was found.(Joe Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer) In many of the cases I have read about the skin seemed to have been unharmed, or there were no scars once the wound had healed. Just like the stigmata wounds I have found some discrepencies within the articles I have read: "A reliable approved list does not exhist; but ...
