Georgian Man Claims To Be First Orthodox With Stigmata

4/4/2010

A twenty-two year old Georgian claims to have stigmata, or marks similar to those that Jesus Christ received on his Crucifixion, according to an article published in RT. What makes the case curious is that stigmata are more commonly associated with Roman Catholics, and RT pointed out that this is the first case of such an instance in someone of the Orthodox faith.

According to that same article, Tournike Djegerenaya said, “The first time stigmata appeared seven years ago. I prayed before going to bed. Then I felt something strange happening. It was like a dream, but not really. I saw someone being crucified right in front of me. Then they lifted the cross, and I was face to face with the person who was crucified. Then I looked down, and realized I, too, was on a cross.”

The article continues, with Tournike saying he woke to find bleeding wounds, as if from crucifixion, on his hands and feet. He went to doctors, “but they couldn’t tell me anything.”

RT noted that Tournike’s “local diocese and the Georgian Orthodox Church in general treat such cases with caution and skepticism.”

“When it comes to stigmata, holy fathers teach to be wary of such manifestations of supposed divine grace during the life of the person in question. We respect all such persons, but we believe grace manifests itself internally,” Metropolitan of Borjomi and Bakuriani Seraphim was quoted in the article as saying.

RT also interviewed Catholic theologian Aleksandra Marveloshvil, who was quoted as saying, “The church is usually highly critical of people exhibiting stigmata. Usually, those who exhibit such signs on their bodies have to undergo rigorous scientific and religious examination,” Marveloshvili says.

“Nobody ever had evidence that it can happen. There is evidence that in many cases it is fraud. People just want attention or try to make money out of being popular. In other cases, people might not remember that they inflicted injury on themselves,” head of the Russian Society of Evidence-based Medicine Kirill Danishevsky was quoted by RT as saying.

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