The AB Blood Type Claim

Bacteria contamination has not been checked.

This is the second in the series in the “Eucharistic Miracle Data Problems” project that began with this article, “Exaggeration and Eucharistic Miracles” at Crisis Magazine. My hope is that a team forms to analyze the DNA of the available samples of Eucharistic miracle claims, per the Kearse Protocol.

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The AB Blood Type Claim

I want to go into more detail about the type AB blood claim.

One of Dr. Kelly Kearse’s recent papers in the journal of Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology specifically addresses the claims of an AB blood type among the relics of Jesus and Eucharistic miracles. The “relics” of Jesus refer to the three cloths believed to have touched Jesus during the crucifixion and retained his blood: the Shroud of Turin (linen burial garment), the Tunic of Argenteuil (seamless robe), and the Sudarium of Oviedo (face cloth). The Eucharistic “miracles” refer to the two in which blood type was determined during the investigations: the one from Lanciano, Italy (A.D. ~750) and the that from Tixtla, Mexico (2006). Hence, there are five samples thought to contain the biological blood of Christ. Reports indicate that all five test positive for type AB, the rarest of blood types at about five percent (5%) of the global human population.

The Exaggerated Claims are Widespread

Indeed, the reports of a consistent blood type for the ancient as well as the modern samples seem astonishing! In his 2021 book, A Cardiologist Examines Jesus (Sophia Institute Press), Dr. Franco Serafini devotes an entire chapter to the AB blood group. He calculated the probability that all five test results would produce the same AB result, given their rarity, to be 1 in 3.2 million. The 1 in 32 million calculation is based on the assumption that there is no natural explanation for the consistent rare blood type.

A 2023 article at Catholic Answers Magazine by Parker Manning, a business analytics graduate from Purdue, takes this statistic further. Manning claims the consistent blood type is a mathematical proof for the Real Presence. He says the results (1 in 3.2 million) are a “statistical impossibility” and, therefore, are proof that the miracles are real, that God is real, and that “our Lord has AB blood.” If the statistic itself was an exaggeration, the extension to a proof of God’s existence and Christ’s biology is wild and completely unfounded, to say the least.

Likewise, a 2022 article at The Arlington Catholic Herald on the science of Eucharistic miracles authored by Steve Hemler and Lee Granger, officers of the Catholic Apologetics Institute of North America, says the type AB blood results “provide compelling evidence that Eucharistic miracles are divine signs that attest to the Real Presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.” A 2024 article at EWTN, “the Divine Blood Type as revealed by Eucharistic miracles by ChurchPOP says the consistent type AB results are evidence that the miracles are authentic since the Lanciano samples appeared long before blood testing chemistry was discovered. These authors extend the claim to even be proof that the miracles are authentic.

These stories are all repeated from the work of the worldwide Vatican International Exhibition. The website says that the ‘exhibition has already visited well over 3000 parishes in Italy, the USA, Canada and in many other countries as well and has been translated into numerous languages.” The exhibition bears credibility because it is promoted in the name of the Vatican and for the cause of canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the teenager who compiled the stories before his untimely death from leukemia at the age of fifteen. The exhibition contains hundreds of stories, which are published by the Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association in their book, The Eucharistic Miracles of the World. The posters are available for printing and display.

Why the Claims are Exaggerated

The short answer is that bacteria contamination was not ruled out. Kearse cites scientific literature dating back to the 1960s showing that bacteria have the same antigens on their cell surfaces as human red blood cells.

Serological testing of blood sample known to be human can reveal the blood type. Serology measures the presence of antibodies in the liquid blood serum. The antibodies are generated by the type A, B, and O antigens (i.e., antibody generators) on the surface of red blood cells. In dried blood samples, there is no serum to test. In old blood samples, the antibodies may have decomposed or are no longer functional. In those cases, there are various methods than can chemically detect the presence of the A, B, and O antigens even if the blood cells have disintegrated.

However, if those samples were not preserved in sterile conditions, then they can become contaminated with bacteria. Since bacteria have the same A and B antigens on their cell surfaces as human red blood cells, the same test could produce a false type AB result.

And all five samples were known to be contaminated. Residuals of small dead insects and larvae were observed the Lanciano samples. The Shroud blood fibers were found to be contaminated with bacteria and fungi. The most recent of these reports is the Tixtla, Mexico account of a bleeding Host, however, the sample was handled by multiple people over several years, with the results of the investigation being published seven years later.

All the blood tests on relic cloths and Eucharistic miracle cases to date have searched for the presence of A and B antigens using serological methods, but no tests have ever been done to determine whether the AB results were due to bacteria or not. This is a critical step since none of the samples were kept in sterile conditions. Kearse maintains that “it is reasonable to propose that shared AB antigens from bacteria could readily explain the observed shared [AB] blood type” and that “the likely contribution of AB antigens from microorganisms cannot be excluded.”

Further, he notes that if the samples are in fact human blood, the typing analysis is still inconclusive because bacteria feed on organic matter, including blood. It is possible that AB antigens could be found where there was a higher concentration of blood due to a higher concentration of bacteria thriving in those spots.

For this reason, there can be no scientific certainty that all five samples are type AB blood given the current testing, or that the samples were even blood at all. All we know is that there is another natural explanation which was not checked.

There is no “statistical impossibility” here, just a shortage of testing and reporting. The findings are not proof that God exists, nor are they proof that all the samples are the blood from a single human, Jesus Christ.

New Genetic Testing Protocols

Kearse explains the tests that would solve this question, consulting two other experts in the field of immunology.

Dr. Fumiichiro Yamamoto is an internationally recognized expert in the study of the blood group ABO system, including the genes and enzymes responsible. Dr. Donald Branch is a medical specialist in blood transfusion who has published more than 150 research papers and received awards of distinction from the American Society of Hematology, American Association of Blood Banks and the Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine.

New testing protocols should not, they say, rely on serological testing methods described above. Many forensic laboratories have stopped using serology testing altogether due to the possibility of contamination and because genetic blood typing is now more accurate, reproducible, and cost efficient. Genetic methods go beyond the mere detection of the chemical end units for the type A and B antigens. They detail the enzymes and the DNA segments that produce the antigens in the first place. Even better, these more fundamental chemical units differ much more between species and even between individuals. This means that if someone organized a test to submit these five samples to the genetic test Kearse describes, there would be conclusive data to show 1) whether the samples are human blood, 2) if whether the blood all comes from the same individual.

If the claim is that the blood all comes the body of one man, Jesus Christ, then the genetics test would confirm the single source.

Additionally, there have been multiple reports of “living tissue” in Eucharistic miracle accounts. In these cases, the blood would not be dried or old, but fresh and still in the serum solution. These samples could be tested both by serological and genetic methods to see if there is a match. Even more, the genetic makeup in the cells other than red blood cells (which do not contain DNA) could be determined in these cases too.

Miraculous claims demand extraordinary evidence, but in the case of the type AB blood claims, the ordinary data has still not been sufficiently collected.

Catholics Should Not Fear Good Science!

The Catholic Church is not opposed to science. Those entrusted with public witness to the truths of faith should welcome more rigorous testing. To grant intellectual assent to the fundamental truth of the Catholic faith called transubstantiation is the simplest and purest act of faith in things unseen. No amount of analytical testing can prove that the bread and wine become Body and Blood. Christ said, “This is my body.” That is our proof. Miracles should always be approached with great caution and reservation, taking pains to avoid exaggerated claims. Catholics do not put their faith in science but in the Word of God Himself.

I will even go so far as to say that proclaiming miracles without the proper scientific testing is most impious and disrespectful of the Eucharist. It gives the impression that investigators are more interested in personal gain than truth. That is a strong accusation, and it’s not one I am ready to make. However, if I had been the scientist in charge of reporting on these miracles, I would not have been at all comfortable publishing information that I knew I could not back up with data. Seriously, I’m not virtue-signaling. I would have been terrified of the consequences, both before God and to my fellow truth-seekers. My concern now is that so many parishes, priests, apologists, organizations, universities, and publications have repeated the 1 in 32 million claims about blood type that if the genetic tests are done and do not support such a claim, then people will lose faith in the Church to guard the truth. It’s as if some Catholics are under the spell of scientism, needing science to shore up what they ought to hold in faith.

This Series

I am working through the inaccuracies and exaggerations one at a time to raise awareness and stop the exaggerations that mislead others.

As I said, my goal is to see a team form to follow Dr. Kearse’s protocol so that all samples still available can be tested genetically. Then we will have much better data to decide about miracles. I am not the right person to lead such a team because I am not an immunologist. But I am a chemist, and I know how to read scientific papers and spot faulty data and exaggerations.

I hope you’ll follow along. Until next time…