Rumors are swirling about paranormal events surrounding a young Catholic saint in Guadalajara, Mexico. Called Santa Inocencia, the deceased martyr is said to have opened her eyes and looked into the camera of a tourist visiting her in the Guadalajara Cathedral.

The Daily Mail, The Sun,  The Daily Express, and The Huffington Post are some of the more recent sources for this account, but it appears the story began on La Obscura Habitacion.

That website says the event took place on December 12, 2012. Their video of the reported paranormal activity is shown on the website and also available on Youtube. The Youtube video has hit more than 700,000 views already, a number that is sure to continue to climb as much as the controversy around the supposed event.

By translating the account on the La Obscura Habitacion website, one reads that a person [unnamed] took the video of the corpse with his/her cellphone and was able to capture the little girl opening her eyes. Even though the person says that they didn’t see it while recording, while viewing the video with his/her family that they could see the corpse clearly opens her eyes in front of the camera.

As Pregunta Santoral points out, there are two main versions of the story behind Santa Inocencia: One stating she was a young girl who was tortured and killed by Roman Legionnaires at the rise of Christianity, and the other saying her Mexican father killed her for her conversion to Christianity. The more common of the two legends is presented on the Vive Guadalajara website and says that:

“St. Innocence (The Girl in the Cathedral) was a young girl named Inocencia from Mexico who listened to her classmates talking about receiving their first communion and wanted to participate in the ceremony as well. However, when she told her father about her desire to convert to the faith he hit her and forbid her from taking part in “such nonsense.”  Nonetheless, Inocencia was drawn to the catechism classes and encouraged by a nun who found her listening while hiding outside that she should take the Eucharist. “Better to have the good as ally than evil” the nun said.

When the big day arrived the nun gave Inocencia a white lace dress and the young girl received the Eucharist. Upon returning home she could not control her feelings of happiness and went to tell her father. When she found him in the kitchen he was angered by the news and stabbed his daughter in the chest (or stomach). After committing this crime, the man fled and neighbors found Inocencia’s lifeless body. They brought her back to the cathedral where she had received the Holy Communion and laid her there to rest in peace.

The Guadalajara Cathedral in 1836. (Public Domain)

However, Pregunta Santoral provides a different take on Santa Inocencia’s tale and states that the body’s story began in 1786 when it was found in the Roman catacombs before it was transported to Mexico where it was supposed to be put in a convent. For political reasons it ended up in the cathedral where is can be seen today. This website ᴀsserts that the white gown Inocencia is dressed in was an afterthought sometime along this journey, and probably sparked the popular legend ᴀssociated with a young martyr.

The story presented by La Habitacion Obscura provides a mix of these two legends saying that Santa Inocencia was a Roman girl killed by her father for her conversion to Christianity. Her body was transferred to the catacombs in Rome and found again centuries later in a near perfect state. Through a turn of events, the body eventually ended up in the Guadalajara Cathedral, where the face was preserved with wax…or was it?

There are differing images of Santa Inocencia, in some she appears more like a statue while others, such as the images in the video by La Habitacion Obscura and similar videos show a waxy face. Still more state that the only true reliquaries of Santa Inocencia are her skeletal hands and blood.

Detail of Santa Inocencia’s face. (pH๏τobenn)

Nevertheless, the question still remains about a possible paranormal event related to Santa Inocencia. Speaking on the story, Cardinal Juan Francisco Robles apparently told La Obscura Habitacion, “This beatified saint is known for making miracles, and this is just one of the many.”

However, as with many other reported paranormal events, there is a debate online whether the video depicting her apparently opening her eyes was a real event or is just a hoax. There are several commentators saying the video is a fake, while others retort that those who believe don’t need an explanation. Mixed in are worries of demonic forces and people who are unsure if it could be true or not. Take a look at the video for yourself, what do you think?