Image of Blessed Virgin Mary to be moved to church

 PETALING JAYA - The glass panel at the Sime Darby Medical Centre (SDMC) where an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared will be moved to a church in Klang.

Church of St Thomas More parish priest Rev Father Simon Labrooy said the decision was reached after meeting with the management of SDMC.

“The Catholic Church is in agreement with SDMC that the present situation cannot continue as we are concerned over the direct effect this may have on emergency services at SDMC,” he said in a letter addressed to parishioners.

Father Labrooy said the SDMC management had given an assurance that a professional firm would be engaged to ensure no damage to the glass panel during the moving process, and that the operation would be supervised by the Church of St Thomas More officials.

“The glass panel will be moved to the Marian Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Klang, where it will be more conducive for prayer and reflection,” he said, adding that the date for the shifting would be announced shortly.

He said SDMC had also assured church officials that there had been no attempt to clean the image.

Father Labrooy also said he had consulted the Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Most Rev Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam on the matter.

“I wish to reiterate that this by no means confirms the authenticity of the image as an apparition of Mary,” he said, adding that the Catholic Church would withhold official com­ment until the image had been tested and verified by church officials.

Photographs of the image, believed to have appeared several days ago, have gone viral on Facebook.

Some eyewitnesses have also reported seeing another image forming on one of the windows below, which they claimed resembled the face of Jesus.

There have been numerous accounts of the Virgin Mary sightings or apparitions throughout history, with some telling of actual visions of the lady while others appear in the form of images.

Church of St Thomas More parishioner Tony Loh thanked SDMC management for its sensitivity towards the Catholic community by providing a tent and a box for them to light candles in prayer.

“The church committee will be meeting them (today) to discuss how we will go about removing the panel,” he said.

Among those spotted praying at SDMC yesterday was Myanmar refugee James Pauhang, 23, who was visibly moved, saying that it was a sign of answered prayer.

“I was just informed by the United Nations’ office that I will be going to Australia and fulfil my dream of studying network engineering,” he said.