That is the core of the church's preliminary report on the case of Santo, who lies in a coma-like state in the back room of a cream-colored home here, where hundreds say they have found God's special intercession.
''We have not yet been able to confirm claims of miraculous events occurring at Audrey's home or as a result of a visit to Audrey, or from the oils associated with her,'' said Bishop Daniel P. Reilly of the Diocese of Worcester during a press conference yesterday at which he delicately implored Catholics not to unreasonably seek tangible proof of heaven on Earth.
Delivering the diocese's preliminary findings from a 14-month investigation into what some people call miracles linked to the girl who has been paralyzed and mute since nearly drowning in her family's swimming pool in 1987, Reilly said Catholics may pray for Audrey - but not to her. ''Praying to Audrey is not acceptable in Catholic teaching,'' said Reilly.
The report said there has been no corroboration of family members' claims that the girl is able to communicate. It also found no ''obvious evidence of chicanery.'' The bishop said the Santo family has agreed to restrict access to Audrey, who attracted an estimated 10,000 people from across the United States last summer during a special Mass at an athletic field at the College of the Holy Cross. Reilly called that event a ''spectacle'' that should not be repeated.
''It's like coming to a football game or something,'' the bishop said. ''I object to bringing Audrey out in that sort of box that they brought her in. I don't think that does any good. And I was kind of unhappy about that, to be honest with you. I don't like to see this child used in that way.''
While the church's probe will continue, investigators said yesterday that its ultimate conclusion may never confirm that miracles occurred in the back room of the girl's home here on a dead-end street. ''I think some questions will be answerable, but in the final analysis it may be simply a matter of faith,'' said Dr. John P. Madonna, a member of the diocesan commission.
Reilly said Santo's family has been cooperative in the church's investigation. A family spokeswoman, who distributed prepared statements from the front steps of the Santo's ranch-style home yesterday, said Audrey's condition remains unchanged. ''The bishop and our pastor and priests will continue to guide us in the most unusual gift God has given us,'' the family's statement said. ''The most profound gift, second only to the Eucharist, is our child - alive and well and living at home.''
That child - the youngest of four children - has become the object of national attention, drawing a remarkably long waiting list of people who want to visit the girl who some believe is responsible for miracles like the Marian apparitions that the church says occurred in Lourdes, France, in 1858, or in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
While the church has deemed genuine the miracles at Lourdes and Fatima, it is far from doing that in the case of Audrey, who some say has at times carried the stigmata - wounds resembling those Christ is said to have suffered during his crucifixion. At least four times, family members have said, blood has appeared on the Communion hosts consecrated during Masses at the Santo home. Some people say being in Audrey's presence cured them of their sickness.
Madonna said prelimary findings show the blood on the wafers was human blood of an unknown type. He said it did not match any family members. As for the oil from statues, he said: ''[We] looked behind pictures and we picked up statues and we tried to determine what was really promoting the emission of fluids. And we found nothing that we could consider trickery.''
Investigators plan to conduct controlled tests and laboratory analysis of religious articles and oils as part of the probe's second stage. They said they found no evidence that the family has sought financial gain from the attention Audrey has drawn. ''Staged or planned manipulation of the visitors to the house is not apparent,'' the report said.
Asked whether he believed miracles are occurring through Audrey, Reilly replied: ''The question is do you believe? Believe in what? Do you believe that miracles are taking place? ... Do you believe that blood is appearing in the consecrated host? Do you believe that people are being healed? I don't know.''
But those who have been near her bedside and said they have seen the miracles with their own eyes were not as reticent. ''I've seen Audrey a lot and I see what's going on down there,'' said Patricia Benicaso of Paxton. ''In my mind, I believe everything. It's going to take a long time for people to accept it. Whether there are miracles or not, we believe in Audrey. She's bringing people back to Jesus - back to Communion - and that's what's important. People leave her with peace of mind.''
The further study of the case, authorized by Reilly, will include sophisticated analysis of fluids, and tests to determine whether Audrey responds to outside stimuli. The Rev. Stephen Pedone, the diocese's judicial vicar, said the Catholic Church has just ''a handful'' of such investigations underway. He said Pope John Paul II revised church protocol in the mid-1980s to allow modern medicine and science to be used to determine whether the laws of nature have been suspended in some instances. Reilly said human nature explains the desire by some to confirm what others take on faith.
''We go right back to the Gospel and to St. Thomas, who got stuck with the name `The Doubter' because he said, `Unless I see the marks of the nail and the wound in the side, I will not believe.' 'And the Lord said to him: `Thomas, blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.'''
Miracle Claims in Mass Home Remain A Mystery
WORCESTER - Wondrous signs that believers link to a bedridden girl here - oil-oozing statues, blood-stained Communion wafers, conquered fatal illnesses - are deep mysteries, not definitive miracles, a Roman Catholic Church panel said yesterday. In the matter of 15-year-old Audrey Marie Santo, the church said that only faith, so far, can supply answers that science has yet to fathom.
