Pope Francis has been credited for performing a "half-miracle" during the mass in Naples, cite the Aol.

On Saturday, during the mass at Naples, Pope Francis has given a vial of dried blood which belongs to St. Gennaro, who is the Italian city's patron saint that died in the fourth century.

The 78-year-old pontiff kissed the sealed glass and it turned into a liquid, while Cardinal Crescenzo Sepe declared that Pope Francis performed a miracle.

"It is the sign that St. Gennaro loves Pope Francis: half of the blood turned to liquid," he said, according to the report of the Express.

The Holy Father was surprised with the cardinal's announcement about the vial and humorously said to the cheering crowd: "The bishops said the blood is only half liquefied. It appears the saint only loves us half-way."

"We have to convert ourselves (to good) more so he loves us more," he added.

According to the Catholic Herald, Saturday is the first time that the blood liquefied in the papal presence since 1848 when it happened as well in front of Pope Pius IX. The site wrote that the phenomenon did not occur when Benedict XVI visited Naples in 2007 and St John Paul II visited the place in 1979.

St. Gennaro blood is kept in a glass of ampoule and believed to liquefy three times a year. It traditionally happened on September 19 which is the saint's feast day, December 16 and Saturday before the first Sunday of the month of May.

However, the Express wrote that skeptics have another view about Pope Francis "half-miracle."

They believed that the said phenomenon happened because of the chemical present in the ampoule that makes the viscosity of the blood to change when it is being moved.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that according to Elena Curti the acting editor of Catholic weekly the Tablet said that what happened on Saturday is not a miracle since it has been happening regularly on feast days for the past six years.