Lourdes: 72nd unexplained healing, described as a “miracle” by the Church

On Friday, July 25, in Lourdes, the healing of Antonia Raco, who suffered from a neurodegenerative disease, was recognized as "unexplained" by doctors gathered in the sanctuary. The Church, for its part, saw it as a "miracle"...

On July 25, in Lourdes, in the John Paul ^I Hall, five men were on stage in front of about a hundred people – seminarians, nuns, journalists – and in the center, Antonia Raco. With tears in her voice, she described her illness, her suffering, the wheelchair, and then that “sweet voice” heard in the basin: “Don’t be afraid.” She cried. “I stood up. I couldn’t sit down again. It was as if someone was accompanying me .”

Diagnosed in 2006 with primary lateral sclerosis—a rare, degenerative disease with no known cure—she gradually lost the use of her legs. In 2009, she came to Lourdes. Upon her return, the symptoms had disappeared. A lasting disappearance, confirmed by Professor Vincenzo Silani, an Italian neurologist specializing in this pathology. Since July 25, this recovery has been officially described as "miraculous" by the Church.

Before reaching this point, the process lasted fifteen years, with a series of expert assessments and two votes. First, the Sanctuary's Medical Findings Office. Seven criteria had to be met: serious illness, ineffective treatment, sudden, complete, and lasting recovery, without relapse or explanation.

"It's a healing that science cannot account for," explains Professor Emmanuel Jonquet. This is precisely where it all comes down to: what medicine cannot yet explain . And what the Church is responsible for naming.

The International Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL), composed of around thirty volunteer doctors, voted for the first time in 2019. The result was too divided. "The 'providential' arrival of Covid," as Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis pointed out with a smile, delayed everything. But it allowed for the integration of "new studies" into the Raco dossier. In 2024, a new vote took place: 17 in favor, 4 against. A two-thirds majority was reached. From a medical point of view, it was validated.

"My mission is to verify that everything has been done properly," Monsignor Micas reminds us. He assures us: "The experts are not here to defend Lourdes." Even if their involvement is voluntary. Even if, in the room, there's a little more talk of "grace" than of clinical records.

At the CMIL, there's no talk of miracles. "These are the doctors who speak," insists Dr. de Franciscis. "We speak like scientists." Yet, the debates, it is said, were "very lively." And the language sometimes goes a little beyond protocol.

The "miracle," therefore, comes to close the "absence of explanation." Like a word placed where science has not yet found its own.

But all that's clear, isn't it? Provided, of course, that you've followed along. "It's a bit long, a bit technical," the bishop conceded. He's not the only one to have gotten lost in the twists and turns. Fortunately, in the end, everything falls into place: the facts are there, the doctors have voted, the Church has decided. And Antonia Raco can walk again. Perhaps that's the real "miracle."