Lourdes officially recognises 72nd miracle

The Catholic Herald• April 17, 2025

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France has officially recognised the occurrence of the 72nd miracle at the famous Catholic pilgrimage site.

The announcement was made by Father Michel Daubanes, the rector of the sanctuary, on Wednesday, 16 April. The miracle, which actually occurred more than 15 years ago, involves an Italian woman who was cured of a rare neuromuscular condition.

Antonietta Raco had “suffered from primary lateral sclerosis” but was “cured in 2009 during her pilgrimage to Lourdes”, according to the announcement by the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Lourdes.

The Italian Tursi-Lagonegro diocese, where Raco lives, also released an announcement about the miracle. It states that after bathing in the waters at Lourdes in 2009, Raco “began to move independently [after which] the effects of the infamous illness immediately and definitively disappeared”.

The bishop of the diocese subsequently “provided for the establishment of a medical-theological commission and the appointment of an episcopal delegate in order to make the necessary ecclesial discernment about the alleged miraculous healing”.

“After a long period of accurate investigations, the International Medical Committee of Lourdes, in turn, declared the medically unexplained character of the scientific knowledge of the lady’s recovery,” the diocese said.

The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reported on the same day as the announcement by the shrine and the diocese that Raco’s doctor described the healing as “a scientifically inexplicable phenomenon”.

Raco herself reportedly described “an unusual feeling of well-being” after bathing in the Lourdes spring in 2009.

“Thank God, who with this divine sign has once again manifested his presence among his people,” the diocese said. 

Photo:  Painting of the apparition of Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in the Grotto at Massabielle near Lourdes.(https://www.dorotheum.com/en/l/3900127/)