On February 11, 2020, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Father John Hollowell, a young American priest, received a terrible diagnosis: brain cancer.
Healing after a pilgrimage to Lourdes
In a video dated January 30, 2023, Father Hollowell announces his healing, attributing it to a pilgrimage to Lourdes that he made in June 2022. A few months before this pilgrimage, Father John was informed that the cancer had spread, although the doctors were not pessimistic about his chances of recovery.
Is it a miracle?
We still do not know whether Father Hollowell’s healing is the result of a miracle: only the Church can establish this after a specific investigation by the Office of Medical Findings. The process requires several criteria to be met: the healing must be unexpected, instantaneous, complete, lasting, and inexplicable. So far, only 70 of the 8,000 healings that have occurred at Lourdes and been studied have been recognized. The most recent healing officially recognized as miraculous is that of Sister Bernadette Moriou. Official recognition dates back to 2018.
Lourdes is still one of the most visited shrines in the world today. In this place, the sick seek healing, but above all, peace.
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