Lourdes Medical Bureau
Encyclopedia
The Lourdes Medical Bureau (International Medical Association of Lourdes; Association Médicale Internationale de Lourdes) is a medical organization based in Lourdes
, France
. It is an official organization within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
, but is administered and run only by doctors. Its most noted function is the medical investigation of apparent cures associated with the shrine of Lourdes.
The term Medical Bureau is also used by the International Medical Association of Lourdes to refer to a special conference of its members, which may be called to investigate reports of inexplicable healing.
at Lourdes took place between 11 February and 16 July 1858. After this time, reports of apparently miraculous cures began to accumulate, prompting calls for the Roman Catholic Church
to recognise these events as miracle
s. The earliest investigations of these cases were carried out by an Episcopal Commission of Inquiry led by Canon Germain Baradère and reporting directly to Mgr Laurence, bishop of Tarbes. The commission's earliest work was conducted without medical consultation, with only clerical opinion being sought as to the nature of the cures.
In 1859, Professor Henri Vergez from the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier
was appointed medical consultant to the Episcopal Commission of Inquiry. Vergez's views were often at odds with those of his clerical colleagues. Vergez decided that only eight of the early cases were genuinely inexplicable.
In 1883 a body called the Bureau des Constatations Médicales was established by doctors affiliated with the sanctuary. This was the forerunner of the current Medical Bureau. Its first titular head was the nobleman Baron Dunot de Saint-Maclou, and the Bureau was housed at the residence of the Garaison Fathers in Lourdes. Following the establishment of the Bureau des Constatations Médicales, the number of recognised cures dropped dramatically, from 143 in 1883 to only 83 in 1884.
Dunot de Saint-Maclou died in 1891 and was succeeded by Dr. Gustave Boissarie who headed the Medical Bureau until 1914, and met with the French author Emile Zola
when he visited Lourdes in August 1892. Dr. Bonamy, a character in Zola's 1894 novel Lourdes, is unflatteringly based on Boissarie. Boissarie wrote a celebrated book, L'Histoire Médicale de Lourdes in 1891, which was praised by Pope Leo XIII
. Boissarie moved the offices of the Bureau to accommodation beneath the right ramp of the Upper Basilica, where he met with people who claimed to have been cured.
In 1905, Pope Pius X decreed that claims of miraculous cures at Lourdes should "submit to a proper process", in other words, to be rigorously investigated. At his instigation, the current Lourdes Medical Bureau was formed.
In 2011, the cure of a french man is under further examination to determine officially whether another miraculous cure has taken place. Twenty doctors from the medical bureau have concluded that the formerly paralysed man's recovery, which occurred in 2002, was 'remarkable'. To date, sixty-seven cures have been officially recognized as miraculous by the Roman Catholic Church.
(the large area of consecrated ground surrounding the shrine and owned by the Church), on the second floor of the building known as the Accueil Jean Paul II.
Any doctors practising in or visiting Lourdes may apply to become members of the Lourdes Medical Bureau. Additionally, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists and members of other allied health professions
may apply to become members. Members are given (and invited to wear) a small but distinctive badge displaying a red cross on a white background surmounted by the word Credo ("I believe"). However, members of any religious affiliation or none are welcomed.
Members are requested to notify the bureau of any visits which they make to Lourdes.
The Lourdes Medical Bureau publishes its own quarterly journal, Fons Vitae ("Fountain of Life") which is circulated to members. Additionally, case-reports of interest are circulated to members for perusal.
The Medical Bureau investigates the claim, by examining the patient, the casenotes, and any test results (which can include biopsies
, X-rays, CT scans, blood test
results, and so on).
If this conference decides that further investigation is warranted, the case is referred to the International Lourdes Medical Committee (abbreviated in French to CMIL), which is an international panel of about twenty experts in various medical disciplines and of different religious beliefs. CMIL meets annually. A full investigation requires that one of its members investigates every detail of the case in question, and immerses him/herself in the literature around that condition to ensure that up-to-date academic knowledge is applied to the decision. This investigator may also consult with other colleagues about the case.
This information is presented at a CMIL meeting. Also present at the meeting are the head of the Lourdes Medical Bureau and the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes (currently this is Jacques Perrier). The cured subject is not normally present.
For a cure to be recognised as medically inexplicable, certain facts require to be established:
CMIL is not entitled to pronounce a cure "miraculous"; this can only be done by the Church. The bureau may only pronounce that a cure is "medically inexplicable". A full investigation takes a minimum of five years (in order to ensure that the cure is permanent), and may take as long as ten or twelve years. It is recognised that, in rare cases, even advanced malignant disease or severe infection may spontaneously resolve.
The CMIL board votes on each case presented. A two-thirds majority is required for CMIL to pronounce a cure "inexplicable".
If CMIL decides a cure is medically inexplicable, the case is referred to the Bishop of the diocese where the cured subject lives. It is he who, in consultation with his own experts and with the Vatican
, makes the decision about whether a cure is "miraculous". He may, for whatever reason, refute the claim.
Jacques Perrier, the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, made a statement concerning the question of miracles in Lourdes. The bishop wishes to have a new approach to cures in Lourdes, especially concerning the different stages of recognising them. In his words: “For the Church, as well as for the believer, a pilgrimage to Mary is more than a journey to a miracle. It is a journey of love, of prayer and of the suffering community.”
Occasionally cases are dismissed by the Medical Bureau but still attain a level of fame and notoriety. One example is that of Jack Traynor
.
Pieter De Rudder
was a farm labourer, born Jabbeke
July 2, 1822, died March 22, 1898. His recovery from a broken leg (1875) is one of the most famous recognized Lourdes
miracles (a bronze cast of his bones is exhibited in the Lourdes Medical Bureau), although it is not supposed to have occurred in Lourdes itself, but in a sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes at Oostakker
near Ghent
(Belgium
, East Flanders
).
.
Age 31, a student nurse from Rennes
, France. Tubercular
peritonitis
with complications for seven years, extreme emaciation and oscillating fever. Comatose
when brought to Lourdes, was given a tiny fragment of the Eucharist
and awoke. Reported being "instantly and permanently cured" later that night while lying in her wheelchair
beside the spring. She had not yet bathed in or drunk the water
. Her cure was recognised officially on 11 November 1950.
Age 28, from Fribourg
, Switzerland
. Multiple sclerosis
for five years. His cure was recognised on 18 December 1960.
Age 34, from Bouille-Loretz
, France. Multiple sclerosis
for three years. Her cure was recognised on 16 July 1956.
Age 32, from La Richardais, France. Arachnoiditis
of posterior cranial fossa
(blindness
, deafness, hemiplegia
). Her cure was recognised on 15 August 1956.
Age 26, from Carmaux
, France. Budd-Chiari syndrome
(supra-hepatic venous thrombosis). Her cure was recognised on 31 May 1963.
Age 27, from Patti, Sicily. Tuberculous osteoarthritis
with fistula
e at multiple sites in the right leg. Her cure was recognised on 26 May 1965.
Age 22, from Marseilles, France. Femoral osteoperiostitis
with fistulae, epistaxis, for ten years. Her cure was recognised on 11 May 1965.
Age 23, from Scurelle
, Italy
. Sarcoma
(cancer) of pelvis; tumour so large that his left thigh became loose from the socket, leaving his left leg limp and paralysed. After taking the waters, he was free of pain and could walk. By February 1964 the tumour was gone, the hip joint had recalcified, and he returned to a normal life. His cure was recognized on 26 May 1976.
Age 41, from Le Lion-d'Angers
, France. Recurrent right hemiplegia
, with ocular lesions, due to bilateral carotid artery
disorders. Symptoms, which included headache
, impaired speech and vision, and partial right-side paralysis
began without warning in February 1964. During the next six years he became a wheelchair user, and nearly blind. While on pilgrimage to Lourdes in April 1970, he felt a sudden warmth from head to toe, his vision returned, and he was able to walk unaided. His cure was recognised on 17 June 1978.
Age 12, from Paterno, Sicily
. Ewing's sarcoma of right knee. Offered amputation
by her doctors, her mother refused and took her to Lourdes instead. On returning to Italy, her tumour rapidly regressed until no remaining evidence existed, although it left her tibia
angulated, which required an operation (osteotomy
) to correct. Her cure was recognised on 28 June 1989. She went on to become a nurse.
Age 51, French. Multiple sclerosis
. His cure was recognised on 9 February 1999.
in 1964. He was head of the Bureau from 1998 until his retirement in 2009.
from Harvard, and has pursued a political as well as a medical career.
Despite this position, many pilgrim groups (especially those with large numbers of sick pilgrims) include their own doctor(s) and/or nurse(s), who take on the day-to-day medical care of their own group. Most are volunteers who give their time and services for free.
The Domain includes a treatment area called the Dispensary, also in the Accueil Jean Paul II, which contains several bays for the treatment of acute problems. Although most such problems are minor (such as cuts and grazes), the Dispensary is equipped with full resuscitation facilities, airway equipment and a defibrillator. It also has a small electric ambulance
.
The Dispensary is open during daylight hours and is staffed by nurses.
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is an official organization within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes or the Domain is an area of ground surrounding the shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, France...
, but is administered and run only by doctors. Its most noted function is the medical investigation of apparent cures associated with the shrine of Lourdes.
The term Medical Bureau is also used by the International Medical Association of Lourdes to refer to a special conference of its members, which may be called to investigate reports of inexplicable healing.
History
The apparitionsOur Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes is the name used to refer to the Marian apparition said to have appeared before various individuals on separate occasions around Lourdes, France...
at Lourdes took place between 11 February and 16 July 1858. After this time, reports of apparently miraculous cures began to accumulate, prompting calls for the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
to recognise these events as miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s. The earliest investigations of these cases were carried out by an Episcopal Commission of Inquiry led by Canon Germain Baradère and reporting directly to Mgr Laurence, bishop of Tarbes. The commission's earliest work was conducted without medical consultation, with only clerical opinion being sought as to the nature of the cures.
In 1859, Professor Henri Vergez from the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier was a French university in Montpellier in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of the south of France. Its present-day successor universities are the University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier 2 University and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III.-History:The university...
was appointed medical consultant to the Episcopal Commission of Inquiry. Vergez's views were often at odds with those of his clerical colleagues. Vergez decided that only eight of the early cases were genuinely inexplicable.
In 1883 a body called the Bureau des Constatations Médicales was established by doctors affiliated with the sanctuary. This was the forerunner of the current Medical Bureau. Its first titular head was the nobleman Baron Dunot de Saint-Maclou, and the Bureau was housed at the residence of the Garaison Fathers in Lourdes. Following the establishment of the Bureau des Constatations Médicales, the number of recognised cures dropped dramatically, from 143 in 1883 to only 83 in 1884.
Dunot de Saint-Maclou died in 1891 and was succeeded by Dr. Gustave Boissarie who headed the Medical Bureau until 1914, and met with the French author Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
when he visited Lourdes in August 1892. Dr. Bonamy, a character in Zola's 1894 novel Lourdes, is unflatteringly based on Boissarie. Boissarie wrote a celebrated book, L'Histoire Médicale de Lourdes in 1891, which was praised by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
. Boissarie moved the offices of the Bureau to accommodation beneath the right ramp of the Upper Basilica, where he met with people who claimed to have been cured.
In 1905, Pope Pius X decreed that claims of miraculous cures at Lourdes should "submit to a proper process", in other words, to be rigorously investigated. At his instigation, the current Lourdes Medical Bureau was formed.
In 2011, the cure of a french man is under further examination to determine officially whether another miraculous cure has taken place. Twenty doctors from the medical bureau have concluded that the formerly paralysed man's recovery, which occurred in 2002, was 'remarkable'. To date, sixty-seven cures have been officially recognized as miraculous by the Roman Catholic Church.
Current administration
The bureau is led by a single doctor. The current head is Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis. The bureau has a modest office within the DomainSanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes or the Domain is an area of ground surrounding the shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, France...
(the large area of consecrated ground surrounding the shrine and owned by the Church), on the second floor of the building known as the Accueil Jean Paul II.
Any doctors practising in or visiting Lourdes may apply to become members of the Lourdes Medical Bureau. Additionally, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists and members of other allied health professions
Allied health professions
Allied health professions are clinical health care professions distinct from dentistry, nursing and medicine. One estimate reported allied health professionals make up 60 percent of the total health workforce...
may apply to become members. Members are given (and invited to wear) a small but distinctive badge displaying a red cross on a white background surmounted by the word Credo ("I believe"). However, members of any religious affiliation or none are welcomed.
Members are requested to notify the bureau of any visits which they make to Lourdes.
The Lourdes Medical Bureau publishes its own quarterly journal, Fons Vitae ("Fountain of Life") which is circulated to members. Additionally, case-reports of interest are circulated to members for perusal.
Investigation of apparent cures
Approximately 35 claims per year are brought to the attention of the Lourdes Medical Bureau. Most of these are dismissed quickly. Three to five each year are investigated more thoroughly, by drawing up a Medical Bureau, comprising any doctors who were present in Lourdes at the time the apparent cure took place (this is the rationale for all members to notify the bureau of their visits to Lourdes).The Medical Bureau investigates the claim, by examining the patient, the casenotes, and any test results (which can include biopsies
Biopsy
A biopsy is a medical test involving sampling of cells or tissues for examination. It is the medical removal of tissue from a living subject to determine the presence or extent of a disease. The tissue is generally examined under a microscope by a pathologist, and can also be analyzed chemically...
, X-rays, CT scans, blood test
Blood test
A blood test is a laboratory analysis performed on a blood sample that is usually extracted from a vein in the arm using a needle, or via fingerprick....
results, and so on).
If this conference decides that further investigation is warranted, the case is referred to the International Lourdes Medical Committee (abbreviated in French to CMIL), which is an international panel of about twenty experts in various medical disciplines and of different religious beliefs. CMIL meets annually. A full investigation requires that one of its members investigates every detail of the case in question, and immerses him/herself in the literature around that condition to ensure that up-to-date academic knowledge is applied to the decision. This investigator may also consult with other colleagues about the case.
This information is presented at a CMIL meeting. Also present at the meeting are the head of the Lourdes Medical Bureau and the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes (currently this is Jacques Perrier). The cured subject is not normally present.
For a cure to be recognised as medically inexplicable, certain facts require to be established:
- The original diagnosis must be verified and confirmed beyond doubt
- The diagnosis must be regarded as "incurable" with current means (although ongoing treatments do not disqualify the cure)
- The cure must happen in association with a visit to Lourdes, typically while in Lourdes or in the vicinity of the shrine itself (although drinking or bathing in the water are not required)
- The cure must be immediate (rapid resolution of symptoms and signs of the illness)
- The cure must be complete (with no residual impairment or deficit)
- The cure must be permanent (with no recurrence)
CMIL is not entitled to pronounce a cure "miraculous"; this can only be done by the Church. The bureau may only pronounce that a cure is "medically inexplicable". A full investigation takes a minimum of five years (in order to ensure that the cure is permanent), and may take as long as ten or twelve years. It is recognised that, in rare cases, even advanced malignant disease or severe infection may spontaneously resolve.
The CMIL board votes on each case presented. A two-thirds majority is required for CMIL to pronounce a cure "inexplicable".
If CMIL decides a cure is medically inexplicable, the case is referred to the Bishop of the diocese where the cured subject lives. It is he who, in consultation with his own experts and with the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, makes the decision about whether a cure is "miraculous". He may, for whatever reason, refute the claim.
Jacques Perrier, the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, made a statement concerning the question of miracles in Lourdes. The bishop wishes to have a new approach to cures in Lourdes, especially concerning the different stages of recognising them. In his words: “For the Church, as well as for the believer, a pilgrimage to Mary is more than a journey to a miracle. It is a journey of love, of prayer and of the suffering community.”
Occasionally cases are dismissed by the Medical Bureau but still attain a level of fame and notoriety. One example is that of Jack Traynor
Jack Traynor
John Traynor, from Liverpool, was a former Royal Marine severely wounded during the First World War. He lived as an invalid until 1923 when, upon his own insistence, he joined with fellow Catholics from the area and journeyed to the Catholic shrines at Lourdes....
.
Pieter De Rudder
Visited Lourdes: After his healing, from 9 to 15 May 1878Pieter De Rudder
Pieter De Rudder
Pieter De Rudder, in many French books Pierre De Rudder, in English Peter De Rudder, was a farm labourer, born Jabbeke July 2, 1822, died March 22, 1898...
was a farm labourer, born Jabbeke
Jabbeke
Jabbeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Jabbeke proper, Snellegem, Stalhille, Varsenare and Zerkegem. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 13,572 inhabitants...
July 2, 1822, died March 22, 1898. His recovery from a broken leg (1875) is one of the most famous recognized Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
miracles (a bronze cast of his bones is exhibited in the Lourdes Medical Bureau), although it is not supposed to have occurred in Lourdes itself, but in a sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes at Oostakker
Oostakker
Oostakker, formerly spelled Oostacker, is one of the smaller former municipalities which were merged into Ghent , the capital of the Belgian province of East Flanders...
near Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
(Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, East Flanders
East Flanders
East Flanders is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant , of Hainaut and of West Flanders...
).
.
Jeanne Fretel
Visited Lourdes: 10 May 1948.Age 31, a student nurse from Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, France. Tubercular
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
peritonitis
Peritonitis
Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...
with complications for seven years, extreme emaciation and oscillating fever. Comatose
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
when brought to Lourdes, was given a tiny fragment of the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
and awoke. Reported being "instantly and permanently cured" later that night while lying in her wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
beside the spring. She had not yet bathed in or drunk the water
Lourdes water
Lourdes water is water which flows from a spring in the Grotto of Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France. The location of the spring was described to Bernadette Soubirous by an apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes on 25 February 1858...
. Her cure was recognised officially on 11 November 1950.
Brother Léo Schwager
Visited Lourdes: 30 April 1952.Age 28, from Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
for five years. His cure was recognised on 18 December 1960.
Alice Couteault, born Alice Gourdon
Visited Lourdes: 15 May 1952.Age 34, from Bouille-Loretz
Bouillé-Loretz
Bouillé-Loretz is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.-References:* * * *...
, France. Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
for three years. Her cure was recognised on 16 July 1956.
Marie Bigot
Visited Lourdes: 8 October 1953 and 10 October 1954.Age 32, from La Richardais, France. Arachnoiditis
Arachnoiditis
Arachnoiditis is a neuropathic disease caused by the inflammation of the arachnoid, one of the membranes that surround and protect the nerves of the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord...
of posterior cranial fossa
Posterior cranial fossa
The posterior cranial fossa is part of the intracranial cavity, located between the foramen magnum and tentorium cerebelli. It contains the brainstem and cerebellum.This is the most inferior of the fossae. It houses the cerebellum, medulla and pons....
(blindness
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
, deafness, hemiplegia
Hemiplegia
Hemiplegia /he.mə.pliː.dʒiə/ is total paralysis of the arm, leg, and trunk on the same side of the body. Hemiplegia is more severe than hemiparesis, wherein one half of the body has less marked weakness....
). Her cure was recognised on 15 August 1956.
Ginette Nouvel, born Ginette Fabre
Visited Lourdes: 21 September 1954.Age 26, from Carmaux
Carmaux
Carmaux is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.Carmaux was famous for its important coal mining and its glassworks . "In 1892, Jean Jaurès supported the miners of Carmaux when they went on strike over the dismissal of their leader, Jean Baptiste Calvignac."...
, France. Budd-Chiari syndrome
Budd-Chiari syndrome
In medicine , Budd–Chiari syndrome is the clinical picture caused by occlusion of the hepatic veins. It presents with the classical triad of abdominal pain, ascites and hepatomegaly. Examples of occlusion include thrombosis of hepatic veins. The syndrome can be fulminant, acute, chronic, or...
(supra-hepatic venous thrombosis). Her cure was recognised on 31 May 1963.
Elisa Aloi, later Elisa Varcalli
Visited Lourdes: 5 June 1958.Age 27, from Patti, Sicily. Tuberculous osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis also known as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease, is a group of mechanical abnormalities involving degradation of joints, including articular cartilage and subchondral bone. Symptoms may include joint pain, tenderness, stiffness, locking, and sometimes an effusion...
with fistula
Fistula
In medicine, a fistula is an abnormal connection or passageway between two epithelium-lined organs or vessels that normally do not connect. It is generally a disease condition, but a fistula may be surgically created for therapeutic reasons.-Locations:Fistulas can develop in various parts of the...
e at multiple sites in the right leg. Her cure was recognised on 26 May 1965.
Juliette Tamburini
Visited Lourdes: 17 July 1959.Age 22, from Marseilles, France. Femoral osteoperiostitis
Osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis simply means an infection of the bone or bone marrow...
with fistulae, epistaxis, for ten years. Her cure was recognised on 11 May 1965.
Vittorio Micheli
Visited Lourdes: 1 June 1963.Age 23, from Scurelle
Scurelle
Scurelle is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 30 km east of Trento...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Sarcoma
Sarcoma
A sarcoma is a cancer that arises from transformed cells in one of a number of tissues that develop from embryonic mesoderm. Thus, sarcomas include tumors of bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, vascular, and hematopoietic tissues...
(cancer) of pelvis; tumour so large that his left thigh became loose from the socket, leaving his left leg limp and paralysed. After taking the waters, he was free of pain and could walk. By February 1964 the tumour was gone, the hip joint had recalcified, and he returned to a normal life. His cure was recognized on 26 May 1976.
Serge Perrin
Visited Lourdes: 1 May 1970.Age 41, from Le Lion-d'Angers
Le Lion-d'Angers
Le Lion-d'Angers is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.-Geography:The Oudon River forms part of the commune’s southern border before joining the Mayenne River, which forms part of the commune’s eastern border.-References:...
, France. Recurrent right hemiplegia
Hemiplegia
Hemiplegia /he.mə.pliː.dʒiə/ is total paralysis of the arm, leg, and trunk on the same side of the body. Hemiplegia is more severe than hemiparesis, wherein one half of the body has less marked weakness....
, with ocular lesions, due to bilateral carotid artery
Carotid artery
Carotid artery can refer to:* Common carotid artery* External carotid artery* Internal carotid artery...
disorders. Symptoms, which included headache
Headache
A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the...
, impaired speech and vision, and partial right-side paralysis
Hemiplegia
Hemiplegia /he.mə.pliː.dʒiə/ is total paralysis of the arm, leg, and trunk on the same side of the body. Hemiplegia is more severe than hemiparesis, wherein one half of the body has less marked weakness....
began without warning in February 1964. During the next six years he became a wheelchair user, and nearly blind. While on pilgrimage to Lourdes in April 1970, he felt a sudden warmth from head to toe, his vision returned, and he was able to walk unaided. His cure was recognised on 17 June 1978.
Delizia Cirolli, later Delizia Costa
Visited Lourdes: 24 December 1976.Age 12, from Paterno, Sicily
Paternò
Paternò is a town and comune in the Province of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy.-History:The site of Paternò was settled before 3500 BCE. Its inhabitants were probably the Sicani, although it was located in mainly Sicel territory; its initial name was Inessa. The modern name derives form the Greek...
. Ewing's sarcoma of right knee. Offered amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
by her doctors, her mother refused and took her to Lourdes instead. On returning to Italy, her tumour rapidly regressed until no remaining evidence existed, although it left her tibia
Tibia
The tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
angulated, which required an operation (osteotomy
Osteotomy
An osteotomy is a surgical operation whereby a bone is cut to shorten, lengthen, or change its alignment. It is sometimes performed to correct a hallux valgus, or to straighten a bone that has healed crookedly following a fracture. It is also used to correct a coxa vara, genu valgum, and genu varum...
) to correct. Her cure was recognised on 28 June 1989. She went on to become a nurse.
Jean-Pierre Bély
Visited Lourdes: 9 October 1987.Age 51, French. Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
. His cure was recognised on 9 February 1999.
Patrick Theillier
Dr. Patrick Theillier was the twelfth doctor to head the Lourdes Medical Bureau. He received his medical degree from LilleLille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
in 1964. He was head of the Bureau from 1998 until his retirement in 2009.
Alessandro di Franciscis
Italian paediatrician Dr. Alessandro ("Sandro") di Franciscis (born Naples, 1955) is the thirteenth doctor to head the Lourdes Medical Bureau, and the first non-Frenchman in that position. He succeeded Dr. Theillier on 10 February 2009 and was appointed by Bishop Jacques Perrier. Dr. di Franciscis has a Masters degree in epidemiologyEpidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
from Harvard, and has pursued a political as well as a medical career.
Medical care of visitors
The Medical Bureau is not responsible for the direct medical care of pilgrims and visitors to Lourdes. Legally, the position is that the general practitioners and hospital in Lourdes are responsible for the medical care of anyone visiting Lourdes.Despite this position, many pilgrim groups (especially those with large numbers of sick pilgrims) include their own doctor(s) and/or nurse(s), who take on the day-to-day medical care of their own group. Most are volunteers who give their time and services for free.
The Domain includes a treatment area called the Dispensary, also in the Accueil Jean Paul II, which contains several bays for the treatment of acute problems. Although most such problems are minor (such as cuts and grazes), the Dispensary is equipped with full resuscitation facilities, airway equipment and a defibrillator. It also has a small electric ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
.
The Dispensary is open during daylight hours and is staffed by nurses.
External links
- Official Lourdes Medical Bureau website: http://fr.lourdes-france.org/approfondir/guerisons-et-miracles
- Article from Lourdes Magazine : http://www.lourdes-magazine.com/article.php3?id_article=577&lang=fr
- Interview with Dr. Theillier: http://www.tfp.org/magazine/mag73/lourdes_medical.htm
- Article from student BMJ: http://www.studentbmj.com/issues/02/02/life/33.php