Miracles at Lourdes

In 1858, a mysterious lady appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous on 18 different occasions in a grotto in Lourdes, France. On the day of the Annunciation, the woman said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” People flocked to the site and within days started making claims of miracle cures. While the small town claims 70 medical miracles over the last 160 years, it has over three million pilgrim visitors every year, each hoping to have their own miraculous medical recovery.
 

CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker visited the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations where world-renowned doctors and researchers conduct decade-long investigations into the thousands of claims of cures. They determined which cases can be medically explained and which cannot according to current medical knowledge. 

“It’s been said about Lourdes, for those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, no explanation is possible,” concluded Whitaker after visiting Our Lady of Lourdes.

Click here for the full story from 60 Minutes.