How Could an Unbeliever Persevere in His Disbelief? (I)

A group of Lutheran theologians from Eastern Germany published a proclamation in 1971 containing these lines filled with moving honesty: "At Lourdes, Fatima and other Marian sanctuaries, impartial criticism is faced with supernatural facts, which have a close relation to the Virgin Mary, either because of the apparitions, or because of the miraculous graces obtained by her intercession. These facts defy any natural explanation. Until now, 1,200 of the cures that have taken place at Lourdes were recognized as scientifically inexplicable by medical doctors. Yet the Catholic Church has only declared miraculous 44 of them. For thirty years, 11,000 doctors, without distinction of religion or scientific opinions, had free access to the Office of Medical Observations. Therefore, a cure declared miraculous has the greatest possible guarantee."