Eminent scientists weigh in on the inexplicable healings of Lourdes

Thousands of "miraculous healings" occur every year in Lourdes, one of the most visited shrines in the world. However, only a tiny fraction of these "cures" are considered truly "miraculous" by the Church. Indeed, the criteria for a healing to be designated as such are very rigorous.

Many people reject the phenomenon out of hand because they are not aware of the Church's rigorous approach to the matter and do not know that the Church follows a strict procedure before validating some of the thousands of alleged miracles that are officially reported. For many people, miracles are merely old wives' tales with no scientific basis. This attitude, shared by many in intellectual circles, contrasts with the respectful position of prestigious scientists such as Dr. Luc Montagnier, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine and discoverer of HIV, among others.

A former director of the Pasteur Institute, this eminent scientist gave his opinion on the miracles of Lourdes in a 2009 book entitled Le Nobel et le Moine (The Nobel and the Monk), a series of conversations with the Cistercian monk Michel Niassaut.

When the discussion turns to the inexplicable cures at Lourdes and Brother Michel asks him what he thinks of them as a non-believer, Montagnier replies, "When a phenomenon is inexplicable, if it really exists, then there is no point in denying it."

If inexplicable healings exist, what is the point of denying them? In this case they should be studied and not denied. Montagnier affirms that "the miracles of Lourdes can’t be explained" and he rejects the position of some scientists who "make the mistake of rejecting what they do not understand. I don't like this attitude. I often quote the astrophysicist Carl Sagan who said, "The absence of evidence is not evidence of an absence."

Aleteïa