In Lourdes, a place of pilgrimage and hope, the Office of Medical Observations has been working since 1883 to study the healings reported by pilgrims. Founded at the request of Father Rémi Sempé, first rector of the sanctuary, this office is a space where science is put at the service of faith.
Each cure is examined rigorously, far from any search for sensationalism. Professor Emmanuel Jonquet, member of the International Medical Committee of Lourdes, recalls: “The miracle is daily in Lourdes”but the main thing is elsewhere. What matters is the encounter with God and the accompaniment of suffering people. An approach which illustrates the profound mission of Lourdes: uniting faith and science in the service of the most vulnerable.
The Lourdes Medical Observations Office: an institution of scientific rigor
Created more than 140 years ago, the Lourdes Medical Observations Office is today chaired by Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis. This place welcomes pilgrims who come to declare a healing, as well as the doctors and caregivers who participate. Its role is simple, but crucial: to seriously examine each healing file reported. If the cure seems unexplained by current medical knowledge, the file is subject to further examination.
As Professor Emmanuel Jonquet points out, “we are not here to judge miracles, but to attest to facts”. A rigorous work which reminds us that faith in Lourdes is not based on the spectacular, but on listening, prayer and care for the most vulnerable.
The International Medical Committee of Lourdes: an international perspective on unexplained cures
To further examine the cures, a second level of expertise intervenes with the International Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL). Created in 1947, this committee today brings together around thirty doctors from all over the world.
Since 1954, this committee has become international, reinforcing the requirement for rigor in the evaluation of cases. It is currently chaired jointly by Mgr Jean-Marc Micas, Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, and by Professor Olivier Jonquet. The latter was designated by the bishop to carry out this work of discernment, in close collaboration with the Office of Medical Observations. When the latter concludes that there has been an unexplained recovery, the file is sent to the CMIL for even more in-depth analysis.
Rare but rigorously examined cures: 70 miraculous cures in 140 years
Since its creation, more than 70,000 healings have been reported to the Lourdes Medical Office, but only 70 have been officially recognized as “miraculous” by the Church. This figure reflects the great scientific and theological demands of the processes in place. Each cure is subject to the criteria established by Cardinal Lambertini, which set a strict framework: the illness must be serious, diagnosed and recorded, and the cure must be sudden, definitive and without treatment that can explain it.
The recognition process often takes time – sometimes several years – before the Church makes a decision. An emblematic example is that of Bernadette Moriau, whose recovery was recognized in 2018 after more than 10 years of in-depth analysis.
What makes Lourdes strong is that faith is not based only on visible miracles, but on a daily encounter with God. In Lourdes, pilgrims come above all to recharge their batteries in prayer, to confide their suffering and to find peace. The message of Lourdes remains centered on penance, prayer and the conversion of hearts.
Thus, the work of the doctors of the Bureau and the CMIL is part of an approach of service, for the truth, but also for the faith. Beyond physical healings, it is an inner, spiritual healing that is often experienced by pilgrims, making Lourdes unique in its balance between faith and science.
Lourdes, a place of faith above all, at the heart of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
As the Lourdes sanctuary prepares to celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, this day recalls the very essence of the vocation of this place: a profound encounter with the Virgin Mary. The feast highlights one of the pillars of the Christian faith, the purity of the Mother of God, who appeared to Bernadette declaring: “I am the Immaculate Conception”.
It is in this spirit that the Lourdes Medical Office, with its scientific rigor and its demand for truth, takes its place: not to glorify miraculous cures, but to humbly attest to the unexplained, leaving to the Church the recognition final of the miracle, in direct link with the Marian faith.
