Wednesday 16 April 2025 – The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes welcomes the official proclamation of the 72nd miracle of Lourdes by Mgr Vincenzo Carmine Orofino, Bishop of the Diocese of Tursi-Lagonegro (Province of MATERA), Italy.
Antonietta Raco, who suffered from Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS), was cured in 2009 during her pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Antonietta Raco (Mrs Lofiego), aged 67, had Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS), and was cured in 2009 when she came to Lourdes with the Italian pilgrimage organisation UNITALSI.
She had been followed for several years by the Neurosciences Department of the University of Turin for very severe migraines (headaches).
CHRONOLOGY
In 2004: severe headache attacks, accompanied by cramps and generalised asthenia, with walking difficulties.
In 2005: worsening of the walking difficulties with the appearance of dysphagia and dysarthria.
In 2006: she was diagnosed with Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS).
In 2008: her condition worsened, with a reduction in her expiratory Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), as well as hyposthenia and tetraparesis, predominantly on the left.
In 2009: Antonietta Raco went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes from 30 July to 5 August, accompanied by UNITALSI (Basilicata region).
When she went to the Baths, she reported feeling an unusual sense of well-being and being able to walk again. She did not speak about it until she returned home.
In August and September of the same year, she underwent a series of check-ups which showed that the symptoms she had been experiencing since 2004 had disappeared, and confirmed the diagnosis of Primary Lateral Sclerosis.
In July 2010: Antonietta Raco declared her supposed cure to the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations.
Immediately a 1st meeting of the Bureau des Constatations was convened, at which the doctors present unanimously decided to open a file and investigate her medical history. Further meetings of the Bureau were held in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
In 2013: Antonietta Raco was assessed by the Neurology Department of the University of Milan, which confirmed the diagnosis and took charge of the follow-up.
In 2017: a 5th and final meeting of the Bureau des Constatations was convened. The members of the Bureau who were present collegially observed Antonietta Raco’s cure, qualified as unexplained according to medical knowledge.
In November 2024: after a period of clinical observation and validation of the international consensus on the diagnosis of PLS, the International Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL), at its annual meeting, called on the members present to vote:
‘Is Mrs Antonietta RACO cured of Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS), in accordance with the 2020 consensus, validated in 2024, in an unexpected, complete, lasting and unexplained manner according to medical knowledge?’.
The majority voted YES.
On 15 November 2024, the bishop of the diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes informed the bishop of the diocese of Tursi-Lagonegro, the diocese where Antonietta Raco resides, who then proclaimed the miracle on Wednesday 16 April 2025.
Press contact
Lourdes Sanctuary Communications Department
Tel. + 33 (0)6 21 50 42 71 – communication@lourdes-france.com
