On 8 December 2024, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon declared the case of John (Jack) Traynor a miracle.
Jack was a pilgrim on the archdiocese's first official pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1923 and was cured dramatically of epilepsy, paralysis of the right arm and paraplegia during the pilgrimage.
The case has been believed to be miraculous from people across the archdiocese and beyond, but, despite an attempt in 1993, there has never been an official ecclesiastical declaration until today.
It is the 71st official miracle to have happened in Lourdes and the first person from England to be recognised.
At the time of the archdiocesan centenary pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2023, the current President of the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations (BdCM), Dr Alessandro de Franciscis, asked Dr Kieran Moriarty, an English member of the International Medical Committee of Lourdes, to conduct a review of the file of John Traynor held in the archives at Lourdes.
Sufficient medical evidence enabled the archdiocese to reconsider the possibility that the cure of John Traynor might be declared miraculous.
You can read Archbishop Malcolm’s full statement here.
On Tuesday 18 February, there will be a special Mass of Thanksgiving followed by a drinks reception at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King at 7pm to celebrate the miraculous cure.
It is an opportunity for people across the archdiocese and beyond, including representatives from the Shrine at Lourdes, to gather in Liverpool to mark this historic moment, and to heed the call of Pope Francis in this Jubilee Year to become ‘pilgrims of hope.’
