Archbishop of Liverpool declares new miracle

Archbishop Malcolm McMahon has declared the case of John (Jack) Traynor a miracle.

Traynor was a pilgrim on the Liverpool 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 for many years, but, despite an attempt in 1993, there has never been an official ecclesiastical declaration until today.

The miracle is the 71st to have happened in Lourdes and the first time a person from England has been 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.

Archbishop McMahon said: “Given the weight of medical evidence, the testimony to the faith of John Traynor and his devotion to Our Blessed Lady, it is with great joy that I declare that the cure of John Traynor, from multiple serious medical conditions, is to be recognised as a miracle wrought by the power of God through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.

“I hope that in February 2025, during the Jubilee Year, we will have a fitting celebration at the Metropolitan Cathedral to mark this significant moment in the history of our archdiocese, helping us all to respond to the Jubilee call to be ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’”

Archbishop McMahon’s full statement can be read here.

(Photo courtesy of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference)

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