(LifeSiteNews) — On this episode of Faith and Reason, John-Henry Westen, Father Charles Murr, and Frank Wright discuss the presentation of the 72nd miraculous healing at Lourdes, the Trump administration revoking a rule that allowed abortions at veterans’ facilities, several major hospitals ending the “transitioning” of minors due to Trump’s executive orders, and more.
The panel opened the episode by discussing the recent official presentation of Lourdes’ 72nd miracle, the healing of Antonietta Raco, an Italian woman who was miraculously cured from Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) after bathing in the waters of Lourdes.
READ: Woman’s healing from incurable disease officially presented as Lourdes’ 72nd miracle
Westen noted that it took 16 years for Raco’s healing to be recognized as a miracle by the Church, and asked Murr why the process would take that long. The priest emphasized that the Church, especially in Lourdes, is very scrupulous about declaring someone’s healing a “miracle,” and even asks many atheist doctors to examine each claim.
“(M)ost of the doctors that they had examining these cases were atheists, they wanted non-believers,” he said. “This was the devil’s advocate’s kingdom, almost, to disprove, so that the (cases) that were shown as absolute miracles without a question were, in fact, without a question, miracles.”
“That’s the idea, it bolsters everyone’s faith to know this,” he added.
Murr stressed again how seriously the Church in Lourdes examines these alleged miracles. The priest noted that the healings are often not approved unless the individual’s ailment was documented before they visited Lourdes, and they were healed immediately upon arriving in Lourdes, and then finally passed the scrutiny of non-Catholic doctors.
“That’s fantastic (that) this is being treated seriously, unlike other places of alleged Marian apparitions. That’s why Lourdes is such a beautiful and important place to all of us,” he said.
Wright echoed Murr’s sentiments and underscored how this strict approval process reinforces the faith.
“It is simply wonderful to see the grace of God appear … after a long and scrupulous process conducted by people who prefer terms like ‘spontaneous remission,’ terrible conditions simply going away for no reason at all,” he said. “I think it’s marvelous, and also the fact that it is a strict process is one that simply reinforces the faith.”
“It’s important to remember as well … that these scrupulously documented and investigated miracles are simply the tip of the iceberg, and once again a reminder that divine grace can and does enter the world to transform people’s lives,” he added.
The panel then turned to good news from the U.S., where multiple major hospitals in Chicago, Richmond, and across the nation announced that they would stop transitioning gender-confused minors due to Trump’s executive order defunding the procedures. Trump’s Department of Veterans Affairs also announced it is reinstating its full exclusion on abortion and abortion counseling from its medical benefits package.
READ: Top Virginia children’s hospital ends ‘gender transitions’ due to Trump executive order
Wright welcomed these developments and emphasized that abortion and “transgender” madness plaguing society won’t end until their state sponsorship also comes to an end.
“This madness has been sponsored by the state. This death cult has been sponsored by the state, and when the state stops sponsoring it, it will disappear,” he said. “The transgender madness will disappear, it was sponsored by the state. The death cult and abortion were sponsored by the state. It will disappear when the state basically stops sponsoring, stops using your money to pay for it, and to advertise it, and to finance it, and spread it everywhere.”
The journalist highlighted that the abortion and “transgender” issues are important aspects of what he calls the “liberal global state religion.”
“Every state, whatever it is, be it a democracy, a monarchy, a dictatorship, or whatever, has a state religion. And these were aspects of the liberal global state religion, this was their secular, godless, diabolical religion,” he said. “That’s why they spread it everywhere, that’s why they used all our money to propagandize it, and to basically finance an industry of death.”
Wright further stressed that when the state embraces the Catholic faith instead of this secular religion of the state, it will flourish again.
When you change the state religion from the secular religion of mankind, and the cult of death, to be inspired by the true religion, which is the Catholic faith, and more broader Christianity, look at the change that you can do. This is the kind of change that is recommended in one of the encyclicals of the Catholic social teachings on civil government, (which) says that when the state is just, i.e., when it follows the natural order divinely created and inspired by God, people love it, and the state will flourish. But when it doesn’t, people will die, and there’ll be chaos and madness. And I think we can see that our Western world is beginning to detransition from that awful century-long nightmare we know as the liberal global experiment.
For more discussion on the presentation of Lourdes’ 72nd miracle, the impact of Trump’s pro-life and pro-family executive orders on society, and more, tune in to this episode of Faith and Reason.
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