An Indiana priest claims he was healed of brain cancer after making a religious pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, in June 2022.
In a video posted to YouTube, Fr. John Hollowell details how he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in February 2020 and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to treat it.
Despite the treatments, the tumor started growing again, but after a visit to Lourdes, Hollowell said he felt physically stronger and cognitively improved after returning to the United States
An MRI performed in November 2022 later showed that the tumor, which had been removed after the operation, may never grow back – and that only scar tissue was visible.
An Indiana priest, Fr. John Hollowell, claims to have been healed of a brain tumor after making a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France in June 2022
Prior to his diagnosis, Hollowell, who serves the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, had offered his own pain as a form of redeeming suffering for victims of clergy sexual abuse, with some 170 survivors of Catholic clergy abuse reaching out to him.
“I was able to take all the names to this operation,” he explained. “So I made the video primarily for the survivors of Catholic clergy sex abuse, just to let them know that I’ve been healed.”
He says that although he was willing to make the sacrifice, he realized that God was using his suffering to help him the most.
“When the scandals of 2018 erupted, most of you know they hit me deeply, as have most of the church,” Hollowell wrote in a blog after his diagnosis.
“I prayed in 2018 that I would appreciate it if I could take upon myself some suffering, a cross to bear, on behalf of all the victims. I feel like this is that cross and I willingly embrace it,” he said.
He also notes that the anniversary of his diagnosis, February 11, is also the anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes’ first apparition to Saint Bernadette Soubirous – a French nun who founded the Shrine of Lourdes in the 18th century.
“I just wanted to make a quick video to let everyone know that I actually got cured of my brain cancer in Lourdes,” Hollowell explained. “I had a pretty negative MRI about two and a half months before I left for Lourdes.
“The MRI showed that [the tumor] started to grow back… The MRI I had had also found a tumor on my pituitary gland,” he said.
“Like Naaman the Syrian in our first reading, who washed in the Jordan and was cleansed of leprosy, I washed in the river at Lourdes and was healed, and like the leper who returns to give thanks, I want to publicly thank Jesus for it ‘ that he healed me,’ he wrote.
A well-known pilgrimage site for many believers, Lourdes has seen 70 healings recognized as miracles by the Catholic Church
“I want to thank Jesus not only for the gift of my healing, but also for the gift of tumor surgery, radiation and chemo.
“Almost nothing in my life has been the same since my surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy,” he also wrote, “and I’ve realized that all of these differences in my life since the surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy have been a blessing.”
Hollowell says his cognitive abilities also improved after his trip to France.
“When I came back from Lourdes I felt much stronger. Friends, family and community members tell me I look a lot healthier,” he told Fox News. “When I came back from Lourdes I was again able to preach without a prepared text,” he explained, noting how he had relied on written passages before his pilgrimage.
“I was fine when I died – I was willing to make the sacrifice for the victims of abuse by Catholic clergy. But I thought, “Well, if I go to Lourdes and get healed there, it might affect some of my apostate family and friends,” he said on video.
dr Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, isn’t entirely surprised by his good news, considering that Hollowell had a 74 percent 5-year survival rate.
“I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe in miracle cures, and I believe in Lourdes, but for this particular tumor, the five-year survival rate is about 74%, depending on the severity,” said Dr. seal .
“And Hollowell had surgery and chemotherapy, so it’s not surprising to me that the tumor is gone.”
Siegel also said he doesn’t have “the most serious brain tumor of all” and that he “could be cured.”
“I don’t think this case is just about Lourdes. But I think doctors have the hands of God – that’s a well-known saying. Great surgery, great chemo – and the power of prayer.”