Can FoI work miracles?

So sunny! That's almost a miracle.

The first time I went to Ireland I bought a Ryanair ticket to Knock on the west coast. Due to cloud cover, which let’s face it is not unusual in Ireland, the pilot made three daredevil attempts to locate the landing strip, gave up and dumped us in Dublin.

So for me Knock has never had a connection with all things miraculous – rather I remember it as the destination of a four-hour coach trip that I shouldn’t have needed to take.

Yet Knock, in Co Mayo, is a town highly significant for Roman Catholics as it is said to have been the site of a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1879. Since then millions of Catholics have flocked to the shrine including John Paul II and Mother Teresa – although I doubt they took the coach.

Anyhow the Freedom of Information Act in Ireland is being used in an attempt to verify a real life miracle.

The following story from the Irish News explains:

A WOMAN who walked away from Knock Shrine despite being paralysed by multiple sclerosis may become the first ‘miracle’ case in the 131-year-old history of the famous pilgrimage site.

 Athlone woman Marian Carroll claims she lived with the symptoms of MS for 17 years and became so ill she could not walk, was blind in one eye and incontinent. But everything changed 21 years ago when she visited Knock Shrine.

 “When I went down to Knock I was like a baby. I couldn’t do anything,” Mrs Carroll told the Western People.

 The 59-year-old says that she wasn’t “looking for a cure” that day. She said that she was wheeled into the basilica on a stretcher and was about to receive Holy Communion when she felt a sharp pain in her heels. She claims that the “most wonderful feeling” came over her and told her if the stretcher was opened, she could get up and walk. When she did, she was instantly free of pain. She says she has remained free of the symptoms of MS ever since that day.

 “There is no doubt in my mind that it was a miracle,” she said.

 Pat Lavelle, manager of the shrine in Knock, confirmed to this newspaper that attempts are being made to have Mrs Carroll’s case classified as a miracle.

 “This is the first case in 131 years,” he said. “The case complies with the two main conditions of a miraculous cure; it’s instant and it’s total,” he said.

 However, Vatican approval for the “miracle” may be problematic as Mrs Carroll did not have a full diagnosis.

 “At that time, it was process of elimination. Nowadays they do scans and verify early on that it is MS,” said Mr Lavelle.

 The shrine manager has contacted everyone who knew Mrs Carroll at the time, including the nurses in the hospital in Athlone who cared for her before her trip to Knock and the ambulance driver and nursing attendant on the day.

 Diarmuid Murray, a GP who runs a practice on the shrine grounds, has gathered Mrs Carroll’s medical details. Her files had to be requested under the Freedom of Information Act as doctors declined to co-operate. The Catholic Communications Office says the case will be forwarded to the Vatican for consideration.