Evasio Ganora: Terminal Hodgkin's Lymphoma Cured at Lourdes Baths

Evasio Ganora was a farmer from Casale Monferrato in the Piedmont region of Italy, born in 1913. By 1950 he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and given a prognosis of months to live. On June 2, 1950, he arrived at Lourdes on a stretcher, too weak to walk. After immersion in the baths, he reported an immediate change; within three days he was well enough to assist other sick pilgrims.

His case was reviewed by the International Medical Committee of Lourdes and recognized as the 54th official Lourdes miracle, proclaimed by Bishop G. Angrisani of Casale Monferrato on May 31, 1955. Ganora lived for decades after his cure and became a local figure; his case was commemorated in the Casalese press on its 75th anniversary in 2025.

The medical complication here is significant: Hodgkin's lymphoma has the highest documented spontaneous remission rate of any lymphoma. That rate is low — roughly 1–2% — but it is real and acknowledged in oncological literature. The CMIL (the Lourdes International Medical Committee) found the speed and completeness of recovery in the particular clinical context to exceed what spontaneous remission could explain, but the possibility cannot be fully excluded.

This case sits at the intersection of a genuine miracle claim and the best natural alternative available in the Lourdes corpus. Confidence is medium not as a hedge but because the evidence genuinely divides.