08/02/2026: Lourdes, The Improbable Tale of Ted Lasso, Birds of War

Do you believe in miracles? Well 60 Minutes traveled to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lords in Southern France, where 72 medical miracles have been recognized by the Catholic Church over the past 164 years. And tonight, you'll hear a miracle story, and from the renowned doctors and researchers

who investigated it. Knock a doodle do. Good morning, Coach Lasso. Well that's a heaping spoonful of truth soup right there.

What do you think the legacy of Ted Lasso is decades from now? Well, folks keep watching it. Hey, Haggis! It's a decent chance it'll pay for my kids' college, unless I blow it all.

You don't think it's already done that? You don't think I've already blown it? Yep. Once in a while, we get to travel so far off the beaten track,

there's hardly a track at all. For decades, this pristine forest in western Colombia was a no-go area because of armed conflict. But that allowed hundreds of species of birds to thrive.

Oh, that's the signal. Some of which you can't find anywhere else on Earth. Oh, look at that, oh my God, look at that huge thing. I'm Leslie Stahl.

I'm John Wertheim. I'm Anderson Cooper. I'm Nora O'Donnell. I'm Bill Whitaker.

Those stories tonight on 60 Minutes. After decades of devastating global conflicts and increasing political partisanship, You'd be forgiven for giving up on the idea of miracles.

But tonight, we'll take you to a place that's known for them. The sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Southern France is the site of 72 medical miracles

recognized by the Catholic Church. The Marian Shrine is famous to the faithful, but less well known is the Lord's Office of Medical Observations.

We first told you in 2022, That's where world-renowned doctors and researchers conduct decade-long investigations into the countless claims of cures reported over the years. They determine which cases can be medically explained and which cannot.

It's those church officials might call a miracle. For the doctors, it's a lesson in the limits of medicine. For the devout, it's divine intervention. The small French town of Lourdes, tucked in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains,

draws four million pilgrims a year, more than travel to Mecca for the Hajj or to Jerusalem. And almost everyone you meet will tell you they have heard stories of miracles here. But we heard none more inspiring than that of Sister Bernadette Moriot. I really tried everything I could.

This is something that cannot be healed. What was your prognosis? Full total paralysis. The prognosis was really dark.

Strolling with then 83-year-old Sister Moriot through the chapel grounds in Brelle, France, we found it hard to believe that for half her life, she suffered from cauda equina,

a disorder of the nerves and lower spine. You wore this all the time. Her left foot, she said, was twisted and limp. To walk at all, she needed this back and leg brace,

an implant to dull nerve pain and massive doses of morphine. She told us she had exhausted all treatment options. So in 2008, her doctor convinced her to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Do you believe in miracles at the time?

I always believed in miracles, but not for me. So why did you decide to go? Well, I didn't go there for a miracle. I just went there to pray with others.

Lourdes is a place where the smallest people, all the sickest, all the poorest, they come first. The sickest, the poorest, the diseased and debilitated, bearing wounds visible and hidden, come from all over the world,

seeking to be healed by the shrine's natural spring waters and the power of prayer. Amen. And so I've asked for complete healing

or a super long remission. This was Kim Halpin's first pilgrimage. She was diagnosed with incurable blood cancer in 2021 and came all the way from Kansas

to cleanse herself in the waters of Lourdes. Are you expecting to be healed? Not necessarily. Ask for as much as I want and maybe I will be blessed with part of it, which will be okay.

Halpin was aided by her son, Shaw. We couldn't help but notice there are as many volunteers as sick here. The Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American volunteers helped Jamie Jensen travel from Minnesota for his 18th visit. Even though the camera sees that I have a condition and a chair, when I'm here, I don't

have a condition. Jensen's condition is cerebral palsy. All those trips to Lourdes haven't given him the physical miracle he wanted, but maybe, he says, he got the miracle he needed.

I was very bitter, very angry with myself. Did coming to Lourdes change your heart? Very much. Do you consider that a miracle?

I do because there's a peace within myself. The smalley Mary, Mother of God. Stories of inner peace and acceptance don't meet the bar for the Office of Medical Observations.

And with just 72 medical miracles recognized over the past 164 years, you'd have better odds playing the lotto, yet thousands of faithful line up at the baths, and at this grotto where the first miracle is said to have occurred. The sanctuary, with its three basilicas and 25 chapels, is laid out like a grand theater complex,

its many stages offering dozens of highest performances throughout the day. The finale? A candle-lit procession every night. There would be none of this were it not for St. Bernadette. According to Catholic lore, in 1858,

a mysterious woman appeared in this grotto to Bernadette Subaru, a 14-year-old peasant girl. Jean-Marc Mika, the Bishop of Lourdes, says the woman spoke with Subaru several times over five months. And once, the 25th of March, day of the Annunciation, she said, I am the Immaculate Conception. When word got out the Immaculate Conception, the Virgin Mary, had appeared in lords, people flocked to this grotto, and within days started making claims of miracle cures.

The ability to walk, restored sight. Worried about fueling mass hysteria, the church set up the Office of Medical Observations in 1883 to investigate the claims. Which brings us back to the other Bernadette in our story. In 2008, Sister Moriot found herself in a wheelchair in a procession at Lord's, seeking the intervention of Saint Bernadette.