Pope performs a miracle

May 1984: Jan Lavric was wheeled forward in a wheelchair to receive a blessing from Pope John Paul II. Blessing received, he was wheeled back, at which point he promptly stood up, folded the chair, and carried it away. "It must be a miracle," someone in the crowd gasped.

Lavric later explained that it was no miracle. He was fully able-bodied. He had sat down in the wheelchair because it was the only seat left in the audience chamber, and he had been too embarrassed to say anything when a Swiss Guard unexpectedly wheeled him forward.

Southern Illinoisan - May 3, 1984