From the always-interesting archive of the old newsreel channel British Pathé, here is their piece on the celebrations for the centennial of the first Apparition of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, February 11, 1958. It is remarkable to see how respectful this coverage is, from what we would now call a mainstream media outlet in a country with such long-standing and deep rooted prejudice against the Catholic Church.
And here is raw footage, without sound track, of the consecration of the atrociously ugly lower basilica, built especially to accommodate the large crowds expected for the centenary. This consecration was performed by the His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Roncalli, the future Pope St John XXIII, who had served as nuncio to France from 1944 until his appointment as Patriarch of Venice in 1953.Also without soundtrack, footage of pilgrimage groups of gypsies at Lourdes during the centennial...
and another of an international military pilgrimage.
