WICHITA, Kansas –Talk of miracles has been front and center lately since the Vatican came to Wichita to investigate whether Kansas priest Emil Kapaun should be elevated to sainthood. Scholars say the concept of miracles has been around as long religion itself. And all those years have done nothing to diminish people’s faith in them. In the Untied Sates today numerous polls show that the vast majority of people believe in miracles. "They are signs or invitations to faith,” said John McCormick, Newman University theology professor. “They deepen and strengthen faith. They can help to confirm one's belief or understanding."Just last week a Vatican representative visited Wichita to investigate claims of miracles tied to the late Kansas priest Emil Kapaun. The Wichita Catholic Diocese believes Father Kapaun should be elevated to sainthood based on what it believes to be miracle that he facilitated. After the visit, the representative agreed that there was enough evidence that it should be further investigated. One of the claimed miracles involves 20-year-old Chase Kear, of Colwich who has been dubbed the “miracle man” by friends and family because of his recovery from a severe head injury in a pole vaulting accident last fall. "I was supposed to die,” Chase said. “Like, I was given Last Rights.” Chase and his family believe he would not have recovered had it not been for the prayer devoted to Father Kapaun that was repeated many times by family and friends. "The whole thing is amazing to me,” Chase said. “I thank him every day. Every night before I go to bed I say that prayer to him."
Doctor Raymond Grundmeyer, one of the many doctors who worked on Chase, calls the recovery miraculous. "Very unanticipated that he would even survive,” Dr. Grundmeyer said. Dr. Grundmeyer says from a medical standpoint, doctors had done all they could for Chase. They thought if he didn’t die he’d never regain normal brain functioning. And then gradually Chase started getting better. "I'm not one to define what a miracle is or what it truly miraculous,” Dr. Grundmeyer said. “That's for somebody else to decide. His situation was clearly unexpected.""Just don't give up praying, because prayer can change things,” Chase said. While the majority of Americans say they believe in miracles, there are still plenty of people who believe science can explain why for example, people recover from injuries. Some of those folks here in Wichita attend the Unitarian Church.Church member Ann Welsbaher calls herself a miracles skeptic. "There might be proof that's beyond my understanding,” she said. “But I still think there's proof to explain, ultimately explain everything that happens."Welsbacher says living in the moment is her miracle. "The main thing I think that I can take and that Unitarians try to strive -- is that we have our paradise right here, right now,” she said. “And live each day, and that is what you're given."Many skeptics subscribe to the Skeptical Inquirer, which bills itself as the magazine for science and reason. Dr. Joe Nickell investigates claims for the publication. He has yet to find anything that tells him miracles exist. "To think properly in so many areas of our lives, we need to think based on evidence,” Dr. Nickell said. “If it's just God is making decisions, well then we don't need hospitals at all do we? Oh people would say, ‘let's not go that far.’ Well, how far do we go?”"If we could prove it in the scientific fashion, then faith wouldn't be necessary,” McCormick said. But Dr. Nickell responds that engaging in talk about miracles is engaging in a logical fallacy. "We don't know why this person survived a difficult surgery,” Dr. Nickell said. “Therefore, we do know, it's a miracle."Whether or not you believe in miracles, one thing appears to be true: as long as there are stories like that of Chase Kear talk of miracles will continue.
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