Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 4:14am

One Million Expected To See Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin will be available to the public for viewing come April 10 of this year.  This will be the first time in about decade since the Shroud has been on display.

The following are excerpts of an article by Victor L. Simpson of the Associated Press titled At least 1 million expected to see Shroud of Turin.

At least 1 million reservations from around the world have already poured in to secure three to five minutes to admire the cloth that has fascinated pilgrims and scientists alike, organizers of the April 10-May 23 showing told a news conference in Rome on Wednesday.

They are hoping for as many as 2 million over the 44 days, with interest expected to be bolstered by the presence of Pope Benedict XVI, who is scheduled to visit the Turin cathedral — where the Shroud is kept in a bulletproof, climate-controlled case — on May 2.

Viewing is free by reservation, which can be made online.

Just how long a visitor can view will depend on how packed the cathedral, but there will be a maximum time of five minutes, organizers said.

Traditionally, the public gets a peek at the Shroud every 25 years, but the last showing was arranged after only two years in 2000 for the new millennium — a holy year for the Roman Catholic church. While they resisted a public display during the Winter Olympics four years ago, church officials “understanding the importance to the economy and employment” in the industrial city allowed the display this year ahead of schedule, said Fiorezo Alfieri, Turin’s cultural czar who heads the Shroud Committee.

It will also rekindle the scientific debate over the cloth that bears a faded image of a bearded man and what appear to be bloodstains that coincide with Christ’s crucifixion wounds.

A Vatican researcher recently said in a new book that she used computer-enhanced images of the Shroud to decipher faintly written words in Greek, Latin and Aramaic. But skeptics said the historian was reading too much into the markings and they stand by carbon-dating in 1988 that suggested the cloth dated to the 13th or 14th century.

In turn, those results have been challenged by some who suggest that test results may have been skewed by contamination and that a larger sample needs to be analyzed.

The Vatican has tiptoed around the issue, making no claim about the authenticity but calling it a powerful symbol of Christ’s suffering.

He said the Vatican, which owns the cloth, might consider a new round of scientific tests after the public display ends.

French crusader Robert of Clari mentioned seeing the cloth in 1203 in Constantinople at the imperial palace, but the first actual records trace it only to Lirey in France in 1354.

The shroud was bequeathed to the pope by former King Umberto II of Italy, a member of the House of Savoy, upon his death in 1983.

It will be the first public showing since it underwent a restoration in 2002.

_._

For the complete article click here.

For the previous post on the Shroud of Turin titled Vatican: Knights Templar Hid The Shroud of Turin click here.

YouTube video clip courtesy of Rome Reports.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Maria Downing
Sunday, March 28, AD 2010 2:26pm

Dear friends,
I thought you might be interested in a documentary on the Shroud of Turin 
to premiere on the History Channel on March 30th.
It is titled “The Real Face of Jesus?”.
This documentary looks at the Shroud from a unusual angle. 
Instead of getting bogged down in the authenticity debate, it analyzes some of the unique characteristics found in the Shroud. 
It is a content-rich, intellectually stimulating blend of science, art, and religion. It focuses on the process of recreating the face of the man in the Shroud from the 3D information encoded in it, and explores the totally unique characteristics of this artifact.
We co-produced this film and we hope to do our small part in raising the bar for TV productions, which are so sadly shallow these days. The success and future of this kind of production rests entirely in the hands of the audience who tunes in to watch it, so any help in spreading the word will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Maria

Gene Tischer
Gene Tischer
Wednesday, March 31, AD 2010 4:40pm

The program was done with exceptional detail, logic and comprehensiveness. It covered all the bases — science, religion, computer graphic technology and appropriate skepticism. I’m a firm believer in the Shroud’s authenticity; but I can understand those who do not accept it. As they say, if you have the gift of faith, no artifact such as the Shroud is necessary; if you don’t have the gift of faith, no such artifact is convincing.

fred ablitt
fred ablitt
Friday, May 7, AD 2010 3:55pm

I am a dedicated catholic, I feel impelled to give my testimony because one needs to witness to the truth where and when necessary. In 1981 I was very privileged to have had a vision of our lord Jesus Christ in a historic church that was dedicated to St.Peter and St.Paul, I saw our Lords face, so sad.And the crown of thorns on his head so clear was this vision i could see the string of thorns encircled many times and the thorns so clear as if one would be pricked by them, I was totally awestruck and as you can imagine this vision took me from being a christian with many question marks to a fervent believer, after the vision i went to my mothers home when i went in to her living room i told my mother of my wonderful vision and was overwhelmed to discover that my mother had a copy of the shroud of Turin on her wall.I immediately said to my mother, this is Jesus Christ, this is who i saw actually as he is. It is him. The holy shroud image is that Of Jesus Christ, I can’t prove it but i would lay my life on this because it is true. I have since 1981 had many other experiences which have also confirmed to me the authenticity of the holy shroud and that it is of our Lord Jesus Christ. One day it will be recognised as true and venerated as the wonderful relic that it is, and i look forward to that day. Yours in Christ … Fred

Tito Edwards
Friday, May 7, AD 2010 7:18pm

Fred,

I’m with you.

I too believe that the Shroud is the real deal!

Discover more from The American Catholic

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top