Between science and faith, a mystery that is still the subject of dispute
What is the Shroud?
It is a linen cloth that is 442 cm long and 113 cm wide and kept in the northern Italian city of Turin. On the light yellow ochre cloth there are visible imprints of an image – front and back – of a human figure. There are also numerous other marks caused by wear and tear.
When did people first come to know about the Shroud?
Around 1350. People came to know about the Shroud in 1353 when it entered into the possession of French nobleman Geoffroi de Charny, Lord of Lirey. In 1453 the Shroud was given to Louis I, second Duke of Savoy, who kept it in Chambéry.
Which Pope approved it as a public cult?
Julius II in 1506: he set the feast day for May 4th.
What do the marks imprinted on the cloth show?
A man who was beaten and whipped, his head crowned with thorns, with nails and a lance driven into him. The face is black-and-blue but poised in the solemnity of death. A crucified person whose burial sheet was preserved through the centuries in such a way as to present this image which bears similarities to the Passion and Jesus of Nazareth’s death.
How is the man on the Shroud presented to us?
The imprints are darker in areas marking the position of protruding parts of the body and lighter in the other areas. The light distribution in the image is therefore the opposite to what one would perceive in reality. The imprint behaves like a photograph negative, light and dark areas are inverted, hence the man on the Shroud is presented as he really was, the way he would appear to us if we were facing him.
What process was used to date the Shroud?
It was dated using radiocarbon dating in 1988. The results obtained in the laboratories of Oxford, Tucson and Zurich have dated the Shroud between 1260 and 1390.
So everyone agrees that this is not the cloth Jesus’ body was wrapped in?
These results are still the subject of debate among scholars due to the question of the reliability of radiocarbon dating. Recent studies in the US and Russia have opened scientific discussion further, presenting potential evidence to show that biological and chemical pollution are able to significantly alter the radiocarbon age of a fabric.
What does pollen have to do with the Shroud?
In 1973 and 1978 Swiss criminologist Max Frey collected samples of biological material from the Shroud. Frey’s study focused on identifying pollens because by identifying the type of pollen would tell us which plant it came from and hence the geographical area it originates from. Frey claims to have identified 57 pollens which apparently show that the sheet has spent time in the East. There are apparetly pollens from palestine, Turkey, France and Italy. Evidently pollen can only point out a geographical itinerary not a historical one; however, since there was knowledge of the Shroud from the mid-1300s on and there is no record of any journeys being made to the East, if the Shroud is found to have traces of Eastern pollen, this could call into question certain aspects of its history.
What are the two black lines on the sheet?
These are the parts of the sheet that were burnt in a blaze that broke out in 1532, in the Holy Chapel in Chambéry, where the Shroud was housed at the time. Back then the cloth lay folded in a silver box. The two black lines formed as a result of the sheet’s contact with the overheated box. During the fire, a drop of melted metal fell onto the sheet, burning the fabric all the way through. This explains the symetric recurrence of numerous triangle-shaped holes all along the black lines.
Did someone repair this damage?
Yes, in 1534 the Clarisse nuns of Chambéry covered them over with patches. To reinforce the overall structure of the sheet, they sewed the Shroud and the patches onto a linen cloth, called the “Holland cloth”. For coservation reasons the patches were removed in 2002 and the “Holland cloth” was replaced with a new supporting cloth that is distinguishable under the burnt parts of the Shroud.
What happened in Turin in 1997?
In the night between 11 and 12 April, a fire started in the Chapel of the Shroud between Turin Cathedral and the Royal Palace. The Shroud was not directly affected because on 24 February 1993 it had been temporarily moved to the the Cathedral choir. That night, although the Shroud had not been affected by the blaze, it was removed in order to avoid the risk posed by the potential collapse of the Chapel dome as well as potential damage from the water used by the fire brigade to extinguish the fire.
Who owns the Shroud? And who looks after it?
Following the death of the last king of Italy, Umberto II of Savoy on 18 March 1983, ownership of the Shroud passed to the Holy See after the king left it to the Pope in his will. John Paul II decided that the Custodian of the Shroud on behalf of the Pope is always the Archbishop of Turin, currently Mgr. Cesare Nosiglia.
What is the Ostension of the Shroud?
It is the exposition, be it public or private, of the sheet.
Since when has the Shroud been in Turin?
Since 1578. It was brought here in order to give the Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Borromeo the chance to venerate it without having to travel all the way to Chambéry. Other than as a favour to Carlo Borromeo, there was also a political reason behind the decision to bring the Shroud to Turin: the House of Savoy was transferring its administrative centre to Turin. Emanuele Filiberto had the Shroud transferred on 14 September: the first Ostension was held upon entry to the city.
Source: vassallomalta.wordpress.com (Apr.21, 2015)