Official Opening of Longest Exposition of Christ's Shroud
TURIN, AUGUST 13 (ZENIT.org)-. Turin's Cathedral was totally crowded this morning for the solemn Mass, concelebrated by Archbishop Severino Poletto and all the Piedmont bishops, to inaugurate officially the opening of the longest exposition in history of the Shroud of Turin.
The Archbishop yesterday showed the Shroud, in which according to tradition Jesus' body was wrapped for burial, to 11,000 youths who were in Turin on their way to Rome for World Youth Day. The youths came from all over the world, including as far distant places as Algeria and Korea, Argentina, Lebanon, and Burkina Faso.
The Archbishop opened the celebration by reading a papal message. "With profound emotion I unite myself in faith and joy with the Turin ecclesial community, which again offers pilgrims and visitors the opportunity to contemplate the sacred cloth."
"It is difficult to be indifferent before the Holy Shroud. In fact, that face speaks to the intelligence and heart. It speaks to the believer, to the seeker, and to the nonbeliever," the Pope wrote.
The Shroud will be on exposition for 71 days, until October 22. This is also the first time that the Shroud has benefited from the multimedia era: Turin's Archbishop has published a CD-Rom explaining its history, and within a few days the web-cam located in the Cathedral's interior will broadcast the constant flow of pilgrims on Internet. The official site is: ( http://www.sindone.org ).
Yesterday, during a meeting with reporters, Archbishop Poletto said he still hopes this exposition of the Holy Shroud will be the cause of a great "miracle": a meeting in Turin between Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has a special devotion to the relic, and John Paul II. This appointment, which should have taken place on two previous occasions, in Austria and Hungary, was cancelled at the last minute by the Russian patriarch over differences with Rome. It is certain that Metropolitan Kirill, number two of the Patriarchate, will come to Turin. "At present, I do not see the 'miracle' on the horizon, but I haven't lost hope. If Alexei II came, the Pope would immediately fly to Turin," the Archbishop said.
The Holy Year's Exposition of the Holy Shroud is even better than the one organized two years ago. Special attention has been given to the spiritual journey of pilgrims, before viewing the actual image of the body imprinted on the cloth, lacerated by 700 wounds. There is also a three-dimensional elaboration for the blind.
Scientific Testing
Archbishop Poletto, who is Custodian of the relic, refused to offer scientific comments on the Shroud. "Let science get on with it and make progress. We are very respectful. The Church does not go into the merits of the scientific research. We do not say that the Holy Shroud is authentic. It would be unconscionable and dishonest for us to do so, since we do not have final proofs. However, the Shroud is a gift of God to take humanity to an encounter with Christ."
Bishop Giuseppe Ghiberti disclosed that he has been requested to "gather proposals of new analyses given the existence of an organic program, which is not unilateral, as happened years ago." In this connection, Bishop Ghiberti will take part in the next international scientific congress on the Holy Shroud, which will be held in Orvieto from August 27-29.
Joseph Marino, a long-time Shroud researcher, and his partner, M. Sue Benford, R.N., have announced that they have new evidence that the original Carbon-14 tests taken in 1988 actually provide evidence that the Shroud dates to the first century. The final paper regarding their work will be presented in Orvieto.
Their theory is that the sections tested included some material from patches that were applied in the sixteenth century. To verify this theory, photos of the sample were sent blindly to a European-trained textile expert, who replied, "there is no question that there is different material on each side of the weave pattern. It is definitely a patch!" This opinion was corroborated by two other textile laboratories.
According to calculations performed by Beta Analytic, the world's largest radiocarbon dating service, the observed proportion of medieval material in relationship to assumed 1st Century material, would produce Carbon-14 results precisely in line with the findings of the tests run in 1988.
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