The Turin Shroud, believed to have been the burial cloth of Christ, went on display in Turin Cathedral on Saturday evening and can be viewed until 23rd May .
Over two million people are expected to travel to Turin to see it and 1.5 million of these have already reserved their tickets online or by phone [see below]. Pope Benedict will pray before the Shroud on May 2nd.
The 14ft x 3.5 ft piece of linen bears the imprint of a man’s body with bloodstains and wounds consistent with crucifixion. There has always been controversy as to its authenticity and scientists carrying out carbon dating in 1988 declared it a fourteenth or fifteenth century fake. Further carbon dating tests took place in 1999 and this time the scientists announced that the cloth had been produced in the seventh century. In 2009 an Italian scientist produced a replica using medieval techniques, saying that this proved that the Shroud is a fake.
Also in 2009, a Vatican researcher found faint text, which could have been from a death certificate, on the Shroud. The Catholic Church does not claim that the Shroud is authentic but believes that its importance lies in reminding people of Christ’s passion, thereby helping them in their faith.
Little is known of the history of the Shroud prior to the sixteenth century but we do know that it was damaged in a fire in 1532. Nuns attempted to repair this damage with patches and these were removed during the 2002 restoration, allowing some creases to be smoothed out.
The Shroud was taken to Turin Cathedral in 1578 by members of the House of Savoy and until recently it was thought that it had remained there ever since. But now it has emerged that, during World War II, King Victor Emmanuel III, fearing that the Nazis wanted the cloth as a symbol of their power, had it moved to the Montevergine Monastery. Only the King, the abbot and the Vatican Secretary of State knew it was there and when the Nazis searched the Montevergine Church the monks pretended to be in deep prayer before the altar, inside which the Shroud was hidden. It was returned to Turin Cathedral in 1946.
Tickets to see the Shroud are free but you should book online or by phone. You will find details at the Holy Shroud Official Site.
Have you seen the Turin Shroud?
Do you think it’s authentic?
