Frequently Asked Questions About the Shroud

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1. What is the Shroud of Turin? A rectangular linen cloth, weaved in a three-to-one twill, 14 feet 3 inches (4.36 meters) long by 3 feet 7 inches (1.1 meters) wide.

2. Where is it located? The Shroud is wrapped in red silk and kept in a special silver chest in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in the cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

3. How far back can its history be traced? The verified history of the Shroud can be traced back to 1578. Some historical researchers have traced its history back to the early Christian centuries by identifying the Shroud with the earlier Mandylion relic, or "Veronica."

4. What evidence is there of its being genuine? Briefly, the following:

It is a negative image of a crucifixion victim, a fact not known until 1898 after the first photographs were made. Even if an artist in the Middle Ages was clever enough to create such a sophisticated hoax, it is unlikely that he or she would think to create a negative image -- knowing somehow that photography (not to be invented for another 400 to 500 years) would reveal the true image in their art.

It is the image of a man brutally beaten, whose wounds correspond with the Biblical accounts of the crucifixion. Visible on the Shroud image are scourge marks, nail wounds, head wounds from the crown of thorns, and the lance entry point. However, there is one important difference. Instead of following the custom of showing crucifixion wounds on the palms of the hands, the Shroud actually has them on the wrist. Modern forensic science has determined that nails through the palms of hands could not hold the weight of a body on a cross, but that the nails would have to go through the wrist -- precisely where they are located on the Shroud image.

As discovered by Dr. John Jackson and Dr. Eric Jumper in the 1970's the Shroud image carries three-dimensional information that can be detected by image analyzers to reconstruct a three-dimensional statue of the man on the Shroud. This is not possible with normal photographs or paintings.

According to Swiss criminologist Dr. Max Frei-Sulzer, the cloth contains grains of pollen local to the Dead Sea area of Israel.

According to hematological analysis by Professor Baima Bollone, there is residue of human blood on the Shroud (belonging to group AB)

The herringbone weave of the cloth is typical of expensive Jewish weaves of the time of Christ, consistent with the Biblical account that the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea donated the cloth.

The size of the cloth is exact when measured in cubits, the standard measurement unit at the time of Christ.

Its fold marks correspond with places where the Mandylion would have been folded when placed in an exhibition container.

The image formation process (spatial characteristics and fiber surface aging) is not consistent with a painting or any other known forgery method.

5. What evidence is there of its being a forgery?
As long ago as 1339 the Shroud's authenticity was questioned even by Catholic authorities. In that year the bishop of Troyes, France, sent Pope Clement VII a report that claimed that the Shroud was a painting. According to the report, "Some time since in this diocese of Troyes, the Dean of a certain collegiate church falsely and deceitfully, and not from any motive of devotion but only of gain, procured for his church a certain cloth cunningly painted, upon which by a clever sleight of hand was depicted the twofold image of one man ... falsely declaring and pretending that this was the actual shroud in which our Savior Jesus Christ was enfolded in the tomb." Whether this report was true or only a reaction to the many false relics being sold in the Middle Ages will never be known. However, Pope Clement was not totally convinced, since he did not denounce the Shroud. Instead, he prudently placed restrictions on its public exhibition.

The most condemning evidence that the Shroud is not legitimate came from a scientific expedition in 1987 that carbon dated some fibers from the Shroud as being no more than 750 years old. However, current research is re-examining that dating as being wrongly affected by a fire that almost destroyed the Shroud in 1532.

Walter C. McCrone Associates, a Chicago-based research company, claims to have discovered iron oxide residue on a small sample of the Shroud, which they concluded was from artists' pigments on the image -- although closer analysis by other scientific teams later concluded that it was from blood residue.

Shroud critic and micropaleontologist Steven Schafersman has questioned Frei's pollen data as being "incredible." Even if the pollen data was accurate, other scientists have stated that the pollens might have been carried there by the wind, or deposited by visitors.

6. What current research is being done? The two leading centers of Shroud research today are the Turin Shroud Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the Sedov Biopolymer Research Laboratory in Moscow, Russia. The Turin Shroud Center research is focused on mechanisms of image formation and historical research into its Jewish origins. The Sedov Laboratory is challenging the Carbon 14 results as being anomalous due to a 1532 fire that almost destroyed the Shroud.

7. What is the theological significance of the Shroud? Whether the Shroud is the true burial cloth of Christ or a replica, it remains one of the most venerated objects within the Roman Catholic Church. However, as with any such relic, the Church is careful to instruct the faithful that it is not to be worshipped, and possesses no special significance other than an object to reinforce the faith of individual believers, and as a memory of the crucifixion and death of Christ. As Pope Paul VI said, Aside from what scientists and researchers have said or may yet say about the Shroud, this incomparable portrait of the Man of Sorrows will continue to touch the minds and hearts of people for ages to come. It will speak to them of the boundless love of Christ for mankind, for `He has loved us and sacrificed himself for us.' (Eph. 5:2).

This item 5794 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org