Indiana Jones and the Shroud of Turin

In each of the Indiana Jones movies, Harrison Ford is battling the Germans in a race to find a lost archaeological religious treasure -The Holy Grail & the Arc of the Covenant; however the writers missed the only real attempt by Hitler and the German machine to track down the most famous relic of all, the sacred Shroud of Turin.

Today, for the first time in a century the holy relic goes on public display and over two million visitors are already booked to view this remarkable relic at its home in Turin Italy. The Shroud will remain on display until May 23rd.
As a member of the Council for the study of the Shroud of Turin I have created a web site where you can get all the up to date information on the Shroud (http://shroudresearch.com)

The fact that despite the King of Italy, Umberto II of Savoy's instructions (the Savoy Family owned the Shroud at that time) that the shroud should be kept at the Vatican; the Pope, Pius XII decided that this sacred relic would be much safer from the invaders if it was concealed elsewhere. He chose the Abby of Montecassino. As it happened, not a wise choice - the Abby was totally destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944. Fortunately, according to Rev. Andrea Davide Cardin, the librarian at the Montevergine Abby, the shroud was secretly smuggled out of Turin and taken to the lesser know Abby of Montevergine and hidden under the alter in a small chapel. The Germans searched the Abby, however a group of monks retired to the small chapel where the shroud was concealed to prey and the senior German officer , seeing them in prayer instructed his men not to disturb them.

What was so interesting in this recent revelation is that in my book In the Image of His God the Pope (John Paul II) arranges to hide the shroud from the carbon dating investigations and chooses the Island of Malta, where the present Pope is scheduled to visit this month. When I wrote the Historic fiction I had no idea that the present Pope would visit the location where the shroud was secreted in my story nor was I aware of the secret journey of the shroud to the Abby of Montevergine.

I never cease to be amazed at how closely fact and fiction seem to merge.

If you are heading to Turin in the next few weeks take this once in a lifetime opportunity to see this remarkable relic whatever you personal beliefs.