The Sacred Shroud of Turin

Much has been, and continues to be written about the sacred Shroud of Turin.This incredible piece of linen cloth with the image of a 6ft man, naked and showing scars and wounds similar to the gospel account of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth has baffled scientists and investigators for centuries. Yet despite this scrutiny the question of whether it truly is the cloth the man called Jesus was wrapped in, still remains unanswered.

There was little doubt amongst the STURP (Shroud of Turin Research Project) team of scientists who carried out investigations in the late 70's, that the image on the cloth was not a painting. Moreover the image was a negative and was not revealed in its full glory until a little known photographer named Secundo Pia took the first photograph of the sacred image in 1898. To his amazement he realized that he was looking at the positive image of a man revealing the fact that the actual image on the cloth was a negative! Despite several reported successful attempts to duplicate the negative image, no one has succeeded in duplicate the unique properties found on and in the image. The Los Alamos National Science Labs used an image analyzer (VP8) on the face on the Shroud and discovered the remarkable fact that the image, unlike any normal image, took on three dimensional properties!

In 1988 the infamous carbon dating of the cloth took place and the results drew headlines around the world - three independent universities proclaimed the cloth to be 14^th century.

All research work on the sacred object stopped.

Last year came an amazing announcement from Los Alamos proclaiming the sample used in the 1988 tests was in fact cotton! Surely this could not be true - the Shroud is of woven Linen!

Once again scientists and clergy around the world took up the banner and the Shroud was once again under scrutiny. The Pope declared that the Shroud of Turin would go on show to the general public in April of this year. A showing that was not scheduled to happen until 2025.

The Pope himself has scheduled a visit to Turin to give homage to the sacred object. It will take place as part of an extensive tour including a visit to the tiny island of Malta, where St. Paul was shipwrecked and preached conversion to the Maltese from a sacred grotto now located beneath St. Paul's Church in Rabat, Malta. His visit will commemorate the 150^th anniversary of St. Paul's Shipwreck.

For more information visit http://shroudresearch.comDr. Peter J. Shield PhD