Church announces dates for 2010 exposition of Shroud of Turin

ROME (CNS) -- The Italian Archdiocese of Turin has announced that the Shroud of Turin, which many believe is the burial cloth of Christ, will be on public display April 10-May 23, 2010.

The public exposition in Turin's cathedral will offer members of the public their first opportunity to see the shroud since it underwent major cleaning and restoration in 2002.

The work involved removing 30 fabric patches and a fabric backing, known as the Holland Cloth, sewn onto the shroud in 1534 after a fire.

At the time of the work, Cardinal Severino Poletto of Turin said trapped particles of dirt and scorched fabric had darkened parts of the Shroud of Turin and eventually could have made it difficult to see the shroud's image of a crucified man.

The removal of the Holland Cloth also permitted experts to photograph and digitally scan the back of the shroud.

The last public exposition of the Shroud of Turin was in 2000. It remained hidden in its specially designed protective case even in 2006 when the Winter Olympic Games brought tens of thousands of visitors to the city.

The Archdiocese of Turin's official Web site for information about the shroud -- www.sindone.org -- is operational even though it is undergoing a redesign in conjunction with the 2010 exposition. Visitors will be able to reserve an appointment in advance to see the shroud.

The archdiocese also said it expects Pope Benedict XVI will visit the city during the exposition period and celebrate Mass on the grounds outside the cathedral. A specific date for the papal visit has not been announced.

Dates set for next year's Shroud exposition in Turin. PING!

Thanks to NYer for the heads up.

If you want on or off the Shroud of Turin Ping List, Freepmail me.

I first saw the 1898 negative images by Secondo Pia when I was in grade school. They have confirmed my faith ever since.

Ths scientists have tried, and the scientists have failed, to prove the Image upon the Shroud, to be anything other than that of the authentic Christ.

Ths scientists have tried, and the scientists have failed, to prove the Image upon the Shroud, to be anything other than that of the authentic Christ.

I think that all scientists involved in the research on the Shroud will all agree that they cannot ever prove that it is Jesus's Shroud. The identity of the man on the Shroud is not something that is provable by science. They can only falsify it, at best. So far, they have failed at falsification of the Shroud's antiquity, failed at falsifying it by showing how it was created, and failed at falsifying the claims that it is a medieval forgery.

Their most successful attempt was the 1988 Carbon 14 test that seemed to show that the Flax that made the Linen had been grown between 1260AD and 1390AD. However, that has now been falsified by the independent chemical and physical analysis work of at least three scientists who have essentially proved that what was tested was a portion of the Shroud that had been patched in the 16th Century using cotton threads dyed to match the original Linen and then invisibly rewoven into the originals, mixing the materials, which resulted in a date that was an average of the newly added patch and the original. They falsified the results of the C14 test.

I was just in Turin two weeks ago on a business trip, and was disappointed to learn that the Shroud was not available for viewing. I will try to get back there during that time, to see it.

The Shroud is only displayed every ten to twenty-five years for a few weeks at a time. You'd have to very lucky to just "drop in" to Turin and see it.

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