Shroud of mystery

The Shroud of Turin — the mysterious piece of cloth that many people believe to be the burial linen of Jesus Christ — is on rare public display in Turin’s cathedral until May 23.

The Catholic Church has never made a definitive pronouncement about the shroud’s authenticity, leaving such judgments to scientists. But the faint image of a blood-stained man who appears to have been crucified continues to spark disagreement among researchers.

A recent story from Catholic News Service highlighted the ongoing debate:

“Carbon-14 tests in 1988 dated the cloth to the Middle Ages, and seemed to confirm the theory that the shroud was a pious fraud. But since then, some experts have faulted the methodology of the testing, and said the tiny samples used may have been taken from areas of the cloth that were mended in medieval times.

“The shroud has also been chemically analyzed, electronically enhanced and computer-imaged. So far, no one has been able to fully explain how the image was transferred to the linen cloth, although experts have put forward theories ranging from enzyme reaction to solar imaging.

“The shroud has been studied from virtually every scientific angle in recent years. Its weave has been examined, pollen grains embedded in the cloth have been inspected, and red stains have been analyzed for hemoglobin properties. One particular sub-category of debate focuses on enhanced images that, in the opinion of some scientists, reveal the impression of 1st-century Palestinian coins placed on the eyes of the shroud's figure.

“The ‘jury’ on the shroud includes hundreds of experts, some of them self-appointed. They do not split neatly into believers and skeptics, however. The latest controversy, in fact, involves a Vatican archivist who claims to have found evidence of writing on the shroud — a hypothesis that has drawn sharp criticism from other Catholic scholars.

“The archivist, Barbara Frale, said in a new book that older photographs of the shroud reveal indications of what was essentially a written death notice for a ‘Jesus Nazarene.’ The text, she said, employs three languages used in 1st-century Jerusalem.

“The book immediately prompted a Web site war in Italy. Several sites dedicated to the shroud ridiculed Frale's hypothesis, saying it bordered on Dan Brown-style fantasy. Vatican Radio, however, featured an interview with Frale about her ‘important discovery.’"

While it’s possible that science may one day prove the shroud is a forgery, the ongoing debate over the 14-foot-long piece of cloth doesn’t appear as if it will end anytime soon. On the other hand, it’s difficult to see how science could ever definitively prove the shroud reveals Christ’s imprint — science just doesn’t have the tools to prove such a direct and divine connection.

Still, the possibility that the shroud is a relic of Jesus’ death and resurrection is enough to stir deeper reflection.

Although I’ve never seen the shroud in person, I can easily imagine it would evoke the same kinds of feelings I’ve had visiting the sacred sites of the Holy Land. There, the ancient stones and archaeological ruins connect people to the stories of the Old and New Testaments in ways you can see, feel and touch — in ways that make them seem even more real and that help convey the deeper truths of the stories connected to them.

I think that’s what Pope Benedict XVI alluded to when he venerated the shroud during his May 2 visit to Turin, where he noted that “the passing of years has made me more sensitive to the message of this extraordinary icon."

The shroud, he said according to a CNS story, “conveys that ‘the darkest mystery of faith is at the same time the brightest sign of a hope without limits’ because it reminds people that Christ willingly embraced death to give all people the possibility of eternal life.”