Shrouded In Mystery

 

Konrad  Adenauer (1876-1967) was the first Chancellor of West Germany after World War II, serving from  1949-1963. He was a lifelong devout Catholic, and a foe of both the Nazis and Communists. As he was about to leave office in 1963, he held a press conference. The media, already full of the enemies of Christ, were asking him many questions. One reporter asked him, "What do you think was the greatest event in human history?" They were expecting him to say something about the dropping of the atom bomb, or perhaps some famous military battle/scientific invention from long ago. They were not prepared for his reply.

Adenauer, looking directly into the audience, said clearly and without hesitation, "The greatest event in all of human history was the physical Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If Jesus Christ is alive, then there is hope for the world. If Jesus Christ is in the grave, then I don’t see the slightest glimmer of hope on the horizon." Even the Protestant preacher, Billy Graham, who was present, was stunned. The Chancellor concluded his talk by saying, “When I leave office, I intend to spend the rest of my life gathering scientific proof of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (Source: Fr. DePauw who was there and gave this account to me. Some Protestants altered the event and changed it into a personal meeting between Billy Graham and Konrad Adenauer to downplay the latter's Catholic Faith---Introibo).

Adenauer left office at the advanced age of 87, and would die in 1967 at age 91. He was dismayed at the changes that had taken place at the infamous Second Vatican Council; alterations that almost immediately cast doubt on all the truths of Faith. One can only hope the good Chancellor made it to Heaven. 

One of the greatest proofs of the physical Resurrection of Christ is the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud, reputed to be the Burial Cloth of Christ, has been subjected to numerous scientific tests--by both believing and unbelieving scientists.  In this post, I will condense some of the greatest findings by the scientific community regarding the Shroud. To the joy of the Faithful (and the dismay of those who hate Christianity), it will become clear that the manifest weight of the credible evidence shows the Shroud as authentic, and one of the strongest proofs of the Resurrection. (My major sources of information for this post include The Shroud of Turin, [2009], by Fr. Vittorio Guerrera; A Catholic Scientist Champions the Shroud of Turin, [2021], by Dr. Gerard Verschuuren; The Shroud of Turin: The Scientific Evidence, [2015], by Cheryl Leonard; and The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin: The Case for Authenticity,[2014], by John C. Iannone. I take no credit for the research I have compiled, all attribution goes to the authors I have enumerated.---Introibo). 

What is The Shroud of Turin?

• The Shroud of Turin is one of the most sacred religious items, revered by Christians as the burial garment of Jesus Christ. According to ancient traditions, it wrapped the lifeless body of Christ
• The Shroud of Turin is a sheet of linen, that marks the image of a crucified man with wounds to the wrists, feet, and forehead, leaving blood stains on the cloth
• Computer analysis reveals that the shroud image portrays three-dimensional qualities, not associated with paintings or normal photographs leaving no signs of colored pigments
• In 1532, there was a fire in the church in the chapel of Chambery, capital of the Savoy region, where the shroud resided. The image of the man was hardly touched, but the cloth suffered burns and water stains. In 1534, the nuns sewed patches over the fire damaged areas. They then attached a support cloth to the back of the shroud which is known as the “Holland” backing cloth. The shroud was then transported to the Turin Cathedral in Italy in 1578 where it remains to this day
• The shroud is made of linen, a 3/1 twill herringbone weave, that dates back to the first century. The shroud could have been produced at the time of Christ, as Galilee was an important manufacturing center of this very durable cloth
• The cotton fibers in the shroud are particular to the kind of cotton that can be found in Palestine. As some had previously believed, the cloth did not originate in Europe, but in the Middle East. This is proven by the way the flax fibers are woven. The linen of the shroud is consistent with the fabrics from Masada, which dates to the first century

Examination of the Cloth

• All of the Gospel accounts in the Bible state that Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy man. He donated his own tomb and provided the burial shroud that wrapped Jesus. Jesus would have been laid down on top of this shroud, and then it would have been folded over Him
• The pollen that has been found on the shroud is consistent with the types of plants and flowers in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus
• Travertine Aragonite Limestone is almost exclusively found in the vicinity of Jerusalem and is also on the shroud around the knees and feet. The limestone particles on the linen are indigenous to caves surrounding Jerusalem, and soil particles that are similar to soil in Jerusalem
• The description of the cloth of the Shroud of Turin reveals images that are scorch-like, yet not created by heat, and are a surface phenomena limited to the crowns of the top fibers
• The shroud is not a painting, no evidence of pigments were found. There are no outlines or brushstrokes. There is no evidence that paint, dye, ink or chalk created this image. Images show the perfect photo negativity and three dimensionality
• Dr. John Jackson of the Colorado Shroud Center suggested that a form of columnated radiation was the best explanation for how the image was formed. It left a scorch like appearance, caused by light vs. heat, as the image did not fluoresce
• The nuclear physicist at Duke University, Dr. Thomas Phillips, says that potential milli-bursts of radiation referred to as a neutron flux could be consistent with the moment of resurrection--a bringing back to life, if such a thing were possible, because he hypothesizes it would create a large amount of energy

Bloodstain Testing

• The bloodstains on the Shroud of Turin are emanating from clotted wounds transferred to the cloth by contact with a wounded human body
• The blood on the Shroud is actual human male blood, type AB, confirmed by Dr. Baima Ballone in Turin
• The blood type is rare, only 3% of the world’s population has this type
• Blood chemists Dr. Alan Adler at the University of Western Connecticut and the late Dr. John Heller at the New England Institute of Medicine found a high concentration of the pigment bilirubin consistent with someone dying under great stress or trauma and making the color more red than the normal ancient blood
• The pathology of the wounds of crucifixion is an image on the shroud that reveals a man 5 feet 10 1/2 inches tall, around 175 pounds, covered with excoriate wounds and blood stains
• Dr. Frederick Zugibe, the medical examiner of Rockland New York, Dr. Robert Bucklin, the medical Examiner in Las Vegas Nevada, Dr. Herman Moedder from Germany, the late Dr. Pierre Barbet in France, and Dr. David Willis from England have studied the words, weapons, and wounds. They all agree that the descriptions used in the New Testament regarding the wounds of the “Passion," clearly match the wounds portrayed on the shroud, and that these wounds are in conformity with the weapons used by ancient Roman soldiers in crucifixion

Radiocarbon Dating Controversy

• In 1988, a radiocarbon dating test ended with the scientific team declaring the Shroud of Turin originated from medieval times. However, this has been vehemently disputed by several researchers
• In the Scientific Journal of January 2005, Dr. Ray Rogers, a chemist that helped lead the Shroud of Turin Research Project in 1978, concluded that the radiocarbon sample they had tested in 1988 was not part of the original cloth and was invalid for determining the age of the Shroud
• Dr. Giulio Fanti, a professor of mechanical and thermal measurement at the University of Padua with a team of experts between 2010 to 2013 revealed the results of their experiments on the Shroud
• They used infrared light and spectroscopy which is the measurement of radiation intensity through wavelengths. Fanti said the image was caused by a blast of “extreme radiation,” concluding that the man on the shroud lived between 280 B.C. and 220 A.D. He said the radiation that caused this image has no natural explanation

The Popes Speak Out

Pope Julius II (1503-1513), issued a bull on April 25, 1506, Romanus Pontifex, in which he approved an Office and Mass for the Holy Shroud for the canons of the Sainte Chapelle at Chambery. He decreed:

We, therefore, who by divine disposition, albeit unworthily, preside over the ministry of the sacred apostolate, considering that, if We adore and venerate the Holy Cross on which Our Lord Jesus Christ was suspended and by which we are redeemed, it surely seems fitting and binding upon us to venerate and adore the Shroud on which, as is reported, there are clearly seen the traces of the Humanity of Christ to which the Divinity had united itself, that is, (there is seen) His very Blood. . . . (We) approve and confirm the aforesaid day and night office of the Shroud together with its proper Mass.

• Pope Leo X (1513-1521) on October 17, 1514 extended the feast with its proper Mass and Office to all of Savoy 
• Pope Clement X (1670-1676) granted a plenary indulgence to the faithful who made a pilgrimage to the Shroud “not for venerating the cloth as the true Shroud of Christ, but rather for meditating on his Passion, especially his death and burial.” 
• Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758), speaking of other pontiffs’ attitudes regarding the Shroud, said that they “have testified that the most notable relic of the Holy Shroud kept in the city of Turin is that same shroud in which the Lord Jesus Christ was wrapped.”
• Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) granted special indulgences for the exposition in 1898. He later wrote to Cardinal Richelmy, Archbishop of Turin, to express his gratitude at the number of people who had traveled from all parts of the world “to venerate the sacred Shroud of Christ.” 
• Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914) approved the Oeuvre St. Luc (Work of St. Luke), founded by Emanuel Faure, for the purpose of promoting devotion to the image of Christ as revealed on the photo of the Holy Shroud
• Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) had an avid interest in the Shroud and collected historical and scientific information on the relic. When the Archbishop of Turin expressed to the Pope strong opposition from various quarters to cancel a planned exposition in 1931, the Pope replied: “You may be at peace. . . . We speak now as a scholar and not as Pope. We have made a personal study of the Shroud, and We are convinced of its authenticity. Objections have been made, but they are worthless.”
• Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), in a radio address to the National Eucharistic Congress held at Turin on September 13, 1953, said that the city “guards as a precious treasure the Holy Shroud, upon which we behold with deep emotion and solace the image of the lifeless Body and the broken Divine Countenance of Jesus.” 

Conclusion

There is plenty of scientific evidence that the Shroud of Turin, with its mysteriously produced, one-of-a-kind image, is the actual burial cloth of Jesus Christ, and proof of the Resurrection. There is also considerable theological weight from the popes, that although made in their personal capacity, lend credence to the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. (N.B. The Mass and Indulgences granted are for the Shroud, but not declaring any particular cloth to be the actual Shroud). 

As Easter Week has just passed, its good to see how well founded our Faith is, and I personally believe the Shroud of Turin to be authentic given its scientific and mysterious nature. I think Chancellor Adenauer would be pleased by all the evidence that has come forth.