CFS-WB-CH09

UNIT 3 CHAPTER 9 

Science and the 

Shroud of Turin 

166

Chapter 9 Overview 

The Shroud of Turin is a burial cloth that bears the image of a crucified man. This image matches perfectly 

the description of the wounds Christ suffered during His Crucifixion. Modern science has shown the image 

to be anatomically accurate and that it could not have been produced by any kind of paint, dye, chemical, 

vapor, or scorching. Recent tests have dated the shroud to the time of Christ and have placed its origin near 

the Sea of Galilee. All the evidence suggest that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Christ mentioned in 

the Gospels and that it bears a miraculous image of the moment of Jesus’ Resurrection. This precious relic is 

powerful testimony to our faith in Christ, the historicity of His Resurrection, and His claims to be divine. 

In this chapter you will learn that … 

■ The Shroud of Turin contains a miraculous image of a crucified man that all evidence suggests is Jesus 

Christ. 

■ The shroud has undergone numerous scientific investigations over the years that all support that 

authenticity of the shroud and its image. 

■ The Shroud of Turin and the Facecloth of Oviedo share numerous details that likely indicate they both 

were burial cloths of the same person. 

■ The empirical evidence presented by the shroud strongly corroborates the accuracy of the Gospel 

accounts of Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection. 

Bible Basics 

And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him 

down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and 

laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of 

the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door 

of the tomb. 

—Mark 15:46 

Connections to the Catechism 

■ CCC 606–630 

■ CCC 638–640 

■ CCC 651–655 

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and 

went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths 

lying, and the napkin, which had been on his 

head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled 

up in a place by itself. 

— John 20:6–7 

© Sophia Institute for Teachers 

167

Chapter 9 

Aa 

VOCABULARY 

Shroud of Turin: Linen burial 

shroud bearing a perfect 

photographic negative of a 

crucified man, which scientific 

evidence strongly suggests is 

the burial shroud of Christ. 

The Shroud of Turin 

Before we finish this unit, there are some interesting pieces of important 

historical evidence of Christ’s divinity to look at — chief among these is 

the Shroud of Turin. This simple linen burial shroud, measuring roughly 

14 feet by 3 ½ feet, is by far the most scientifically tested relic ever, and 

for good reason. Despite having surfaced in 1349 — almost 500 years 

before the first photographic camera was invented — the shroud contains 

a perfect photographic negative of a crucified man. This image is 

executed in such accurate anatomical detail that modern medicine can 

diagnose many of the injuries by analyzing it. Most intriguing of all, scientific 

tests have revealed the image was not produced by any kind of 

paint, dye, chemical, vapor, or scorching. 

The numerous and wide-ranging tests on the shroud — anatomical 

details that correspond to the unusual set of injuries described in the 

Gospel, dating analyses that place it at the time of Christ, and a scientifically 

unique image suggestive of the Resurrection — strongly imply that 

it is the burial shroud of Christ. Let us now consider a brief survey of 

some of this evidence. 

168 Apologetics I: The Catholic Faith and Science 

© Magis Center

Anatomically Accurate Blood Stains 

In addition to the image itself — which, as we noted, is anatomically 

perfect and a perfect photographic negative — there are several blood 

stains on the shroud as well. The image was formed after the blood 

stains congealed on the cloth, yet the image and blood stains, relative 

to one another, are anatomically correct. Further, the blood has been 

found to be a rare blood type: AB positive, with male DNA. A potential 

forger would have had to place all the blood stains on the cloth before 

there was an image on which to place them, an unlikely task, even 

before consideration of how the image itself was put on the shroud 

without any paints, dyes, chemicals, vapors, or scorching. Inasmuch 

as the blood is real, and the image was not produced by a medieval 

forger (a theory we will examine more closely later in this chapter), the 

shroud seems to have enveloped a real man who was crucified in a 

similar way to the unique crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. These similarities 

include the unusual combination of being crowned with thorns, 

being flogged, and being pierced in the side by a spear similar to a 

Roman pilum. The precise nature of the torments undergone by the 

man on the shroud is detailed by Dr. Pierre Barbet in his famous work, 

A Doctor at Calvary. 

The Shroud of Turin is a 3.5’ 

x 14’ linen cloth that displays 

the blood-marked image of 

a man with the same wounds 

of torture and crucifixion as 

described in the Gospel of 

John. 

© Vernon Miller, 1978. No unauthorized reproduction of Material on other Websites is allowed without prior written 

permission from the shroudphotos.com copyright holder. Original photos are available for free at www.shroudphotos.com 


Unit 3, Chapter 9: Science and the Shroud of Turin 

169

Dating the Shroud 

Before detailing the many methods used to date the shroud, most of 

which have placed its origin to the time of Christ, we must address the 

one test whose findings do not match the rest. A Carbon-14 test done 

in 1988 by three different labs on a sample of the shroud placed the 

sample at 638 years old (to roughly 1350). As a rule, Carbon-14 is a reliable 

way of measuring the age of an artifact, but several factors potentially 

compromised the results of this particular test. 

First, the test consisted of only one sample. The usual protocol for 

a carbon-dating test would be to take samples from several parts of 

The negative of the image on 

the shroud reveals a positive 

image. Italian photographer 

Secondo Pia is said to have 

been so shocked to see the 

image that he almost dropped 

the photographic plate. 

Secondo Pia’s 1898 negative of the image on the 

Shroud of Turin. Image courtesy Alamy. 


© Magis Center

the shroud; in this case, however, only one sample thread was taken and 

used by all three testing labs. One might wonder why it would matter if 

all the cloth is the same age anyway? As it happens, over the centuries, 

the shroud has been visibly patched with newer cloth in several places 

to cover large holes, so in this case it would matter a good deal. 

Second, the single 1988 sample was taken from a previously undiscovered 

repair patch on the shroud. Other repairs to the shroud were 

known, particularly ones that patched the shroud after it was in a fire 

in 1532. Later analysis would reveal several discrepancies between the 

1988 sample and the original portions of the shroud — the sample had 

cotton fibers and was dyed, most likely to make the fresh white patch 

blend in with the much older original shroud (which is linen, and not 

dyed). Since the sample was not part of the original material, the carbon-dating 

tells us when the shroud was patched, but nothing about 

when it was originally made. 

The 1532 fire that resulted in the known patches being added to 

repair the shroud is also significant, as it adds an unrelated, additional 

wrinkle to carbon-dating it. Since carbon-dating measures the amount 

of carbon left in a sample based on a known rate of decline, an event 

like a fire can contaminate any sample with added carbon and must be 

taken into account. 

Five New Scientific Dating Methods 

Dr. Liberato de Caro (specialist in coherent diffractive imaging chemistry 

at the Institute of Crystallography and the National Research 

Council of Italy), Dr. Raymond Rogers (an American chemist) and Dr. 

Giulio Fanti (Professor of Mechanical and Thermal Measurement at 

the University of Padua’s Engineering Faculty) used five newer tests 

for dating ancient materials which are unrelated to Carbon 14 dating. In 

2022, De Caro and five other scientific colleagues published their results 

in the peer-reviewed journal Heritage. 

Dr. de Caro and his colleagues used a proven highly accurate testing 

method — wide angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) — to measure a sample 

of the shroud in 2022. They obtained a date of origin between AD 

55-74 (very close to the time of Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection). 

This result is more precise than the four dating results below and corroborates 

those results which show the shroud’s date of origin to be in 

the first century. 

Dr. Rogers’ test results were reported in the peer-reviewed scientific 

journal Thermochimica Acta in 2005, and Fanti’s results in the 

Dr. de Caro and 

his colleagues 

used a proven 

highly accurate 

testing 

method — wide 

angle x-ray 

scattering 

(WAXS) — to 

measure a 

sample of the 

Shroud in 2022. 



171

(Bottom left) This image is of 

the man on the shroud’s back. 

At the lower back is a blood 

flow that extends from right to 

left. The rest of the marks on 

the back appear to be scourge 

marks caused by a flagrum. 

(A flagrum was made with 

cords or leather straps that 

had on their ends metal tips 

that were dumbbell in shape. 

These dumbbell shaped marks 

can be seen all over the back, 

chest and legs.) 

(Bottom right) Image of the 

face on the shroud created 

at Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

using a color technique (Fa) 

(notches in film) 

peer-reivewed Textile Research Journal in 2013. These tests show a 

strong likelihood that the shroud originated around the time of Jesus 

and that the 1988 Carbon 14 testing was significantly in error. 

Rogers used a vanillin test to measure the age of cellulose in ancient 

fabrics. Vanillin is an organic compound that — like carbon — decays with 

age. Linens from the Middle Ages typically retain around 37% of their 

vanillin when tested, while older artifacts from around the time of Christ, 

like the Dead Sea Scrolls, tend to have lost all of theirs. Comparison of 

the shroud’s results with these other linens established a possible age 

range of 1300 to 3,000 years old (its date of origin must be between 

1022 BC–AD 678). 

Dr. Fanti carried out three new dating tests on fibers from the 

shroud. First, Fanti conducted a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy 

test of cellulose degradation. This test uses a specially transformed 

infrared light beam to excite the molecules of a material. The 

resulting reflections made it possible to evaluate the concentration 

of particular substances contained in the cellulose of the linen fibers. 

According to Fanti, because cellulose degrades over time, it is possible 

to determine a correlation with the age of the fabric. This test took 

© Vernon Miller, 1978. No unauthorized reproduction of Material on other Websites is allowed without prior written 

permission from the shroudphotos.com copyright holder. Original photos are available for free at www.shroudphotos.com. 


© Magis Center

nine ancient textiles of different ages from Egypt, Israel, and Peru, as 

well as two modern fabrics, and tested them to establish the rate at 

which cellulose (yet another decaying compound) disappears over 

time. By applying this test to the shroud and comparing it with the 

other known samples, a date of origin range for the shroud was set at 

700 BC–AD 100. 

Next, Fanti conducted a Raman laser spectroscopy test for cellulose 

degradation. This test is similar to the previous one but used lasers 

instead of infrared light to probe the same samples and compare results. 

The date of origin range found in this test was similarly 700 BC– 

AD 300. 

Finally, Fanti employed mechanical tests of compressibility and 

breaking strength to compare the physical properties of the fibers of 

ancient fabrics, such as how much tensile strength individual fibers retain 

over time. By correlating the shroud fibers with other known ancient fabrics, 

the date of origin range produced by this test was AD 1–800. 

If we average the means of all these tests, the origin of the shroud 

might be placed at around 33 BC — very close to the time of Jesus. 

When this is combined with the wide angle x-ray scattering dating of AD 

55–AD 74, it is highly probable the Shroud’s origin must be in the first 

century AD with a very low margin of error. 

Other Indications of the Shroud’s Age 

In addition to the above dating methods that place the shroud in the 

first century, there are also circumstantial indications that point to the 

shroud’s origin during the age of Christ. 

Pollen Grains 

Max Frei, a Swiss botanist and criminologist, took dust samples from 

the shroud and identified 58 pollen grains by comparing them to pollen 

grains in botanical museums. Of the 58 pollen grains, 45 were from 

Israel (specifically from sediment deposits from 2,000 years ago near 

the Sea of Galilee), including 13 that are unique to that region. Six grains 

were from the Middle East (including two from Edessa, Turkey, and 

one grain unique to Istanbul/Constantinople), and the rest were from 

France (where the shroud surfaced in the Middle Ages) and Italy (where 

the shroud is now). The predominance of 2,000-year-old, Israel-based 

pollen not only strongly places the Shroud in the time and region of 

Christ, but also makes it even less likely it is the work of a medieval 

forger. 



173

Facecloth of Oviedo: The 

bloodstained cloth that, 

according to tradition, is 

mentioned in Scripture that 

was laid over the face of Christ 

after His Death. Analysis 

of blood, pollen, and other 

evidence on the facecloth 

strongly suggests that it 

touched the same face as the 

Shroud of Turin. 

Roman Coins on the Eyes of the Man in the Shroud 

Numismatists (coin specialists) have identified partial imprints of coins 

on the eyes of the man in the shroud. Overlaid photographs correlate 

these coins with a specific variant of a type of coin minted in Judea 

in AD 29 by Pontius Pilate. It is hard to conceive of a more pinpointed 

marker of date and time connecting the shroud to Christ. 

Similarities to the Facecloth of Oviedo 

The Shroud of Turin — also bears striking resemblance to another cloth 

known as the Facecloth of Oviedo (or the Sudarium Christi, Latin for 

“facecloth of Christ”). According to tradition, the Facecloth of Oviedo 

was the burial cloth mentioned in Scripture that was laid over the face 

of Christ after His Death (a typical part of Jewish burial custom). Unlike 

the Shroud of Turin, there is no facial image on the sudarium, but it 

is marked with blood stains consistent with those of a person brutally 

beaten and crucified. Many of the same pollens from ancient Israel 

found on the shroud have also been identified on the Facecloth of 

Oviedo, and analysis strongly suggests that it touched the same face 

as the Shroud. How do we know? When the bloodstains on the Oviedo 

cloth are superimposed over the bloodstains on the shroud, there are 

120 points of coincidence, strongly indicating that the face each cloth 

touched had an identical pattern of injuries and blood flow. Even more, 

the blood type of the blood stains on the facecloth match that of the 

shroud: AB positive. Why are these facts significant for dating the 

shroud? The Facecloth of Oviedo has a continuous recorded history 

traceable to the year AD 616 (compared to the Shroud’s documented 

history from 1349). Therefore, if the two cloths touched the same face, 

it establishes that the shroud must be at least as old as the Facecloth 

of Oviedo — AD 616 or before. 

The combined evidence of the pollen samples, the Roman coins, 

the Facecloth of Oviedo, and the five new dating tests gives strong 

testimony that the shroud originated in First Century Palestine around 

the time of Jesus’ Crucifixion. This fact correlates well with the highly 

unique crucifixion of Jesus portrayed both on the shroud and in the 

Gospels: the crowning with thorns, being nailed to the Cross, being 

pierced with a Roman legionnaire’s spear, and receiving multiple lashes 

from a three-stranded whip with bone fragments on the end (a Roman 

flagrum used by Roman legionaires). The anatomical perfection of the 

blood stains on the shroud, the use of Roman weapons to produce 

those blood stains (legionaries spear and flagrum), and the unique features 

of Jesus’ Crucifixion not found in any other crucifixion (crown of 


© Magis Center

Christ’s burial shroud is 

sometimes depicted in sacred 

art, as in this painting in San 

Fedele church in Milan, Italy. 

Pietà, by Simone Peterzano 

thorns, and spear wound in the side) make it highly probable that the 

shroud is in fact the burial cloth of Jesus. The investigation of the image’s 

formation corroborates this conclusion. 

The Image on the Shroud 

There are many striking anomalies about the image that raise significant 

scientific questions about how it was formed. 

First, the image is limited to the uppermost surface of the cloth. The 

fibers themselves are only discolored on their outermost edge — the 

image does not penetrate into the fibers anywhere. This fact not only 

excludes paint and dyes; it shows that the image was not produced by 

chemicals, vapors, or scorching of any kind. The most likely remaining 



175

The image on the Shroud of 

Turin is a discoloration coming 

from dehydration that could 

only have been produced by a 

brief and intense burst of light 

radiation. 

Image courtesy Alamy 

explanation is that it was caused by light radiation (but, significantly, not 

by heat radiation). 

The image is also not a scorch, but rather discoloration coming from 

dehydration. This fact implies that the image could not have been produced 

by slowly dissipating radiation (which would have scorched it). 

The burst of light radiation that created the image would have had to be 

very brief and intense. 

Second, the image is a perfect photographic negative, in which the 

image intensity is related to the distance of the cloth from the body. In 

other words, the image is present on the cloth regardless of whether a 

particular portion of the cloth touched the body or not. This fact again 

implies that radiation — not chemicals or vapors — was the source of image 

formation. The kind of light radiation that might fit these conditions 


© Magis Center

is called vacuum ultraviolet radiation. In fact, in 2010, scientists successfully 

reproduced the kind of surface coloration found on the shroud by 

firing a burst of vacuum ultraviolet radiation through an excimer laser at 

a linen with identical spectral reflectants to the shroud. Based on their 

results, they concluded that the image produced on the shroud would 

require a burst of radiation incredibly brief (less than one forty-billionth 

of a second) and incredibly intense (several billion watts). Such a burst 

of light energy would be equivalent to focusing one million search lights 

(ten thousand watts each) on a single spot seven feet in length — exceedingly 

bright. It is safe to assume that a medieval forger would not 

have had access to this kind of firepower. Even more, something very 

transformative and supernatural must have occurred for a dead body 

to give off such a powerful burst of radiation necessary to produce this 

image. 

Third, parts of the frontal image on the shroud ( particularly the 

hands ) and the dorsal image on the shroud (particularly the backbone) 

show an image which is resolvable into three dimensions, in which the 

inside skeletal parts of the hand are proportionately related to the surrounding 

exterior flesh on the hand. In other words, the radiation that 

discolored the cloth was emanating equally from every point of the 

body, inside and outside. This implies that the cloth collapsed into and 

through the body. 

Fourth, there is a double image on the frontal part of the cloth (a 

more intense image on the front surface — nearest the body — and a less 

intense image on the back surface — furthest from the body — without 

any effects between the two surfaces). This detail implies that the radiation 

that created the image surrounded both surfaces of the cloth, 

further implying that the cloth collapsed into and through the body. 

There is obviously no known scientific precedent for a body becoming 

mechanically transparent such that solid objects like cloth can pass 

through it. 

Certainly, by this point, it would be impossible to ignore the parallels 

with the soma pneumatikon (spiritual body) of the Resurrection when 

we ponder a body that suddenly produces a burst of billions of watts 

of radiation in a fraction of a second and at the same instant gains a 

spirit-like mechanically transparent property, enabling solid matter to 

pass through it. The need for some kind of transphysical (supernatural) 

causation and the correlation of these anomalies with the description 

of Jesus’ resurrected spiritual body in the Gospel narratives (and 

the letters of St. Paul) point quite convincingly to the Risen Jesus as 

the origin of the image. When we combine this information with the 

Something very 

transformative 

and 

supernatural 

must have 

occurred for a 

dead body to 

give off such a 

powerful burst 

of radiation 

necessary to 

produce this 

image. 



177

three-dimensional image of Jesus’ unique crucifixion as well as the 

probable origin of the cloth in first century Palestine, the evidence 

strongly corroborates the accuracy of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ 

crucifixion and glorious Resurrection appearance. 

Conclusion 

Analysis of the 

Shroud of Turin 

shows both 

the truth of the 

most significant 

event in human 

history as well 

as the accuracy 

of the Gospel 

accounts of it. 

The odds of this First Century Palestinian burial shroud — with the 

unique features of Jesus’ crucifixion and Resurrection — being of anyone 

but Jesus is exceedingly remote. Inasmuch as the image is not a 

forgery, and it originated from a real person living at the time of Jesus, 

who was crucified by Roman weapons in the unique way of Jesus, and 

whose dead body wrapped in the shroud produced a burst of intense 

vacuum ultraviolet radiation from his decomposing body, who else 

would it be? 

Given all this evidence, we might reasonably infer that the Shroud 

of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus which contains not only a detailed 

account of His crucifixion, but also the remnants of His Resurrection in 

glory. It shows both the truth of the most significant event in human history 

as well as the accuracy of the Gospel accounts of it. 

Editor’s note: The Catholic Church does not generally give approval to 

the authenticity of relics, and she is unlikely to do so in the case of the 

Shroud of Turin. Though the scientific case for the Shroud of Turin is 

quite strong, it is not yet definitive. Therefore, this material does not imply 

Church approval or definitive scientific confirmation. It only gives the 

scientific data and assessment of the shroud as far as it has been currently 

tested. 


© Magis Center

HOLLAND CLOTH 

ATTACHED AS A BACKING 

FOLD 

DORSAL 

IMAGE 

FOLD 

DORSAL 

IMAGE 

BLOOD FROM NAIL 

WOUND ON FOOT 

FLAGRUM 

Thongs are studded 

with twin balls of metal. 

SCOURGE MARKS FROM FLAGRUM 

BLOOD FROM LANCE WOUND 

RUNNING TO THE BACK 

BRUISE MARKS CAUSED 

BY CARRYING CROSS 

BLOOD FROM THE CROWN OF THORNS 

WATER MARKS FROM 

PUTTING OUT 1532 FIRE 

CREASE FROM POSSIBLE 

USE OF CHIN BAND 

BLOOD FROM LANCE 

WOUND IN RIGHT SIDE 

BLOODFLOW FROM WRIST WOUND 

BLOOD FROM NAIL IN WRIST 

BURNS MADE PRIOR TO 1516 

BURNS CAUSED BY FIRE OF 

1532, LATER PATCHED 

CLOTH STRIP ADDED 

TO THE SHROUD 

BLOOD FROM NAIL WOUND IN FOOT 

SCORCH ALONG FOLDS 

FROM FIRE OF 1532 

FRONTAL 

IMAGE 

FRONTAL 

IMAGE 

© Vernon Miller, 1978. No unauthorized reproduction of Material on other Websites is allowed without prior written permission 

from the shroudphotos.com copyright holder. Original photos are available for free at www.shroudphotos.com. 



179

Focus and Reflection Questions 

1 What is the Shroud of Turin? When was the shroud discovered? 

2 How do the blood stains on the cloth provide evidence that the shroud is not a forgery and was used 

to wrap Jesus’ body? 

3 One test dated the shroud to roughly 1350. Which test was this? And why are the findings rendered 

questionable? 

4 What was Dr. Raymond Rogers’ alternative dating method? What date did he come up with for the 

shroud using this method? 

5 What tests did Dr. Giulio Fanti use to date the shroud, and what dates did he come up with using 

them? 

6 What is the average date according to Dr. Rogers’ and Dr. Fanti’s findings regarding the shroud? 

7 What circumstantial evidence about the date of the shroud is provided by the pollen samples found 

on the shroud? 

8 What is indicated by the partial imprint of coins on the eyes of the figure on the shroud? 

9 What is the Facecloth of Oviedo? What correlation exists between the facecloth and the shroud? 

Why is this correlation significant for dating the Shroud of Turin? 

10 How does the shroud correspond with the Crucifixion account in the Gospels? 

11 How do we know that the image on the Shroud is not from paints, dyes, chemicals, vapors, or 

scorching? 

12 What evidence do we have specifically that the image came from vacuum ultraviolet radiation? 

13 How do we know something transformative and supernatural must have occurred for a corpse to 

emanate such a powerful burst of radiation necessary to produce the image? How can we know it 

was not a medieval forgery? 

14 What evidence implies that the cloth collapsed into and through the body? How does this evidence 

support the Resurrection? 

15 What parallels are there between the evidence from the shroud and the soma pneumatikon of the 

Resurrection? 


© Magis Center

Straight to the Source 

ADDITIONAL READINGS FROM PRIMARY SOURCES 

Address of His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Turin, Italy, May 24, 1998 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

1. With my gaze turned to the Shroud, I would like to extend a cordial greeting to you all, the faithful of 

the Church of Turin. I greet the pilgrims who have come from every part of the world at the time of 

this public exposition to look at one of the most unsettling signs of the Redeemer’s suffering love. 

As I entered the cathedral, which still shows the scars of last year’s terrible fire, I paused in adoration 

before the Eucharist, the sacrament which is the focus of the Church’s attention and, under humble 

appearances, contains the true, real and substantial presence of Christ. In the light of Christ’s presence 

in our midst, I then stopped before the Shroud, the precious Linen that can help us better to 

understand the mystery of the love of God’s Son for us. Before the Shroud, the intense and agonizing 

image of an unspeakable torment, I wish to thank the Lord for this unique gift, which asks for the 

believer’s loving attention and complete willingness to follow the Lord. 

2. The Shroud is a challenge to our intelligence. It first of all requires of every person, particularly the researcher, 

that he humbly grasp the profound message it sends to his reason and his life. The mysterious 

fascination of the Shroud forces questions to be raised about the sacred Linen and the historical 

life of Jesus. Since it is not a matter of faith, the Church has no specific competence to pronounce on 

these questions. She entrusts to scientists the task of continuing to investigate, so that satisfactory 

answers may be found to the questions connected with this Sheet, which, according to tradition, 

wrapped the body of our Redeemer after he had been taken down from the cross. The Church urges 

that the Shroud be studied without pre-established positions that take for granted results that are 

not such; she invites them to act with interior freedom and attentive respect for both scientific methodology 

and the sensibilities of believers. 

3. For the believer, what counts above all is that the Shroud is a mirror of the Gospel. In fact, if we reflect 

on the sacred Linen, we cannot escape the idea that the image it presents has such a profound 

relationship with what the Gospels tell of Jesus’ passion and death, that every sensitive person feels 

inwardly touched and moved at beholding it. Whoever approaches it is also aware that the Shroud 

does not hold people’s hearts to itself, but turns them to him, at whose service the Father’s loving 

providence has put it. Therefore, it is right to foster an awareness of the precious value of this image, 

which everyone sees and no one at present can explain. For every thoughtful person it is a reason for 

deep reflection, which can even involve one’s life. The Shroud is thus a truly unique sign that points to 

Jesus, the true Word of the Father, and invites us to pattern our lives on the life of the One who gave 

himself for us. 

4. The image of human suffering is reflected in the Shroud. It reminds modern man, often distracted by 

prosperity and technological achievements, of the tragic situation of his many brothers and sisters, 

and invites him to question himself about the mystery of suffering in order to explore its causes. 



181

The imprint left by the tortured body of the Crucified One, which attests to the tremendous human 

capacity for causing pain and death to one’s fellow man, stands as an icon of the suffering of 

the innocent in every age: of the countless tragedies that have marked past history and the dramas 

that continue to unfold in the world. Before the Shroud, how can we not think of the millions of people 

who die of hunger, of the horrors committed in the many wars that soak nations in blood, of the 

brutal exploitation of women and children, of the millions of human beings who live in hardship and 

humiliation on the edges of great cities, especially in developing countries? How can we not recall 

with dismay and pity those who do not enjoy basic civil rights, the victims of torture and terrorism, 

the slaves of criminal organizations? By calling to mind these tragic situations, the Shroud not only 

spurs us to abandon our selfishness but leads us to discover the mystery of suffering, which, sanctified 

by Christ’s sacrifice, achieves salvation for all humanity. Death is not the ultimate goal of human 

existence. 

1 Why do you think Pope St. John Paul II calls the Shroud of Turin “one of the most unsettling signs of 

the Redeemer’s suffering love”? 

2 According to Pope St. John Paul II, what about the shroud counts above all for those who believe in 

Christ? 

3 What does the shroud invite us to do? How can we do this in our lives? 

4 How does the image on the shroud call us to reflect on human suffering? 


© Magis Center

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