It’s not everyday (nor every decade) that one has the opportunity to physically see the Shroud of Turin, a cloth that is believed by many to have been wrapped around the body of Jesus after his death on the cross. Normally, the cloth is kept in a special, environmentally controlled chamber in the cathedral in Torino (Turin), Italy, not available for public viewing.
Pope Benedict just announced that the cloth will again be displayed to the public in the spring of 2010. Now some may wonder why this announcement is made two years ahead of time, when we are used to a society that typically announces events in a weekly calendar. But given how infrequently the cloth is displayed, this is truly “big” news. The next scheduled display of the cloth was not expected before 2025. And the last time the cloth was taken out was in the year 2000, allowing many of the young people attending World Youth Day in Rome to make the pilgrimage to northern Italy to see the shroud.
The cloth measures about 4 meters by 1 meter and contains the imprint of a man who was probably crucified, believed by many to be Jesus Christ. Many books have been written and controversy has followed the history of the shroud. Carbon dating that was done in 1988 on a small swatch of the cloth indicated that the cloth was probably fabricated in the 13th or 14th century. Some reports since then indicate that this sample was actually taken from a piece of cloth sewn onto the original in order to help repair the original, calling into question the actual date of the image-bearing part of the cloth. Further studies have been conducted and will continue, adding to the rich history of the shroud.
Given that a public display just four times a century was the norm in the recent past, it is definitely newsworthy to open the image for viewing 15 years early. So if you’re interested, start planning a trip to Italy for spring of 2010. I’m sure there will be many news-stories about the shroud between now and then.
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Posted by APWeb 
