Phantoms and Monsters

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Turin Shroud To Go On Display This Spring

dailymail - Over two million visitors are expected to converge on a small chapel in a northern Italian city this spring when the Turin Shroud goes on display for only the sixth time in 100 years.

It will be the first time the holy relic, which some believe bears the face of Christ after his crucifixion, has been seen in public since its restoration in 2002.

Fiorenzo Alfieri, Turin's councillor for culture, said that around one million people have already ordered tickets to see the relic.

In total he expects more than two million visitors from around the globe.

Viewers will be allowed a maximum of five minutes each in front of the Turin Shroud, which will be on display in a bulletproof, climate-controlled case from 10 April to 23 May.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to visit the Shroud on 2 May.

The authenticity of the cloth has been strongly contested down the years with some claiming it is the work of medieval pranksters.

The Vatican itself has carefully avoided opining on the Shroud's authenticity but has instead described it as 'a powerful symbol of Christ's suffering'.

Independent carbon-dating tests done in 1988 by researchers around the world estimated that the Shroud was made between 1260 and 1390, suggesting it was a hoax.

But some scientists have argued that contamination over the ages may have affected the results.

Two Israeli scientists said plant pollen found on the cloth supported the view that it comes from the Holy Land.

Traditionally, the public is allowed to see the shroud every 25 years, but church officials have said they understand its 'importance to the economy and employment' of Turin.

They have therefore allowed the Shroud to go on public display only ten years after its last appearance.

Reservations to view the Shroud can be made online for free.

NOTE: as known religious relics go, the Turin Shroud is probably the most recognizable...though, it's most likely an elaborate fraud and simply a tourist draw. Though I'm not a believer, I find religious history and lore fascinating...Lon

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