Is the veil that was used to wipe the face of Jesus in the Vatican?

Answer 1

There is no doubt that there was a physical image known and venerated as the Veil of Veronica, displayed in Rome in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The history of that image is however, somewhat problematic. A relic in Saint Peter's basilica in Rome is purported to be the original veil, although it is widely regarded, at best, as a copy.

There was probably never really a veil used to wipe Jesus' face. The story begins with Luke 23:27-31, which tells us that certain women lamented as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha. At this stage, there is no mention of Veronica or of anyone wiping Jesus' face. An early medieval story expanded on Luke's brief passage, saying that one of these women offered a cloth to wipe the face of Jesus which then resulted in a portrait on the cloth (a reproduction of which is now kept as a relic in Saint Peter's basilica in Rome). Her name was given as Veronica (vera + ikon = "true image"), and she now has a place in the popular exercise of the Stations of the Cross.

It seems unlikely that the medieval authors, well known for their pious creativity, could have known something that the author of Luke did not know. It is even more unlikely that the woman's name happened to coincide with what she was famous for in this story - wiping Jesus' face and receiving a true image of his face. We can say with some certainty that St. Veronica never lived, so no matter how ancient the veil held in the Vatican, it was not used to wipe Jesus' face.

Answer 2

The purported veil of Veronica is kept in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.