What is the stand of Catholic Church on the Shroud of Turin?

Answer 1

AnswerThe Shroud of Turin is kept protected in a secure environment in Turin and displayed for veneration occasionally. It is viewed as a religious relic and therefore needing no verification. Nevertheless, some attempts to validate it have been permitted.

ln 1969 the Archbishop of Turin appointed a secret commission to examine the shroud. That fact was leaked, then denied. The commission included internationally known forensic serologists who made heroic efforts to validate the 'blood', but all of the microscopic, chemical, biological and instrumental tests were negative. Experts discovered reddish granules that would not even dissolve in reagents that dissolve blood, and one investigator found traces of what appeared to be paint. An art expert concluded that the image had been produced by an artistic printing technique. The commission's report is said to have been withheld until 1976 and then largely suppressed, while a rebuttal report was made freely available.

Further examinations were conducted in 1978 by the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). STURP was a group of mostly religious believers whose leaders served on the Executive Council of the Holy Shroud guild, a Catholic organisation that advocated the cause of the supposed relic. It has been alleged that the STURP team were dishonest in their approach to the analysis. For example, famed microanalyst, Walter C. McCrone, examined 32 tape-lifted samples from the shroud and identified the 'blood' as tempera paint containing red ochre and vermilion along with traces of rose madder - the pigments used by medieval artists to depict blood. He also discovered on the image - but not the background - significant amounts of red ochre pigment. He says he was "drummed out" of STURP. STURP representatives paid a surprise visit to McCrone's lab to confiscate his samples. It is not suggested that this represents the official attitude of the Church.

In 1988, the Vatican agreed to permit six centres to independently perform independent radio carbon dating of portions of a small piece taken from a corner of the shroud, but at the last minute changed its mind and permitted only three research centres to undertake the analysis. The three laboratories produced results indicating that the shroud dated from the 13th to 14th centuries. This and other analyses confirm the Shroud to be fraudulent.

The Church itself has no official opinion as to its veracity - although it should be noted that they positively encourage devotion to it, having authorised medals bearing its image..