Pope Francis to Venerate Shroud of Turin and Honor Saint John Bosco in June 2015

The following comes from Zenit:

Pope Francis plans to visit Turin, Italy, in June 2015. The Holy Father made the announcement while greeting the Italian pilgrims during his Wednesday General Audience today.

“I am pleased to announce that, God willing, on June 21st I will go on a pilgrimage to Turin to venerate the Holy Shroud and honor Saint John Bosco, on the bicentennial anniversary of his birth,” the Pope said.

Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin as well as the mayor of Turin, Piero Fassino ,were present in St. Peter’s Square. They will be holding a press conference on next year’s exposition of the Shroud of Turin and the 200th anniversary of St. John Bosco’s birth.

While the authenticity of the Shroud has neither been confirmed nor denied by the Vatican, devotion to the image entitled the Holy Face of Jesus was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1958.

Pope Francis sent a video message last year on the occasion of the Shroud’s exposition at the Cathedral in Turin, in which he said that “the Man of the Shroud invites us to contemplate Jesus of Nazareth.”

“By means of the Holy Shroud, the unique and supreme Word of God comes to us: Love made man, incarnate in our history; the merciful Love of God who has taken upon himself all the evil of the world in order to free us from its power,” he said.

The Holy Shroud, St. John Bosco and Pope Francis

In Spring of 2015, the Holy Shroud will be displayed once again in the Cathedral of Turin. It\'s a surprising move since the relic is shown only in special occasions. The exhibit has been approved by Pope Francis, as a way to mark 200 years since the birth of St. John Bosco, father and teacher of the youth.

Pope Benedict before the Shroud of Turin

Benedict XVIs visit to the Cathedral of Turin to venerate the Holy Shroud was carried out in a vibrant silence. The Pope paused for a long time before the face of the one who questions man about the suffering of the innocent.In our time, especially after having passed through the last century, Benedict XVI said, humanity has become especially sensitive to the mystery of Holy Saturday. Gods concealment is part of the spirituality of contemporary man, in an existential manner, almost unconscious, as an emptiness that continues to expand in the heart. The Pope was referring to the two World Wars, the concentration camps, the gulags, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Pope Benedict visits the Shroud of Turin and invokes Mary, Help of Christians!

The following comes from the CNA:

The Holy Father prayed the Regina Caeli after Mass in Turin's St. Charles Square on Sunday. Saying Mary teaches us to recognize the face of God in Jesus’ human face, Pope Benedict asked for her intercession for workers, those in jail and all believers.

Pope Benedict made a Pastoral Visit to the city that was once the capital of Italy this Sunday, in particular to visit the Shroud of Turin which is on temporary exposition in the Cathedral of Turin. An estimated 50,000 people accompanied him, both in the square and by way of enormous television screens in other parts of the city center, for the celebration of the morning Mass and the Marian prayer that followed.

To Mary, said the Holy Father before the recitation of the Regina Caeli, "I entrust this city and all who live here."

Speaking the day after Italy celebrated the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, he implored that Mary keep watch over families, the "world of work" and those who have lost their faith and hope.

Benedict XVI also asked for her intercession in comforting the sick, those in jail and all who suffer.

"Sustain, oh Help of Christians, young people, the elderly and people in difficulty," he continued, asking also that the Mother of the Church watch over pastors and all believers "so that they may be 'salt and light' in society."

He reflected on the Virgin Mary as "she who more than any other has contemplated God in the human face of Jesus.

"She saw him just after birth, while wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger; she saw him just after death, when after being taken from the cross, they wrapped him in a cloth and took him to the tomb."

“The image of her tormented son was imprinted within her; but this image was then transfigured by the light of the Resurrection,” Pope Benedict said. “In this way, the mystery of the face of Christ, mystery of death and glory, was kept in the heart of Mary.

"From her," he taught, "we can always learn to look at Jesus with love and faith, to recognize in that human face the Face of God."

The Holy Father concluded by thanking all who have worked to prepare for his visit and the special exposition of the Shroud, which he personally called for in 2008. He said he hoped that it would bring about a "profound spiritual renewal."

After the celebration of Mass and the recitation of the Regina Caeli, the Holy Father was scheduled to have lunch with Cardinal Archbishop of Turin, Severino Poletto, and the bishops of Turin at the archbishop's residence.

The pontiff's visit to the Shroud was scheduled to take place later on Sunday afternoon.

“Passio Christi, passio hominis”

The following comes from the Salesian News Agency:

On 10 April the first public display in the new millennium of the Turin Shroud will begin. It is an event intended to help people of today to renew their faith in the Lord and in His mercy.

Yesterday morning in the Holy See Press Office Fr Federico Lombardi chaired a press conference introducing the event which will conclude on 23 May. Among those who spoke were Cardinal Severino Poletto, Archbishop of Turin and the Pontifical Custodian of the Shroud, Prof. Fiorenzo Alfieri, Cultural Representative of the City of Turin and President of the Committee for the 2010 Exhibition of the Shroud, Mons. Giuseppe Ghiberti, President of the Diocesan Commission for the Shroud and Dr Maurizio Baradello, a Salesian-Cooperator, Director General of the Committee for the Exhibition.

In recent years improvements have been made for the preservation and the display of the Shroud. For the last ten years it has been kept flat and not rolled up and in 2002 the “patches” applied by the Poor Clare Nuns of Chambéry were removed and the fold marks and creases on the image smoothed out.

The theme of the exhibition chosen by Cardinal Poletto is “Passio Christi, passio hominis”, underlining the connection between the Holy Shroud image, representing the passion of Jesus Christ, and human suffering in the world of today so that the linen cloth may be a point of reference for believers recalling God’s mercy and service of one’s brothers and sisters.

As in 1998 and in 2000, the 2010 Exhibition is organized by the Archbishop of Turin in cooperation with the Province and Municipality of Turin and Region of Piedmont. The Italian Church and diocese of Turin, together with the public institutions, have provided economic resources and logistics to support this event. An important contribution has been made by two financial institutions in Turin the CRT Foundation and the Saint Paul Company.

As part of the route followed by visiting pilgrims there will be a video presentation explaining the Shroud they are about to see. As they leave the Cathedral they will have the opportunity to go to confession – with priests hearing in various languages, and also to visit the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

A variety of events connected with the exhibition of the Shroud will be held. On the http://www.sindone.org/the_holy_shroud__english_/00024122_The_Holy_Shroud.html site it is possible book visits and also find more useful information. Over 1,300,000 pilgrims have already made bookings and many more are expected.

Pope Benedict XVI will be in Turin on Sunday 2 May to venerate the Shroud.

Turin Shroud 'could be genuine as carbon-dating was flawed'

I have always believed the Shroud of Turin was real, but now it seems that science is giving it a second look!  The following comes from the Telegraph site in UK:

Radio carbon dating carried out in 1988 was performed on an area of the relic that was repaired in the 16th century, according to Ray Rogers, who helped lead the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STRP).

At the time he argued firmly that the shroud, which bears a Christlike image, was a clever forgery.

But in a video made shortly before his death three years ago, he said facts had come to light that indicated the shroud could be genuine.
Rogers, a chemist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, said: "I don't believe in miracles that defy the laws of nature. After the 1988 investigation I'd given up on the shroud.

"But now I am coming to the conclusion that it has a very good chance of being the piece of cloth that was used to bury the historic Jesus."

He came to his conclusion after re-examining a theory from two amateur scientists that he had earlier dismissed as being from "the lunatic fringe".

Sue Benford and Joe Marina, from Ohio, suspected the 1988 sample was from a damaged section of the linen shroud repaired in the 16th century after being damaged in a fire.

Rogers said: "I was irritated and determined to prove Sue and Joe wrong."

However, when he came to examine threads taken in 1978 - luckily from the same section as the 1988 sample - he found cotton in them.

He said: "The cotton fibres were fairly heavily coated with dye, suggesting they were changed to match the linen during a repair.

"I concluded that area of the shroud was manipulated by someone with great skill.

"Sue and Joe were right. The worst possible sample for carbon dating was taken.

"It consisted of different materials than were used in the shroud itself, so the age we produced was inaccurate."

In the video, made shortly before he died of cancer in March 2005, he said: "I came very close to proving the shroud was used to bury the historic Jesus."

This latest evidence, to be broadcast in The Turin Shroud: New Evidence at 8 pm on Sunday on the Discovery Channel, is the latest chapter in the shroud's history.

For the last 21 years most have considered it to be a medieval fake, after the 1988 tests dated it as being made between 1260 and 1390.

The result overturned 10 years of hope among Christians that it was real, after the first scientific tests found evidence of blood and serum stains.

The earliest documented sighting of the shroud is from 1353, but last week a historian claimed in the Vatican's newspaper that she had found a "missing link" in the Holy See's Secret Archives proving the Knights Templar had safeguarded it during the 13th century.