Photo Credit: APBeing a student of architecture, I’ve always wanted to go to ITALY! Actually, I formally announced to my husband last month I’m going within the next two years with or without him. Now I have to find someone to go with. I thought maybe my daughters would enjoy the Grand Tour …. at least part of it anyways ...... especially if mom is footing the bill!
Unfortunately, in two years I will most likely miss the opportunity to view a renowned antiquity of the Roman Catholic Church: the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud, to the faithful, is believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. In my ignorance I had always believed it to be almost on constant display in Turin, Italy ..... if you are planning a trip to Italy too, be forewarned ..... Customarily, the Shroud is made available for viewing every 25 years. In the last 12, however, it has been on display in shorter periods: 1998(before that 1978), 2000 and now.
Though never proclaimed by the Catholic Church as authentic, I recall while in first grade the nuns in my Catholic School declaring it evidence to Jesus’ intensive suffering for us undeserving little innocent children …. nuns were always trying to scare us little kids back then …. They(nuns) were never teaching doubt or even mentioning for that matter the Shroud’s historical suspicion of being a medieval forgery. Recent carbon dating tests put the cloth somewhere around the 13th century. Still there are those that insist the tests were compromised by taking the test samples from/near a 15th century patch/repair. There is also the Vatican researcher’s claims ….. through her study of computer enhancements … finding faint writing on the cloth that can be attributed to the time of Christ's crucifixion.
Even if you ascribe to the substantiation of high technology, scientists cannot clarify or duplicate a method of process for reproducing the image of the wounded bearded man in the cloth. So, even if the shroud is a forgery at the very least it is a piece of religious art imitating the agonizing existence and death of a church’s Savior. I want to see it.
Asserting some good advice to the 2 million expected to make the journey to Turin, the Archbishop of Turin tells visitors to view the shroud “with their hearts rather than their minds”. The Shroud is on display at the Turin Cathedral till May 23. No official date when it will be on display again.
Um, I will DEFINITELY take a trip to Europe.
ReplyDeleteOh I did not think anyone would turn me down! Even MOO! But remember I WILL be looking at every old building I can get close to in my architectual history books.
ReplyDelete