Indiana diocese opens Shroud of Turin exhibit at its museum

CV NEWS FEED // A replica of the Shroud of Turin, one of the most ancient and mysterious relics of the Christian faith that many believe to bear the image of the crucified Christ, is revitalizing the faithful in Indiana this Lent through an exhibit at the Diocesan Museum of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

Today’s Catholic, the diocesan newspaper, reports that the exhibit opened on March 27 in a grand opening featuring historian and shroud expert Cheryl White.

Kathy Imler, director of the museum of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, introduced White, explained what people could expect from the free exhibit, and encouraged museumgoers to use the exhibit as an opportunity to encounter Christ..

“Unlike other museums, and other exhibits that we have, this exhibit is meant to be a more reflective, quiet, meditative room,” Imler said. “We’ll keep the lighting subdued so that visitors will have an opportunity to go in and contemplate the mysteries that they see in the shroud. I think tonight’s presentation will help a great deal in expanding your knowledge of the background and history of the shroud, as well as some forensic things that have occurred over time regarding the shroud.”

White told the audience that the shroud is one of the greatest mysteries on Earth.The 3-foot, 7-inch by 14-foot, 5-inch linen cloth depicts a “ forensically accurate and anatomically perfect” image of a man with very specific wounds, White explained.

 “No one looks at that cloth and says, ‘There is a man who has been scourged and crucified, capped with thorns, and pierced in the side – gee, I wonder who that’s supposed to be?’” White said. “There’s only one unique individual in history who bears those exact wounds.”

She added that the more researchers study the shroud, the more mysterious it becomes. Researchers have found no dyes, pigments, or paints on the linen. 

“The image itself is actually the dehydrated top seven fibrils of that linen that was caused by a chemical reaction,” White said. “Something happened in that linen so powerful and so quickly that it dehydrated the top seven fibrils of that linen, and it left a permanent image that is no deeper than what I said.”

After her presentation, White explained to Today’s Catholic how the shroud affected her own faith life.

“There’s a little bit of Thomas in all of us,” she said. “And we all have that place where our faith and our reason meet, and I think the shroud satisfies both of those for us.”