The March 2000 Scientific Congress
on the Holy Shroud of Turin

The Turin Shroud: Past, Present and Future

March 2-5, 2000
Turin, Italy

3-March-2000 - ZENIT News Agency
SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS ON HOLY SHROUD OF TURIN

TURIN, MAR 3 (ZENIT) - The strip of linen that bears the image of the crucified Christ is in the center of attention again. Today, an international congress on the Holy Shroud, organized by the diocesan Commission of Turin, began its sessions during which 40 scientists from all over the world will study this unique relic. The congress will end on Sunday.

There will be a total of four working session to address the most controversial questions. The first is the nature and formation of the image on the sacred linen. The blood stains will be the topic of the second session, which will analyze the physical and chemical characteristics of the hematic vestiges, including DNA. The third session will focus on the relation between the Holy Shroud, the Gospels and the suffering of the Crucifixion. Finally, the Shroud's dating will be addressed, 12 years after the controversial examination with the Carbon-14 method.

The results of the congress will also help to know if the Shroud can be subjected to further scientific studies without endangering its resistance. The relic has already caused a century of passionate and moving debates, accompanied by the inevitable controversies in connection with different scientific points of view. Scientific questioning began in 1898, when it was shown that the image on the cloth is a photographic negative. While many are firmly convinced of the authenticity of the image, scientists still struggle to prove this empirically.

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For detailed information about this congress in English and Italian, visit the Symposium Website at the following link: http://www.sindone.org/it/ostens/symposium.htm (link no longer available).

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