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The Shroud in the Catholic Church (Wikipedia)
The Catholic Church, owners of the shroud, have made no pronouncements claiming it is Christ's burial shroud, or that it is not a forgery. The matter has been left to the personal decision of the faithful. Pope John Paul II stated in 1998, "Since we're not dealing with a matter of faith, the church can't pronounce itself on such questions. It entrusts to scientists the tasks of continuing to investigate, to reach adequate answers to the questions connected to this shroud." He has shown himself to be deeply moved by the image of the shroud, and arranged for public showings in 1998 and 2000.
As the image itself is a cause for prayer and meditation for many believers, even a definitive proof that the image does not date from the first century would likely not stem devotion to the object, which would then become something of an icon of the crucifixion. Pope John Paul II called the shroud "the icon of the suffering of the innocent of all times."
The Shroud was given to the Catholic Church by the House of Savoy in 1983. Some have suggested that if the identity of the Shroud with the Image of Edessa were to be definitively proven, the Church would have no moral right to retain it, and would then be compelled to return it to the Ecumenical Patriarch or some other Eastern Orthodox body, since if this was the case, it would have been stolen from the Orthodox at some time during the Crusades. Some Russian Orthodox consider that with the fall of Constantinople, the title of "emperor" passed on to Russia, so that they would have pre-eminent rights to the shroud over all the other Orthodox.
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© 2004 Daniel R. Porter, Bronxville, New York
