I’ll toss out a couple of ideas to get started:
- I’d like to see the new pope appoint two high level standing commissions on the Shroud of Turin, one on science and one on history (including the history of art). Within science I’d like to see one permanent committee charged with recommendations for care and preservation and one charged with investigating protocols related to radiocarbon dating. It is important, going forward, to avoid the mistakes of 1988 and 2002. These commissions should operate independent of ecclesiastical authority and church polity and be responsible only to the “owner.” They should include people from other faith traditions.
- In the meantime, in the interest of complete openness, I’d like to see the release of all so-far unreleased high definition photographs and scans of the shroud along with appropriate documentation. These should be declared to be in the public domain.
On November 19, 2012, I sent a registered letter to Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization criticizing the Catholic Church in the U. S. for suppressing my slideshow/lecture about the Holy Shroud because I don’t promote the theory that the Holy Shroud is authentic. I have not yet gotten a response. It looks like I’ll have to complain to the new pope.