imageAnd I haven’t even started chapter 2. I know it’s fiction, but . . .

1)  Coins over the eyes:

“What about the computer-enhanced markings on the eyelids? They match perfectly— perfectly, I tell you —inscriptions on coins minted during the reign of Pontius Pilate. And do you know how Jews of the first century buried their dead?” “Yes, I know.”

“With coins on the eyelids!” “Yes, I know.” “Well, of course you know,” Stanton responded triumphantly. “We all know. Any thinking person knows. Only His Holiness refuses to know.”

. . . “Only His Holiness refuses to know.” Well not exactly. Most informed people know the claim about coins over the eyes is myth.

2)  Carbon 14 Dating:

Only the carbon-14 dating flew in the face of the other findings. And on this, a flawed test disavowed by its own researchers, the Vatican was preparing to pronounce the shroud a “pious forgery.” Mysterious all the more, but a forgery nonetheless.

. . . “disavowed by its own researchers.” Not exactly.

3)  Father Secondo Pia’s rectory:

Next, her imagination floated to the makeshift darkroom of Father Secondo Pia’s rectory on that fateful day in 1898. He had received papal permission to subject the Holy Shroud to the objective eye of that new-fangled invention called photography. When he developed his film and looked at the negative, the priest found himself staring openmouthed at the positive image of a person who looked for all the world like Jesus Christ.

. . . “the priest found himself staring openmouthed.”  Fr. Pia?

4)  STURP:

Eighty years later, Pope Paul VI— less hostile toward scientific inquiry or, perhaps, more secure in his faith— allowed access to the shroud by an impressive array of twenty-four eminent scientists from the United States, including avowed atheists. The more they studied , the more excited and intrigued they became. Preliminary results awed even the most stoic. Atheists evolved into polite skeptics, skeptics into cautious believers , believers into outspoken advocates. So often did her mother [a fictitious member of STURP] describe the scene in 1978 Jeannette felt she had been there herself.

Yet one question continued to baffle: How was the image made? It appeared only on the outermost surface of the fibers. Lack of pigment and brushstroke ruled out painting. Most scientists concluded the shroud was no work of art, although one insisted no less a genius than Leonardo da Vinci had produced the image by a process still unknown.

. . . [a STURP member insisted that] “Leonardo da Vinci had produced the image. . .” Not exactly.

5)  Impartial and unimpeachable researcher:

Yet as a woman who lost faith in organized religion even as she refound faith in God, Gramm stubbornly refused to leave the Roman Catholic Church. “They baptized me, they’re stuck with me,” she insisted. Describing herself as an “ex-Catholic, as in exiled,” Gramm had nothing to gain by siding with a church she regarded as patriarchal, archaic, and oppressive of women. In short, she was a perfect, impartial, and unimpeachable witness to the shroud’s authenticity.

. . . “a perfect, impartial, and unimpeachable witness to the shroud’s authenticity.” Not at all.

6) The pope is about to do the impossible, suppress research. Having only two or three days to stop him from doing so:

“We need to conduct a new C-14 on the main cloth right away. We need to fax the others, but only those we can trust: Nickoloff in Moscow, Liang in Hong Kong, and Zendri. Where is he? We definitely need Zendri.” “Still here in Rome, I think. We can call and have him meet us at the airport,” she said, extracting her cellular phone from her shoulder bag. “If we move fast, we can catch the next shuttle to Milan,” Gramm said . . . .

. . . “conduct a new C-14 on the main cloth right away.” I can’t wait.

Quotes taken from J.R. Veneroso (2013-05-03). The Chimera. Xlibris. Kindle Edition.