A NEWSLETTER ABOUT THE HOLY SHROUD OF TURIN

edited by REX MORGAN, Author of several books on the Shroud

Issue Number 76 APRIL 1993

AN INTERESTING PORTRAIT OF CHRIST ON A CRUCIFIX KEPT IN

SALERNO, ITALY. BELIEVED TO DATE FROM 1049 AND YET HAS
ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FACE OF THE MAN IN THE
SHROUD SOME CLAIM WAS A FOURTEENTH CENTURY FORGERY
2 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

EDITORIAL

This April Issue of Shroud News brings us a good deal of reading matter. It is a point of
interest that there seems to be an easing of the fear in the hearts of the world media about the
Shroud as one detects articles beginning to appear here and there following up the extensive
puzzlement felt by all who know anything about the subject, puzzlement about the C14 test
results of 1988. Several of the articles in this issue follow the same line as it is, indeed, the
main preoccupation of sindonologists at the moment: to find out what caused this one test to
fly in the face of almost all the other evidence. Dickinson adds to his Pamplona articles of
recent publication; Halisey and Clift summarise some of the current thinking. I recently
discovered a most interesting theory by Wolkowski nestling amongst the proceedings of the
Syracuse Conference which are beautifully produced but prefaced by appallingly translated
English summaries. Harold Nelson of Texas brings us some more to think about in the realm
of the mystics and their connection with Shroud Studies and a very important article by
Petrosillo and Marinelli gives a universal summary of the present state of play with their vital
insights into many aspects of sindonology.

For the purists I apologise for stating Father Peter Rinaldi's age as 80 in SN 75 devoted to his
obituary. He was 82. Recent correspondents have said, "Words cannot express my sincere
thankfulness for your wonderful edition of SN dedicated to the memory of Father Peter." and,
"Allow me to congratulate you on the issue dedicated to Fr Rinaldi. How well you covered
his character and Shroud apostolate." SN 72 devoted to the life of Lord Cheshire had, I
understand, wide currency in England and from Japan, "Thank you for an excellent obituary
of Leonard Cheshire. It deserves wide diffusion to honour the man and to honour the Shroud
that inspired him." I have learned also that the quality Catholic journal AD 2000 published a
much shortened version of SN 72 as an article under my name in its March 1993 issue. Other
snippets are that Dorothy Crispino's superb Shroud Spectrum International will fold up with
its 42nd issue in 1993; artist and physicist Isabel Piczek was recently honoured with the
Ludatus Award and then by the Pontifical Biblical Institute of the Vatican; and John
Jackson's wife has publicised her view in the Denver Catholic Register that the Shroud was
the tablecloth used at the Last Supper...

REX MORGAN
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 3

WHY PARTS OF THE SHROUD ARE MISSING: EPEXEGESIS

Some further information on the data in Shroud News No. 74 will clarify some important
points.

With regard to the measurements of the two removed corners of c. 14.75 inches and c. 6.25
inches; these have to remain approximate for the time being, until I have secured some more
definitive data. Gabriel Vial's observations of 1988 are approximations i.e. the shorter corner
is given as c. 14 cm i.e. c. 5.5 inches. But differences in readings can be accounted for as it
depends from what point the readings were taken; there is also a technical reason for various
lengths, so all measurements are provisional.

The interest of historical units of measurement for this corner assumes that it was removed at
one cutting - and of this there is good evidence, and the evidence also shows that there was a
corner to remove in the first place. But here I shall only say, but not give full details, that
some of the evidence has been seriously damaged by the removal of samples from the corner
in 1973 and 1988, and this is one reason why no more of the Shroud should be destroyed by
radiocarbon tests, which are, in any case, totally unnecessary.

Also, there are other complications to take into account. The original lay and shape of the
corner will have to be recovered by calculated projections, as the backing cloth is a restriction
that retains distortions, in addition to those that have set in the cloth before the backing was
attached. Further, because I know what to look for, I shall be better equipped to ascertain the
measurements and confirm what historical unit could have been used for the corner, after I
have examined the Shroud myself.

The next point concerns the inscriptions on the reliquaries of Sainte-Chapelle. The inventory
of August 1740 records the Latin 'De Sindone Domini' on the Shroud reliquary, and there is
good evidence that there was also an inscription in Greek on the reliquary, giving it more
certainty of Byzantine provenance. This can be concluded from the observations of King
Charles V of France (reigned 1364-80) who found both a Latin and Greek inscription on the
reliquary of the Blood of Christ kept in the Shrine, cf. No. 9 Fig. 1 (SN 74). It is significant
that Charles V modelled his life on St Louis and took a religious interest in his relics of the
Passion. One element of the Pamplona reliquary, the possible date of the parchment label
script of c. 1350 +, coincides here with Charles V.

As well as the Oviedo record of a piece of the Shroud there are other sources being
investigated, including a piece from Sainte-Chapelle identified around 1870 at Lyon:

I have contacted Gabriel Vial who is making a search.

Canterbury, January, 1993

Ian Dickinson
4 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

THE "88" SHROUD C-14 TEST: PROCEDURAL IRREGULARITIES

- ROBERT HALISEY, U.S.A.

What was wrong with the "88" C-14 test which dated the Turin Shroud to 1260-1390? Here
are a few things.

1. Mike Tite, the test coordinator, said that "all stages" of the sampling of the Shroud would
"be fully documented by video film and photography" (Nature 332, 482; 7 April 1988).
This was not done. The sealing of the samples into containers was not documented on
film. No explanation has been given.

2. The C-14 testers from three labs witnessed the cutting of a sample from the Shroud and
the cutting of that sample into three samples, but they did not immediately obtain those
samples.

3. The Shroud samples were taken to another location where they were presumably sealed
into containers which the C-14 testers then received. Only Ballestrero (the Shroud's
custodian), Gonella (the scientific advisor to the Shroud's custodian), and Tite were
present at the undocumented sample sealing. Consequently, the testers, who were not
present, cannot say for a fact that the samples they obtained were the samples they saw
cut from the Shroud. (Note: Twin samples could have come from an area of the Shroud
rewoven during medieval times, or from the Shroud's side-strip which may be medieval,
or from a medieval cloth similar in weave to the Shroud.)

4. Textile experts participated in the cutting of the Shroud samples, but they did not check
the "Shroud" samples which the testers obtained and verify that they were the same
samples as those they saw cut from the Shroud.

5. There have been reports of discrepancies in the dimensions and weight of the Shroud
samples. Those who cut and weighed the samples at Turin reportedly say one thing; the
C-14 testers reportedly say another. What should have been a routine procedural matter
is, instead, a matter of confusion and suspicion. (Note: An interviewer asked Tite about
the weight discrepancies. His reply: "I don't think the labs knew the precise weight of the
samples. It is not really relevant." Shroud News, No. 59)

6. Photographs of the "Shroud" samples obtained by the testers were not included in the
official C-14 report (Nature 347, 612; 16 February 1989),

7. Prior to the test it was reported that portions of the Shroud samples would be kept for
future reference. This was not done, or if it was, those reserve portions are unavailable to
critics of the test.
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 5

8. Tite and the testers, despite many requests, have refused to publish the raw data of the
test. (Note: without the raw data, statisticians cannot interpret fully the test results.
However, they do note a curious fact: The range of dates for the "Shroud" sample - unlike
the range of dates for each of the three control samples which also were carbon dated - is
widely scattered. Why is it that the controls fall within a narrow range of years and the
"Shroud" sample does not? Why is the error factor of the controls given as 0.1, 1.3, 2.4;
but for the "Shroud" it is 6.4? One critic of the test says, "The cloth of the Shroud seems
to contain varying amounts of C-14." Another says, "material of different ages" may have
been "put together." It is possible, as some believe, that an area of the Shroud rewoven in
medieval times was inadvertently cut from the Shroud at the sample taking. It also is
possible that the rewoven material was taken from the Shroud prior to the test and
surreptitiously substituted at the undocumented sample sealing.)

Conclusions: Given these questionable procedural irregularities, and several others too
involved to go into here, the results of the Shroud C-14 test should not be taken at face value.
One should not simply assume that the Shroud is a medieval fake (particularly since there
stands in place much evidence to the contrary). Scientists and scholars, the media, the general
public and the Church should insist that the Shroud be given a legitimate foolproof carbon-
dating test.

Footnote: One can accept that the Shroud is authentic and question the legitimacy of its
carbon dating without jumping to the conclusion that the image of Jesus on the cloth is the
result of a miracle.

Casalgrasso, santuario della

Madonnina delle Grazie, quadro
votivo realizzato in occasione della
guarigione di Anna Galvagno.
6 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

RUSH TO JUDGEMENT - A letter to Fidelity (Jul/Aug 1992)

by HAROLD NELSON

There is a rush to judgment on mystic- In a recent issue (No. 68, December 1991),
stigmatists in the article "Spiritual Shroud News (Manly, N.S.W., Australia)
Eccentricity," by David Rooney (May, published the masterful research paper on
1992), making this reader mindful of an the controversial and infamous
almost-Protestant appraisal of the "Memorandum," entitled: "Study of
supernatural. Original Documents of the Archives of the
Diocese of Troyes in France with
There are many more voluminous works Particular Reference to the Memorandum
on mystic-stigmatists than the book cited. of Pierre D'Arcis" by Brother Bruno
by Rev. Fr. Herbert Thurston, S.J. (1856- Bonnet-Eymard (Maison St. Joseph, Saint-
1939): namely, Dr. Imbert Goubeyre's Les Parres-Les-Vaudes. France).
Stigmatisees (France, 1873) and Rene
Blot's The Riddle of the Stigmata (English Henceforth, Bonnet-Eymard's brilliant
translation, 1962). thesis should become the definitive work,
relegating the "Memorandum" to historical
However, the gravest error is the frauds of the past.
condemnation of the Venerable Mary of
Jesus of Agreda and the four-volume "... the learned English Jesuit Herbert
Mystical City of God, often called "The Thurston dismissed the Shroud in an
Autobiography of the Blessed Virgin:" and article in the Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol
the lives of the Venerable Anne Catherine 13, 1912. pp. 762-63). Thurston's opinion
Emmerich, St. Bridget of Sweden and was identical with that of Ulysse
Teresa Neumann, all based on the Chevalier, an eminent French medievalist
"intellectual" interpretation and limitation ... Both Thurston and Chevalier based their
of that British Jesuit. conclusions on the letter from Pierre
D'Arcis to Pope Clement VII in 1389..."
Father Thurston also denied the (Stevenson and Habermas, Verdict on the
authenticity of the Holy Shroud (of Turin), Shroud: Evidence for the Death and
basing his disbelief on the fraudulent Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Servant
premise of the relic being a "painting." Books, Michigan, 1981).
This theory was advocated and promoted
by Canon Ulysse Chevalier (1841-1923) of Two additional and important statements
France, instigated by the "Memorandum of are contained in one of the finest books on
Pierre d'Arcis." the Sacred Relic. The Shroud of Turin, by
Rev. Father Werner Bu1st, S.J.
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 7

RUSH TO JUDGEMENT (cont'd)

(Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee, 1957), imprints intact after being several times
one attributed to Pope Pius XI: "Be boiled in oil, scorched with fire and
entirely at ease. We speak now as a vigorously washed as in a laundry. If that
scientist and not as a pope. We have made be so, then there can be no question of a
a personal study of the Holy Shroud and painting. In fact, the experiment looks like
are convinced of its authenticity. a miracle."
Objections have been raised, but they do
not hold water" (Report of Cardinal Another luxuriantly illustrated (color
Fossati on the Turin Study-Congress, photographs) volume is Portrait of Jesus?
1939, LSSI, p. 16). (Stein and Day Publishers, New York
1983), by Frank C. Tribbe, a Baptist and
Then, on page 27, Fr. Bulst asserts: "The former assistant general counsel for the
photographs of the Cloth of Turin taken by U.S. Information Agency. Tribbe is very
Giuseppe Enrie in 1931 are the basis of charitable when he writes: 'Prominent and
present-day scientific studies, particularly respected British church leaders Thurston
the medical investigation of the Shroud. and (Anglican, Dr. John A.T.) Robinson
Studies published previously to this date were among those who accepted
should therefore be thoroughly reappraised uncritically, the attacks on the Shroud by
in as far as they have passed judgment on de Poitiers and d'Arcis, the bishops of
the entire problem of the Cloth of Turin. Troyes.
This applies to the writings of Chevalier,
Baumgarten, and others...." "Thurston died much earlier In the century.
and apparently had no occasion to revise
In a profusely illustrated (black and white his negative opinions. Dr. Robinson,
photographs) reference work, The however, read the scientific data favorable
Crucified by Dr. Alfred O'Rahilly, 1884- to the Shroud as it came out in recent
1969 (Kingdom Books, Ireland, 1985), the years, and... reversed himself and... made
Irish scholar states: "And cannot we retort a significant contribution to modern
that neither Thurston nor anyone else has sindonology."
succeeded in giving an intelligible account
of how the imprints could have been The congruity of the Shroud and the
faked?" Later, O'Rahilly argues that stigmata constitute the opening sentence of
"people like Thurston cannot have it both Ian Wilson's Stigmata (Harper and Rowe,
ways. If they accept the chronicler's New York 1989), when the Englishman
evidence on one point, they must also and Catholic convert states: "My interest
welcome his testimony on the other, i.e., in stigmata goes back many
that the Shroud had survived with its
8 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

RUSH TO JUDGEMENT (cont'd)

years, and is a direct result of my long- are, the commentators usually dismiss
term interest in the Turin Shroud, the cloth them as pious contemplations representing
reputed to have been the original burial the mystic's own preconceived notions and
cloth of Jesus, imprinted with His Images therefore of no value.
and wounds ... Stigmatics are professed to
bear on their bodies replications of the "But the accounts of those four mystics
crucifixion injuries suffered by Jesus, and agree with each other and with the Shroud
an inevitable early question I needed to data in meticulous detail and with very
face was whether their wounds differed little discrepancy. This is all the more
from, or were similar to, those indicated on remarkable when we realize that much of
the Shroud..." what we now know by analysis of Shroud
data was not known at all a decade ago —
Wilson continues: "Despite the need for except some first given by the mystics."
continuing vigilance against fraud, it can
be said with confidence that in the case of Often, unfair and unsubstantiated criticism
some, if not all, claimed stigmatics their of Mystical City of God, as well as Maria
flesh does seem spontaneously to change Valtorta's The Poem of the Man-God,
and bleed in the same manner as has been comes from those persons who have never
reported even since the time of St. read the books which they condemn by
Francis." relying only on hearsay. Then too, we need
to be reminded that mystic-stigmatists are
It is ironic that the four mystic-stigmatists "victim-souls." unusually afflicted with the
held in disdain by the writer, David stigmata, wounds of the Crucified Christ,
Rooney, are the same ones lauded in having consecrated their lives for the
Protestant Tribbe's book (pp. 1978-98): salvation of souls.
"Four well-known mystics, St. Bridget of
Sweden (1303-1373), Maria Agreda of When can we expect Fidelity to give equal
Spain (1602-1665), Catherine Emmerich attention and recognition to such saintly
of Westphalia (1774-1824), and Teresa souls as (one of the greatest men of the
Neumann of Bavaria (1898-1962), have 20th century) Padre Pio. O.F.M., Cap., of
had repeated detailed visions in which they Pietrelcina, Italy (1887-1968)? This
watched Jesus' passion, and all have servant of God, now internationally
provided extensive written accounts of known, was the first priest documented
these visions. with the actual stigmata for 50 years. A
former Lutheran Minister, C. Bernard
"But those accounts are rarely quoted by
scripture commentators, and when they
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 9

RUSH TO JUDGEMENT (cont'd)

Ruffin, has written an intensely intriguing instruct the native Indians occurred — not
account, Padre Pio: The True Story (OSV, in Mexico, as alleged by Rooney — but,
Inc., Huntington, Indiana, 1982); and, the rather, in the southwestern region of the
beatification process is now being United States. Over 100 bilocations to this
conducted in the Vatican. country are documented in two historical
volumes: Our Catholic Heritage in Texas
Another of the precious lives, almost by Catholic professor, Dr. Carlos E.
unknown, can be found in the book, She Castaneda.; and Pichardo: Limits of
Wears a Crown of Thorns, by Rev. Father Louisiana and Texas by Protestant
O. A. Boyer, S.T.L. (Villa Pauline, historian, Charles W. Hackett, Ph.D
Mendham, N.J., 1958), the biography of (University of Texas, Austin).
"our own" American stigmatist, Marie
Rose Ferron (1902-1936) of Woonsocket, Also, the Indians from "Titlas" (Texas)
Rhode Island. Readers of this journeyed to the New Mexico region,
extraordinary life are quickly seeking missionaries from the Franciscans.
overwhelmed by the modern-day St. Even (St.) Junipero Serra, O.F.M., wrote
Therese! Miraculous interventions were In a letter (August 18, 1772) to his
attributed to these mystics during their biographer, Fr. Francisco Palau, O.F.M.:
earthly lives. "Agreda's prophecy Is about to be fulfilled
in California.- In the same book, The Life
Surely, there can be little importance to the of Venerable Mary of Agreda, by James A.
"discrepancy" of the dates of "Our Lady's Carrico (The Marian Apostolate,
Assumption," since historical dates are as Stockbridge, Mass, 01262), there is also
irrelevant as the mystery of creation in documentation that King Philip IV of
Genesis. Historical or scientific data Spain sought advice "both in matters of his
should not interrupt the greater experience soul and of state," corresponding with the
of offering expiation, an immolation of mystic-nun for 22 years.
Christ Crucified. The lives of those
remarkable mystics must be recognized in Henceforth, we pray that God may
a very different light and they can be an continue to bless us with His chosen
inspiration to the uninitiated. Let us not victim-souls, who will be instrumental in
make the common mistake of classifying our own salvation — and that Fidelity
all of them according to a few false Magazine will enlighten us, subscribers,
prophets who cause distraction from the with positive reports about similar
ultimate and heavenly goal. supernatural manifestations!

Please permit further clarification, Harold B. Nelson

pertaining to the Venerable Mary of Jesus Corpus Christi, Texas
of Agreda (Spain). The bilocation to
10 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

THE ELECTROMAGNETIC NATURE OF LIVING SYSTEMS,

COHERENT BIOPHOTON EMISSION
AND POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP
TO THE MECHANISM OF IMAGE FORMATION
ON THE TURIN SHROUD**

ZBIGNIEW WILLIAM WOLKOWSKI*

This important paper was given as long ago as October 1987 at the Fourth National Congress
for the Study of the Shroud in Syracuse, Sicily. It is reproduced from the proceedings of that
conference and is an interesting contribution to the image formation discussion. Dr
Wolkowski is Doctor of Physical Sciences and Senior Professor at the Pierre and Marie Curie
University in Paris.

Introduction.

The underlying, yet often unstated question in biological research is: "what is life?". Since the
exact sciences validate and direct advances in biological sciences, and delineate genuine
areas of investigation, modern definitions increasingly reflect progress in solid-state physics,
bio-electronics, sub-molecular and quantum biology [1]. They lead to a description of the
living state which underlines the complementarity of its chemical and electromagnetic
natures. The study of coherent excitations in biological systems, including the possibility of
DNA as a source of several coherent phenomena, justifies such an approach and warrants the
extension of the analogies [2]. Recent advances in fields such as far off as equilibrium
thermodynamics, lead to new forms of dialogue between science and the humanities, while
the vision of nature is at present undergoing change toward the multiple, the temporal and the
complex [3].

The study of the historical development of science indicates a shift from a mechanistic (circa
1600 A.D.), through a chemical (1800 A.D.) to the current informational method (since 1950)
[4]. This mutation or metamorphosis is a synergy in itself, since the previous methods are
successively integrated. As a first example, let us consider the case of blood circulation and
cardiac function, discovered as a simple action of fluid mechanics, was refined by methods of
molecular biology, and now progressively incorporates discoveries of magneto-cardiography,
bio-electronics and electrical stimulations. As a second example, anesthesia has shifted from
mechanically-induced coma to the use of chemicals, and is currently exploring
electronarcosis, acupuncture anesthesia and other yet experimental methods, which are best
defined as information-modifying techniques. This metamorphosis of conceptual models
from material to increasingly immaterial, corresponds to a larger mutation of paradigm in the
domain of science itself [5].
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 11

ELECTROMAGNETIC NATURE (cont'd)

Over the previous fifty years, there have been striking developments in both theoretical and
experimental physics. However, there is a time lag before these new concepts are accepted in
biology. At present, a satisfactory theoretical biology requires the same complementarity
between field and particles as found in physics. The field appears to be the unit of biological
form and organization, while molecules and cells are units of biological composition.

The transfer of these advances in physics has given rise to bio-electronics, sub-molecular,
supra-molecular and quantum biology [6]. The search for a better answer to a not so trivial
and pertinent question, namely: "what is life?", is moving investigation into domains of
elementary particles (mainly electrons and protons), but also photons, electromagnetic and
related fields [7]. These electronic processes are, next to biochemical transformations, a
complementary reality of life. Both are coupled, and therefore the description of life in terms
of electronic acceptors and donors, electromagnetic wave emittors and receivers, of photon
exchange, opens up a fascinating horizon for research on health and disease, on life and
death.

Apart from its obvious existence as a chemical substrate, living matter has a characteristic
property of receiving and creating physical fields, and specifically information-carrying
fields, or photons [8]. In particular, biophoton emission is becoming increasingly accepted as
a fundamental property of living matter, and the coherent nature of these phenomena amount
to the existence of biological lasers [9]. The conclusion is that all living organisms emit
relatively stable ultra-weak photons in the UV, near IR spectral region. The parameters of this
emission (intensity, kinetic pattern and decay constant) change dramatically when bio-
homeostasis is perturbed. Application of this method for 'the evaluation of an organism's
adaptation abilities, resistance to external stress-factors and for an auxiliary fast biomedical
diagnosis of pathological states has been suggested [10].

The implications of the electromagnetic description of living systems are far-reaching and
open new horizons in every area of biology.

Possible relationship to the mechanism of image formation on the Turin Shroud

The scientific investigation of a unique piece of cloth, known as the Turin Shroud, dates from
its first photograph, taken in 1898: the first century of this research will turn in just eleven
years from now [11].

The most important outstanding problems pertain to the image transfer mechanism. "Briefly
stated, we seem to know what the image is chemically, but how it got there remains a
mystery. The dilemma is not one of choosing from among a variety of likely transfer
mechanisms, but rather that no technologically-credible process has been postulated that
satisfies all the characteristics
12 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

ELECTROMAGNETIC NATURE (cont'd)

of the existing image" [12]. No single image-formation hypothesis accounts for all the
observations, although it has been concluded that the image is the result of some cellulose
oxidation-dehydration reactions and not an applied pigment. The application, transfer or
recording mechanisms of the image onto the cloth are still not known. There has been
speculation of a short burst of high-intensity radiation which might produce effects on cloth
that resemble the Shroud image [13]. However, reported experiments with intense flash
lamps, the ultraviolet, visible and infrared lasers have not successfully reproduced the color
density and distribution observed on the Shroud [12]: so far these results suggest that the so-
called "Flash of light" hypothesis is difficult to support. There appears to be a consensus
among the majority of researchers, that the image was not man-made by "homo faber" [14],
and that it had enclosed a human body [15]. Because the Shroud is unique, every hypothesis
of image formation must involve a set of unique conditions, and none can be rejected on this
basis alone.

Conclusions

It should be noted that so far the investigation of the Shroud has ignored the mounting
evidence on the electromagnetic nature of living systems, including biophoton emission and
the existence of biological lasers, which has been briefly summarized here, and for which
basic references have been given. Laser physics was initiated just a quarter of a century ago,
and the fact that a Shroud-like image has not been successfully reproduced by man-made
lasers is not a sufficient basis of rejection for a radiation-source hypothesis.

Modern science has hardly begun to explore the electromagnetic coded description of living
systems, the quality and characteristics of their possible emissions and interactions. In due
time, this new evidence may shed light on the mechanisms of the image recorded on the
Shroud. Although unique, the further investigation of this image may enhance our
comprehension of the living state itself.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. H.S. BURR, F.S.C. NORTHROP, The electro-dynamic theory of life, Quart. Rev. 10, 322-
333 (1935).
A. GURVICH, Teoria biologischeskogo polya, Moscow Medicine Publishers (1944) and
Collected Works, Moscow Medicine Publishers (1977).
A. SZENT-GYORGYI, Towards a new biochemistry, Science, 39, 609-611 (1941). The
living state, Academic Press, New York (1972).
Bioelectronics, Academic Press, New York (1968).
F.W. COPE, A review of the applications of the solid-state physics concepts to biological
systems, J. Biol. Phys., 3, 1-41 (1975).
R. PETHIG, A review of some present molecular and submolecular physical concepts in
biology, J. Biol. Phys., 10, 201-218 (1982).
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 13

ELECTROMAGNETIC NATURE (cont'd)

2. H. FRÖHLICH, Evidence for Bose condensation-like excitation of coherent modes in

biological systems, Phys. Let., 51A, 21-22 (1975).
Coherent excitations in biological systems, Ed H. FRÖHLICH, F. KRAMER, Springer
Verlag (1983).
V.P. KAZNACHEYEV et al., Sverkhslabiye izlutchenya v mezdukletochnykh
vzaimodeistvakh, Soviet Academy of Sciences, Nauka Publishers, Novosibirsk (1981). F.A.
Pour, Ed. Electromagnetic Bio-information (1978). W. NAGL, P.A. POPP, A physical
(electromagnetic) model of differentiation, Cytobios, 37, 45-62 and 71-83 (1983).
F.A. POPP, W. NAGL, New evidence for coherence and DNA as source, Cell Biophysics, 6,
33 (1984).
3. I. PRIGOGINE, The rediscovery of time, Zygon, 19 (4), 433-447 (1984).
4. Z.W. WOLKOWSKI, The field concept in physics and biology, in Synergy and Coherence
in Biological Systems (1983-1984 and 1984-1985) Paris.
5. A.S. PRESSMAN, Electromagnetic fields and life, Moscow (1968). Electromagnetic
signaling in living matter, Moscow (1974).
6. P.I. GULAYEV, Electro-aurograms of man and animals, Nervnaya sistema, 9, 1959
(1960). E.T. KULIN, Bio-elektretnyi effekt, Nauka i Tekhnika, Minsk (1980).
7. Z.W. WOLKOWSKI, et al., Utility of bioelectronics in the study of biological terrain and
its equilibrium, in Second World Congress on Energetic Medicine, Paris, November 1977,
pp. 127-135, Proceedings of International Symposium on Wave Therapeutics, Versailles,
May 19-20, 1979, Paris (1983).
8. Synergy and Coherence in Biological systems (1983-1984 and 1984-1985), Paris.
9. P.S. CALLAHAN, Applied Optics, 7, 1425 (1968), 1811 (1968) 16, 1476, 3089 (1977),
16, 3098 (1978).Tuning into nature, Devin-Adair (1976).
10. J. SLAWINSKI, Necrotic radiation and the electromagnetic theory of life, Journal of
Near-Death Studies, in print (1987). Present status and prospects of photon emission from
biological systems, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw-Poland, January 24-26, 1986.
Published by World Scientific Press, Singapore (1987). Diagnosis of stress-induced
perturbations of bio-homeostasis evaluated by photon emission, in Proceedings of New
micro-physical methods in biology, a symposium held at the Agricultural Academy of
Cracow, Poland, June 1-3, 1987.
11. W. MEACHAM, The authentication of the Turin Shroud an issue in archaeological
epistemology, Current Anthropology, 24 (3), 283-311 (1983).
12. L.A. SCHWALBE et al., Physics and chemistry of the Shroud of Turin, Analytica
Chimica Acta, 135, 3-49 (1982).
13. K.F. WEAVER, Nat. Geogr. Mag., 157, 730 (1980).
14. Reference (11) and bibliography within.
15. W.D. Edwards et al., On the physical death of Jesus Christ, Journal of the American
Medical Association, 255 (11), 1455-1463 (r986).
14 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY
by ORAZIO PETROSILLO and EMANUELA MARINELLI, Rome

Whilst the world waits for an English version of the remarkable book by Petrosillo and
Marinelli it is good to see that they are publishing substantive articles based on their work.
This one is taken from The Catholic World Report (April 1993). Dr Petrosillo is a journalist
in Rome and Professor Marinelli is leader of the Rome Shroud Study Group Collegamento
Sindone.

In 1988, a series of Carbon-14 tests on tiny

fragments snipped from the Shroud of Turin One point must be clarified at the outset. Our
produced a date for the cloth: between 1260 interest in the Shroud does not stem from blind
and 1390. The result made headlines around faith or emotion. Rather, the Shroud remains
the world: the Shroud was not the actual interesting precisely because, scientifically, it
burial shroud of Jesus, but a medieval cloth. is mysterious.
The image on the cloth of a whipped and
crucified man, therefore, was not the image of We believe the medieval dating of the Shroud
Jesus created in some mysterious way at the of Turin cannot be considered definitive. So
time of the resurrection, but a medieval work much other scientific evidence exists, evidence
of art, admittedly mysterious and fascinating, favorable to the Shroud's authenticity, that we
but definitely medieval, not ancient. must regard the date established by three
laboratories using the Carbon-14 dating
Today, five years later, most people have method as merely provisional.
accepted "the verdict of science." But some
have not, and among those who have not are The Carbon-14 Dating
the authors of the article we publish here. The Carbon-14 dating result (1260-1390) was
made public at a press conference in Turin on
Orazio Petrosillo and Emanuela Marinelli are October 13, 1988, by the then Pontifical
Italian writers who have recently co-authored Custodian of the Shroud, the Cardinal
a book on the Shroud. They believe the 1988 Archbishop of Turin, Anastasio Ballestrero.
Carbon-14 tests may have been flawed. Among
the possible reasons for inaccuracy in the The date arrived at was not that expected by
results: contamination of the cloth sample with experts on the Shroud, who, in the years since
oil, dust and other substances from later 1898, when the image was first made "legible"
centuries, making the resulting date an thanks to a photographic negative, had found
average of pre-1300 (the cloth itself) and post- many indications that the shroud came from
1300 (the other substances). They believe Palestine in the first century.
there are valid reasons to continue to
investigate the Turin shroud, not simply But the date coincided perfectly with the date
because no one has yet explained how the hypothesized by those who dispute the
image it bears was created, but also because, Shroud's authenticity: some decades before
for them, it remains possible that the Shroud is 1353, the date the Shroud first appears on the
actually the burial cloth of Jesus, as Church historical scene (from 1353 on, the Shroud's
tradition has for centuries held. existence is continuously documented).
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 15

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY (cont'd)

For the general public, the medieval dating had A series of laboratory tests have definitely
one positive effect: it gave tremendous excluded both these hypotheses. The image,
publicity to the Shroud, which continues to then, was not produced by artificial means.
remain a scientific enigma. Paradoxically, the
Shroud received even more attention in 1988 • The sheet was wrapped around a human
than during it exposition in the summer or corpse. The corpse was that of a man who
1978, when in six weeks it was seen by more had been scourged, crowned with thorns,
than three million people, curious and faithful crucified with nails, and pierced in the side
alike. with a lance. The traces of real blood on
the Shroud seem to prove this; blood and
Despite the date, the mystery of the origin of serum cannot be reproduced using
the human image imprinted on the Shroud artificial means.
retains its fascination. That mute and solemn
countenance, those martyred and serene • An image of a human figure of a. very
features, exercise an incredible attraction. peculiar kind appears on the cloth. The
Those hooded eyes hypnotize. Indeed, far from image is peculiar because it was not
ending interest in the Shroud, the Carbon-14 caused by the simple contact of the body
dating has increased it, because accepting the with the sheet; its lights and shadows are
medieval dating deepens the mystery: who had proportional to the different distances
the ability to create such an image in the between the body and the cloth at its
Middle Ages? various folding points. This has led some
to hypothesize an effect similar to that of
Mystery 1: The Lack of Pigment radiation. But the physico-chemical
The Shroud has been studied under many mechanism which may have caused this
different aspects and by many different radiation and image is unknown.
disciplines. Scholars from more than 20
different fields of learning from archeology to Traces of the Shroud in History
medieval art history to nuclear physics, have The Shroud has been in Turin continuously
contributed to the study of the Shroud in recent [except for brief periods in times of war] since
years. Much has been learned; much remains 1578. Moreover, the cloth's history is
conjecture. But what has been learned is documented uninterruptedly back to 1353.
enough to make the following statements with What do we know about its previous history?
a considerable degree of certainty:
If the Shroud existed from the first century,
• The image that can be observed on this one might expect it to have been written about
long linen sheet (about 14 feet long by 3 by contemporaries. But there are reasons to
feet wide) is not a painting or a print; there believe it might have escaped observation. We
is a total lack of pigment on the cloth. know that, in Jewish circles in the 1st century,
a cloth that had been used to wrap a corpse
• The image is not the result of a scorch was considered an impure object, therefore not
mark produced with a heated bas-relief. to be exhibited. The image, that of a naked
man, would also have been kept
16 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY (cont'd)

from public display. It is also necessary to

remember that Christians were persecuted in An Imaginary Painter
the first three centuries. Nevertheless, there are In 1389, the Shroud was at the center of
documents indicating that an image of the face polemics, provoked by its exposition at Lirey.
of Christ "not made by the hand of man,"' the The exposition had been authorized by
so-called "Mandylion," was preserved in Cardinal Pierre de Thury, the Pope's legate to
Edessa (the present day Urfa in Turkey) from Charles VI, the king of France. The owner of
the second century to the year 944. the Shroud, Geoffrey II de Charny, had not
asked the permission of Pierre d'Arcis, the
Many testimonies and descriptions relate this bishop of Troyes, in whose diocese Lirey was
image to the Shroud. Scholars have found the situated. The prelate resented this, probably
two faces to have more than 100 points of because of the pomp of the ceremonies and the
congruence. The face of Edessa was copied in great crowd of pilgrims who, attracted by the
icons of the 6th century and reproduced on Shroud, deserted Troyes. D'Arcis forbade the
Byzantine coins of the 7th century. clergy in his diocese to speak about the Shroud
and the clergy of Lirey appealed to the anti-
In 944, the Mandylion was brought to Pope in Avignon, Clement VII. He confirmed
Constantinople and it was discovered that in permission for the exposition of the Shroud
reality it was a long piece of material, folded and imposed silence on Pierre d'Arcis. The
into eight, bearing not only the image of the bishop then had recourse to Charles VI who
face but of the entire body. revoked the permission and attempted, in vain,
to confiscate the Shroud.
Since that time, the image of Christ's body has
been reproduced with particulars inspired by This heated atmosphere was the context for a
the Mandylion: The asymmetry of the lower letter addressed by Pierre d'Arcis to Clement
limbs — which can be observed on the Turin VII. In it, the bishop affirms that his
sheet because of the left leg, which was more predecessor, Henri de Poitiers, had conducted
bent than the right — gave-rise to the legend an inquiry into the origins of the sheet and this
that Christ had a limp, and artists depicted resulted in its being found to be false. The
Christ with the so-called "Byzantine curve" in bishop included a statement by the artist
his left leg. himself, who confessed that he had painted the
cloth. Clement VII, tired of the polemics,
The Mandylion disappeared from issued a bull authorizing the exposition of the
Constantinople in 1204 following the assault Shroud on condition that it be presented as a
of the Crusaders. Many indications suggest painting, and he ordered the bishop not to
that it was brought to Europe and preserved for oppose the exposition.
one and a half centuries by the Knights
Templar. They venerated a face of Christ very It must be emphasized that Pierre d'Arcis did
similar to that of the Mandylion. One of the not provide documents or proof for his
last Knights Templar burnt at the stake in statements and it seems clear that, if they had
France at the beginning of the 1300s was existed, he would have produced them. What
Geoffrey de Charny. The first certified is evident is the lack of objectivity and serenity
possessor of the Shroud, which reappeared of judgment with which the
some 50 years later in Lirey, France, was also
named de Charny.
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 17

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY (cont'd)

letter was drafted. Despite this; and even Shroud as regards the "personalized"
though it has now been scientifically proved particulars of his torments: the scourging as a
that the Turin Shroud is not a painting, there punishment in itself, too heavy to be the
are still some people who quote Pierre prelude to the crucifixion; the crowning with
d'Arcis's letter as proof against the authenticity thorns, a most unusual fact; the absence of the
of the Shroud. breaking of bones; the wound in the side; the
wrapping in a sheet for a hurried burial in a
A Palestinian origin in the 1st century tomb that was not his own and not in a
The "Z" twisting of the threads, the common grave.
rudimentary manufacture of the cloth, the 3 to
1 diagonal weaving, the presence of ancient The body of the Man of the Shroud does not
Egyptian cotton, the absence of animal fiber, show the slightest sign of putrefaction; it was
the great abundance of pollen of Middle wrapped in the sheet for a period from
Eastern origin and of aloes and myrrh, the between 30 to 36 hours. The formation of the
presence of a type of calcium carbonate image could be explained by a photo-radiation
(aragonite) similar to that found in the grottoes effect connected with the Resurrection. There
of Jerusalem, the traces on the eyes of coins is no trace of the rubbing or movement of the
struck in the year 29 A.D. under Pontius sheet on the body. It is as if it had suddenly
Pilate, make it probable that the origin of the lost its volume.
cloth is to be found in the Syro-Palestinian
area in the first centuries of our era rather than Objections to Carbon-14 dating
in medieval France. There are reservations of a general order on
the Carbon-14 method: some postulates on
The Shroud is outside the cultural context of which it is based are now subject to discussion
the Middle Ages. The historical and and there have been a number of cases of
archaeological knowledge of the scourging mistaken dating due to unavoidable
and the crucifixion of the 1st century was contamination.
completely unknown then. The hypothetical
counterfeiter would not have depicted Christ Then there are reasons to believe the method
with particulars that contrasted with medieval might not function well on the Shroud: the
iconography: nails in the writs and not in the peculiarity of the object and the many
hands, a crown of thorns like a helmet, the vicissitudes it has been subjected to (water,
naked body. Besides, he would not have added fires, restorations, exposure to the outside
elements that are invisible to the naked eye: atmosphere, to the smoke of candles, to the
pollen, soil, serum, aromatics for burial. The breath of the faithful) have made it subject to
artificial fabrication of the Shroud is still alterations and contamination.
impossible today; it would have been even less
possible in the Middle Ages. There is also perplexity about the way the
examination was carried out and suspicions
Evidence suggesting it is Christ's shroud with regard to the rigor of the tests themselves,
There is perfect coincidence between the as we have documented in our book. In the
accounts in the four Gospels of Christ's months before the tests, some laboratories
Passion and what can be observed on the were excluded to the advantage of
18 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY (cont'd)

others and one of the two methods of dating

was eliminated, the traditional one of radio- The Church's position
counting. Also, the Carbon-14 testers refused On August 18, 1990, the Holy See broke its
to collaborate with other scientists in a official silence on the case of the Shroud.
multidisciplinary program, skipping a whole
series of examinations, including the The Vatican was in a dilemma after the test
indispensable preliminary chemical analysis of results were announced. It was difficult to
the samples to be dated. criticize the way the tests had been conducted
because that would have been equivalent to
The choice of the place on the cloth to snip to disclaiming, at least in part, the Pontifical
take the sample has been criticized by some Custodian and to accusing itself of inadequate
Shroud scholars. The snippets were taken from vigilance. It was also difficult to criticize the
only one point and from a corner that is very scientists for their unjustified emphasis on the
contaminated and may even have been infallibility of the Carbon-14 tests because that
restored in the Middle Ages. would expose the Vatican to the old accusation
that the Church does not accept scientific
Comparing the scientific reports provided by results which are unfavorable to it.
some scientists, a discrepancy in the accounts
of the weights and measures of the Shroud There were fewer hesitations after many
samples is evident. There are imprecisions and scientists and Shroud experts demonstrated
incongruities in their descriptions of the that the doubts about the Carbon-14 tests were
samples, and, according to the stated results, not without some basis. But, when the Holy
the samples weighed about twice what they See decided to express its own judgment, it did
should have. so in a most unexpected way, in a statement by
its spokesman, Joaquin Navarro Valls,
Other problems with the tests commenting on the removal of Cardinal
Despite repeated requests, the laboratories did Ballestrero from his position as Pontifical
not wish to make public the initial results of Custodian of the Shroud and his replacement
their examinations and the complete protocols by the Archbishop of Turin, Giovanni
of the work they had carried out. On the basis Saldarini.
of the information published it is obvious that
the three samples were quite different. Thus, For the first time, therefore, almost two years
according to one expert, the chances are 957 in after the announcement of the results of the
1,000 that the Carbon-14 dating obtained is not Carbon-14 test, the proprietor of the ancient
that of the whole sheet. cloth expressed a judgment on the importance
of that analysis, bringing out its limitations and
In 1991, the Belgian chemist Remi Van Haelst calling for a multidisciplinary context for
reviewed the Carbon-14 dating of the Shroud research on the Shroud.
with the new IEM-EEM model. He, too,
maintains that the results of the Carbon-14 'The medieval dating," the Vatican spokesman
measurements carried out on the Shroud do said, "is one that is in contrast to previous
not provide definite proof. Thus, many believe results.... This is one experimental datum
there should be further, interdisciplinary among others with the validity and also the
scientific examination of the Shroud. limits of such examinations, which ought to be
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 19

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY (cont'd)

integrated into a multidisciplinary Jackson's research has placed the following

framework." facts beyond doubt:

In this statement, the Vatican went beyond a a) the high definition of the particulars of the
pure and simple reliance on science to evaluate human figure: if the image was due to
the results. In this, the Holy See reflects the diffusion or radiation, it would have been
view of many scientists. These Shroud experts much more blurred;
maintain that it is necessary to repeat the
dating with other methods, such as an analysis b) the image is due to the coloration of
of the degree of depolymerization of the individual superficial fibrils whose number per
cellulose of the linen. unit of area determines the greater or lesser
intensity of the figure;
The most urgent task
The first task of the new Custodian of the c) the three-dimensional elaboration is
Shroud, Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini, was the possible thanks to a correlation existing
conservation of the precious relic. At the between the intensity of color of the individual
beginning of September last year he points and the distance between the cloth and
summoned a meeting of international experts the body;
for a private viewing of the ancient cloth.
Experts in restoration and ancient textiles were d) the chemical nature of the image is due to
convoked: Sheila Landi from England, the the degradation of the superficial fibrils as a
Swiss Mechthild Flury Lemberg, the American result of dehydration and oxidization without
Jeannette Cardamone, the Italians Silvio Diana supporting substances;
and Gian Luigi Nicola di Aramengo.
e) the image is a vertical projection of the
Meanwhile, to enable necessary restoration to figure on a horizontal plane; there is a vertical
be carried out in the Guarini Chapel, where the correspondence between the body and the
Shroud has been preserved since 1694, the corresponding points of the image;
precious doth, enclosed in its wooden box
which serves as a reliquary, must be kept in f) the cloth was wound around a real corpse;
the Cathedral in a bullet-proof case whose the blood stains are due to direct contact with
walls are two inches thick. the wounds of a human body;

The most recent physical research g) there are no traces of a lateral bodily image
The work of scholars continues: on the one while there are lateral blood stains;
hand the physicists try to understand how a
corpse could have made an impression on the h) under the blood stains there is not the image
linen forming such a particular image, and on of the body; the blood, deposited first of all on
the other the historians are trying to probe the the cloth, screened the underlying area while
centuries before the Shroud first appeared in the image was formed afterwards.
France.
On the basis of these observations, Jackson has
In the first field there are recent developments hypothesized that the cloth, while the bodily
in the research of John Jackson, the American image was being formed, assumed a different
physicist who together with Eric Jumper position from what it had when the marks of
produced the first three-dimensional electronic blood were being formed.
elaboration of the body of the Man of the
Shroud.
20 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

The sheet "through" the body

The blood stained the sheet when it was laid Rinaudo maintains that the atoms involved in
on the supine body, while the image was the phenomenon are those of deuterium,
formed because of an energy supply through present in organic matter; it is the element that
contact and while the sheet gradually, went requires the least energy to extract a proton
limp crossing through the body, becoming from its nucleus, which is formed by a proton
mechanically transparent. and a neutron. It is a stable nucleus and
therefore needs an energy supply to break it.
The points previously in contact with the skin The protons produced would have formed the
went to the side and the yellowish image of the image while the neutrons would have
figure was gradually formed on the cloth irradiated the cloth, with the consequent
which descending as a result of gravity first of enrichment in Carbon-14, which would have
all touched the cheeks. ' falsified the dating.

The energy supply could have been given by "You see me as in a mirror"
ultraviolet rays (or soft X-rays) which are We owe to the untiring research work of Gino
propagated only by direct contact. Tests Zaninotto, an historian and expert in
carried out on a linen cloth irradiated by archaeology, the discovery of some interesting
contact with soft X-rays and then aged in an documents that shed light on the obscure
oven produced a yellowing comparable to that centuries of the Shroud's presence in Turkey.
of the Shroud. At the Fourth Italian National Congress of
Studies on the Shroud (Syracuse, October 17-
Radiation by protons 18, 1987) Zaninotto presented a Greek codex
What are also very interesting are the recent of the 10th century (Cod. Vat. Cr. 511) which
experiments carried out by the bio-physicist he found in the Vatican Library. This is a
Jean-Baptiste Rinaudo, a researcher on nuclear sermon that Gregorius, Referendary of the
medicine at Montpellier. According to this Great Church of Constantinople, delivered on
scientist, the acidic oxidation of the superficial the evening of August 16, 944, during the
fibrils of the Shroud, the three-dimensional ceremony for the enthronement of the image,
information contained in the figure, and the which had just arrived in Constantinople from
vertical projection of the points can be Edessa, in the imperial chrisotriclinium.
explained by the radiation of protons which
would have been released by the body, under The salient point for the identification of the
the effect of the release of an unknown energy. Edessa Image with the Shroud is in the phrase:
"These are truly things of beauty; they contain
Experiments carried out on linen led to results the color of the imprint of Christ, which has
that are comparable to the Shroud. An been further embellished by the drops of blood
interesting fact is that the subsequent artificial that gushed from His side." Reference to the
aging of the samples reinforces the oxidation pierced side clearly indicates that the image
coloration obtained. did not concern the face alone.
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 21

SHROUDED IN MYSTERY (cont'd)

Another 10th-century manuscript refers to a which Zaninotto will speak at the next
7th-century account from the Syriac area; one International Symposium on the Shroud which
reads there that Jesus left the imprint of his will be held in Rome from the June 10-12,
whole body on a piece of cloth preserved in 1993. ■
the Great Church in Edessa. It is an
unequivocal reference to the Shroud about

At the Bologna Conference in 1989, EMANUELA MARINELLI (Centre of picture)

surrounded by IAN WILSON, KIM DREISBACH (telling the story), JUDITH WILSON,
REX MORGAN (with cigarette - he gave up in 1991) and ILONA FARKAS
22 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

CARBON DATING - WHAT SOME OF US THINK NOW

by Michael Clift

I find most thought-provoking the failure of the scientists in 1988, with their fanfare-style
accusations of "fake", to have killed the Shroud stone dead by now. At the tune of the
announcement of the three University findings over four years ago I have to admit to having
had a profound sense of shock and disappointment at the result, forgetting, of course, that
throughout the whole history of science the rule, rarely broken, is that time will modify every
result, every method, every finding, every hypothesis. The outstanding example of this lies in
the Phlogiston Theory, the belief that combustion is completely explained by the releasing of
the substance phlogiston. When it was shown that the products of burning weigh more than
before, the scientists clung to their unassailable claim by telling us that this was because
phlogiston had a negative weight!

The Phlogiston Mentality, as it pleases me to call it, continues in some entrenched minds to
this day even in the face of Newton's Laws of Motion necessarily modified by Einstein, and
Einstein's Relativity Theories necessarily modified by modern physicists. And as for the
constant changes of opinion in the world of Medicine, well I'd better not tell you about them
for fear of giving you nightmares. Suffice it to say that because logic, reason, experiment,
deduction all conspire to one end there is no need to regard any hypothesis as the last word
ever, just as in the medical world there is no case, ever, that is hopeless, as any doctor worth
his salt should be able to confirm.

Now there is a growing body of evidence that impels us to question what they told us in
1988. It is idle for dedicated scientists to say to me, as many have, that the thing must have
been done honestly so we have no grounds to doubt the results, that there was no reason to
cook the books so the books are reliable, or that the only reason I reject their findings is
wishful thinking on my part. Even if the Shroud were of fourteenth century flax my Christian
beliefs must be unaffected because I really and truly have no axe to grind in this sense.
Indeed if axes are to be ground what about the scientist who stubbornly defends science?
Have they not heard of the current findings, in several branches of science, that reason does
not prevail everywhere, certainly not in Galactic matters, nor in subatomic physics, nor in the
behaviour of light, to mention only three examples?

Therefore it is not without justification that I bring before you some of the considerations
which make me more and more sceptical as time goes on. Firstly the attitude of one of those
1988 scientists, Professor 'Teddy' Hall, was in my eyes starkly unobjective. He said
something like, "It's finished, finished! No one will have any further interest in the Shroud of
Turin". Setting aside the fact, unconcealed by him, that he is an atheist (and might therefore
have an axe of his own to grind) I really must tell of his reaction when I questioned him on
these words of his. "Surely, Professor Hall", I asked him, "if your result shows that the image
was not produced miraculously by God the Father, will not scientists now be more interested
in it, to find out how man did this thing?" His incredible reply was, "I don't believe in God
the Father, old boy"! At that moment of breath-taking non sequitur I wrote him off as a
thinker. 'The Fool hath said in his heart ...
 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993) 23

But around this time there appeared an article in New Scientist, signed by thirty academics,
telling us that the margin of error in carbon dating can be far more than the three Universities
would admit - in some instances several hundred years, and this more likely where the period
being studied is as little as twenty centuries. Indeed we are told that the method is of greatest
use over much longer periods, five thousand years at a minimum. Contemporary with this
article was a news item that one laboratory was given an object only eleven years old but told
that it was very ancient. They came up with eleven thousand years.

Another surprise was that the three authorities, Oxford, Arizona, and Zurich all used the same
dating method. Would it not have been more scientific for each to use a different one, for we
know that there are several methods? Given that it was the same method it would have been
no surprise if they had all achieved the same result. Only, they didn't. Glossed over in the
official report were the substantial differences between them.

If that were not enough to ask them to look again what can one make of the fact that although
we were promised a double blind trial this precaution was apparently not applied, for we have
heard it said that certain samples were actually labelled before leaving Turin. Should this be
true we are entitled to ask, and to keep on asking until we are satisfied, what reason there was
for dumping this safeguard.

In all the scientific assaults on the Shroud only one is said to have come up with something
that is incompatible with authenticity. Unless we could be sure that no carelessness crept in,
and that the procedures were as impeccable as they could possibly be, would it not be
perverse, not to say irrational, to base our assessment of the Shroud's truth on a single trial of
science in the face of the immensely long list of other trials equally deserving of respect?

But that is not all; so many tiny bits and pieces of information, perhaps having their origin in
the subconscious, inform and feed my intuition increasingly so that as time goes on the
significance of the carbon dating becomes less and less worthy of attention. That the Vatican,
no less, has rejected the 1988 figures and is calling for a repetition is worth some thought. Of
course there are those who will see this as another dip into the bran tub to see if a more
suitable present will be found, and they are entitled to question it.

But let them not forget the cubit. As Ian Dickinson has shown us the Shroud measures
exactly two by eight of the Palestinian cubit, which was not in general use in the fourteenth
century. One might accept a coincidence if the whole number of cubits was in one direction,
but surely not in both? So if the cloth was deliberately cut to this unit in, say, 1340, it can
have been only to deceive as to its origin. Why then, we .are prudent to enquire, was not
attention drawn to it long ago, instead of it's being a chance finding in 1990? And while you
ponder this take into account that if the cubit is telling us a true First Century origin we have
at once the only truly satisfying explanation for the side strip. It is enough to occupy your
meditations until the Shroud throws us its next, long overdue, surprise.

Dr Michael Clift is currently Secretary of the British Society for the Turin Shroud. This
article is reprinted from the BSTS Newsletter of which he is now editor.
24 SHROUD NEWS No 76 (April 1993)

Shroud News began in 1980 when Rex Morgan, author of three books on the subject of the Holy
Shroud (Perpetual Miracle, Shroud Guide, and The Holy Shroud and the Earliest Paintings of Christ)
started putting together a few notes about current developments in Sindonology (the study of the
Shroud of Turin) for a small circle of interested people in his home country of Australia. He didn't
expect it to go beyond a few issues.

The bulletin now reaches subscribers all over the world and it is written and produced and the
information disseminated more quickly than most news-sheets of a similar kind or the more
prestigious Shroud publications. It contains information, news, articles and illustrations gathered from
sources of Shroud study worldwide through Rex Morgan's extensive network of personal connections
with what has been described as the "Shroud Crowd".

Rex Morgan is a frequent traveller overseas and this has given him the opportunity to keep abreast of
latest developments in Shroud study and research at first hand. He was present at the world media
preview of the Shroud itself in August 1978 in Turin, Italy and has met with numerous Shroud
researchers in many countries. His quest for Shroud information became, as he described it, "a
passionate hobby". He brought the world-famous Photographic Exhibition created by Brooks
Institute, California, to Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macau and Canada and during those
tours it attracted more than 600,000 visitors. The exhibition was subsequently donated by Brooks
Institute to the non-profit making organisation, The South East Asia Research Centre for the Holy
Shroud (SEARCH) of which Morgan is President. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of
the USA based Association of Scientists and Scholars International for the Shroud of Turin (ASSIST)
and was a member of the scientific team which conducted environmental experiments in a Jerusalem
tomb in 1986 (The Environmental Study of the Shroud in Jerusalem). He has made several original
contributions to the research of the Shroud, has presented papers at international conferences, has
written many articles and given numerous broadcasts and telecasts on the subject in many countries.

The list of Shroud News subscribers continues to increase internationally and the publication has been
described many times as one of the best available. Its production is obviously privately subsidised as
we still request a subscription in Australia of only $6 for six issues posted. Shroud News comes out
six times per year. The USA subscription is $US 6 (posted surface mail) or $US 12 (posted airmail).
Postage to other countries varies. ALL back issues are available at $1 (US or Aust) each plus postage
charges except the famous 50th issue which is $3 plus post.

Please encourage those of your acquaintance to take out their own subscription rather than borrow
your copies since the more genuine subscribers we have the more we can improve the bulletin and the
longer it is likely to survive.

All information and opinion in this newsletter is published in good faith. It is edited (and mainly
written) by Rex Morgan and published by:

THE RUNCIMAN PRESS, Box 86, PO, MANLY, 2095, NSW, AUSTRALIA
(Fax No: 61 - 2 - 982 - 9956)