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Presentations to lay out facts on Shroud of Turin

The history and features of the Shroud of Turin – with a full-size replica of what many believe to be the burial cloth of Jesus – will be presented at two parishes in the coming weeks.
 
In one-hour presentations beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at St. Joseph Parish in Springfield and March 15 at St. Columbkille Parish’s Steinhausen Center in Papillion, representatives of the American Confraternity of the Holy Shroud will step people through the shroud’s history and provide details of extensive scientific testing done on the shroud.
 
The church hasn’t made an official pronouncement on authenticity of the shroud, which is preserved in Turin, Italy. But it has said the cloth may be an important aid to the faith. 
 
That is where the confraternity stands as well, said Stan Isham, a member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Omaha. He has been trained to make presentations about the shroud, and will be at the two parishes to do so with the archdiocese’s permission. 
 
“We leave it with them and say this is the body of evidence,” demonstrating the shroud could be authentic, Isham said. “The science shows it has potential to be authentic.”
 
The shroud also encourages people to prayerfully meditate on Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, drawing them closer to Jesus, Isham said. During Lent, it can help them prepare to focus anew on the holy Triduum and Easter, he said.
 
“It points to Jesus,” he said. “If it is authentic, it is the most precious relic we have in the Catholic faith.”
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