Academicians Will Try to Prove Shroud of Turin Is Not a Fake
A group of academicians say they will try to prove that the controversial Turin shroud, which many Christians have believe bears the imprint of Christ’s body, is not a medieval fake.
More than 300 people attended a two-day conference late this week in Paris, the first since the Roman Catholic Church announced last October that carbon-dating tests proved the cloth was a clever forgery from the 13th Century.
The findings seemed to rule out the possibility that the shroud, which bears the bloodstained image of a bearded man, was used to wrap Christ’s body.
But some scholars, convinced that more can be learned about the yellowing cloth in Turin Cathedral since 1587, are determined that the matter should not stop there.
Marie-Claire Van Oosterwyck-Gastuche, a Belgian expert on carbon-dating, criticized the way the so-called carbon-14 tests were carried out.
But Michael Tite of the British Museum, who coordinated the research in the United States, England and Switzerland and was the only carbon-14 representative in Paris, dismissed the doubters.
“I have no doubt in the accuracy of the tests. But there’s no scientific argument against peoples’ faith,” Tite added.
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