The Shroud of Turin vindicated.

For centuries the Shroud of Turin has been thought by many Catholics to be the burial cloth of Jesus. However, in 1989 three carbon-dating tests of its age concluded that the shroud dates only from between 1260 and 1390. But two recent researches have led to the conclusion that these tests have been faulty.

Avinoan Danin, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Alan Whanger, of Duke University, neither of them a Catholic, reported at the 16th International Botanical Congress in the summer of 1999 that the Shroud has pollen from flowers that come together only in one place, the Jerusalem-Hebron area. According to them the Shroud goes back at least to the eight century and possibly as far back as the time of Christ.

Even more striking evidence is now offered in the book The DNA of God?, by Leoncio A. Garza-Valdes (New York, Toronto, Doubleday, 1999, hard cover, $32.95 Can.). This time the author is a Catholic. He is also a pediatrician and microbiologist in San Antonio, Texas, who developed a hobby of archaeology which led him to a special interest in the Shroud of Turin, a topic in which he had had a religious interest for a long time.

His archaeological work led to the discovery that certain ancient objects have developed a coating of bacteria which affects adversely the accuracy of carbon-dating. It occurred to him that this might be true also of the Shroud.

He went to Turin and was able to get some small bits of the Shroud left over from previous tests. Back home he discovered that its linen was covered with many bacteria and also deposits produced by them. Indeed, they had deposited a plastic sheaf around the linen fibers. He publicized this finding at symposia and in research reports but not all the experts accepted it. One objection was that the plastic coating would be so thin that it would not affect the dating very much. With further research Dr. Garza-Valdes found that the plastic accounted for 60% of the weight of the Shroud fibers, thereby assuring without a doubt that the carbon-dating had been a failure. He knows that future dating-tests will show a greater age for the Shroud, if and when the Turin diocesan authorities allow these tests.

The microbiologist then examined small samples of blood found on the Shroud pieces given to him in Turin. He established that the blood was human, indeed from a male human, and he discovered its DNA. If the Shroud was really the shroud of Jesus, this would be the DNA of Jesus' body. Hence the daring title The DNA of God?

Dr. Garza-Valdes made a further examination, namely that of the tiny bits of wood found on the part of the Shroud which would have been at the back of the head. He is fairly sure that the wood is oak, perhaps indicating the nature of the cross-beam of the cross on which the man was crucified. Oaks were common in Palestine in the time of Christ.

The author has met with some scepticism concerning his work, but a reader of the book would no doubt agree with him. He has also found a lack of cooperation in some of the authorities in the Turin diocese. But he respects the sincerity of the scientists and the diocesan authorities, and is content to let the future decide about the Shroud. The "crowning moment" of his research was when he presented a manuscript copy of his book to Pope John Paul II in 1998.

A major problem concerning the Shroud is how the image of the crucified man could have been formed on his shroud. Dr. Garza-Valdes demonstrates that it was not painted on, but he does not believe that it could have been formed by exhalations from the body it covered. Instead, he thinks that it was caused by faster growth of bacteria on the parts of the Shroud which were in contact with the body, because bacteria feed on sweat, salt, oils, and blood.

The appendices of the book present a most moving account of the sufferings of persons undergoing crucifixion, with reference to all the evidence available on the Shroud. They also give explanations (in scientific terms) of Dr. Garza-Valdes' tests on the Shroud.

It now seems clear that the 1989 carbon-dating is mistaken, and that the Shroud may well be two thousand years old. Whether it is Jesus' burial cloth would not thus be proven, but certainly the Shroud would become an even more famous object of piety.

Fr. Leonard Kennedy is a priest of the Congregation of St. Basil.