![]() In 2017, it emerged that the raw numbers, obtained thanks to young researcher Tristan Casabianca, showed an even greater dispersion in the results, so that statistically there is only a 1% chance that the samples come from the same tissue. Statistical studies showed immediately that there were absolutely insurmountable discrepancies between certain figures provided by the Oxford laboratory and those of Zurich in Switzerland and Tucson, Arizona. I quickly wondered about the reliability of the carbon-14 study. In addition, since 1978, the work of STURP, the American research group created by John Jackson, which had the shroud at its disposal for two days, and carried out, with several tons of material, very thorough analyses, including microchemical tests of spectrography, infrared radiometry studies, optical microscopy, ultraviolet fluorescence, etc., demonstrating that the author was not a medieval forger. It therefore seems impossible that a forgery could have been made in the Middle Ages, in the years 1260-1390 - that is, the range provided by the radiocarbon laboratories. A change of iconographic model occurred at this time, which corresponds to the arrival of this precious linen in the city of Edessa, in present-day Turkey. It is certain that I was really surprised by the results of the carbon-14 analysis, in 1988-89, insofar as they were in contradiction with very reliable previous works, such as those of professor Pierre Barbet of the Saint-Joseph Hospital, who established a relationship between the Passion of Jesus and all the available information about the shroud, or those of professor Paul Vignon in the 1930s, showing an absolute and perfect correspondence between the iconography of Christ, which appeared as early as the end of the fourth century, and the face of the man on the Shroud. How did you acquire the certainty of the authenticity of the Shroud in your research, in spite of the various scientific challenges, such as the carbon-14 analysis, which established the origin of the shroud in the Middle Ages? But it does give us some very unsettling clues. ![]() ![]() The examination of the Shroud leads us inevitably to the mystery of the Resurrection, although this burial cloth is not in itself a proof of the Resurrection, which can only be experienced and understood through faith. The type of Roman spear used has even been identified, as there were several of them. We can see that he was indeed crowned with thorns, that he was speared on the right side. We know, for example, that he was flogged very violently, in the Roman way, and not in the Jewish way, with a flagrum, which had two small balls and a barbell between them, the trace of which can be seen under a microscope. It remains that the Shroud gives us information about the Passion of Christ. There have been many forgeries in history, and obviously, the belief in the truths of faith, of the death and resurrection of Jesus, has not been questioned. Even if the Shroud were a fake, the Christian faith would not be tainted by it. It is important to make it clear that this is not a question of faith. I have been interested in the Shroud of Turin for 44 years, and it has fascinated me for the historical, archaeological and scientific mystery it represents. You are one of the great experts on the Holy Shroud today. His extensive investigation, which compiled and analyzed all the studies ever made on the precious relic - including the famous carbon-14 study that cast doubt on the authenticity of the Shroud - was recently published under the title Le Saint Suaire de Turin, l’enquête définitive! (The Shroud of Turin: The Definitive Investigation), rekindling intense debate on the subject at the time of the eve of this fall’s’ unveiling of the first recreation of the body of Christ based on the Shroud of Turin in Spain’s Salamanca Cathedral. The four decades he has devoted to the study of the Shroud have convinced him that the face unveiled to the world by the Italian photographer Secondo Pia in 1898 is indeed that of Jesus Christ in the tomb, as he explained in this interview with the Register. The Shroud of Turin, which is believed to have wrapped Jesus’ body after his Crucifixion, is a seemingly inexhaustible source of discoveries and disputes between historians and scientists - and between men of faith themselves, some seeing it as a simple icon symbolizing the death and resurrection of Christ, while others remain convinced of its authenticity because of the numerous studies supporting this idea.įrench historian Jean-Christian Petitfils is one of the latter.
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