December 2, 2009

Experts question methods used to ‘duplicate’ famed Shroud of Turin

By Jim Myers

COLORADO SPRINGS—Recently, an Italian pharmacist claimed to have reproduced the Shroud of Turin using techniques available in the 13th century. Colorado-based experts on the shroud—believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ—weighed in on the controversy, saying that there are many irregularities surrounding this new specimen while calling into question the methods used to produce it.

Dr. John and Rebecca Jackson run the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Dr. Jackson, who teaches physics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, was one of the first scientists to review the shroud during a comprehensive study in 1978.

The Jacksons took issue with several elements that are reported to surround pharmacist Luigi Garlaschelli’s reproduction. According to Reuters news service, Garlaschelli told a group at a conference on the paranormal in Italy that he was able to duplicate the Shroud of Turin using techniques available in the 13th century, thus proving the original is a fake.

“(Garlaschelli) claims that he explains the characteristics on the shroud. But just because you say you did doesn’t mean you really did,” Jackson told The Colorado Catholic Herald.

The first item that gives the Jacksons reason for pause was the forum in which Garlaschelli presented his news. Garlaschelli spoke at a paranormal conference, and his project was financed by an agnostic and atheist group. The secular press reported his statements as being made by a team of scientists, when in fact no one outside Garlaschelli’s group has been able to examine his production.

“A scientist is one who practices science, makes hypotheses and tests them against observations. A scientist also delivers work in a plausible, professional manner,” said Dr. Jackson. “Frankly, I don’t see that he’s done any of this. … It looks to me that it has been improperly presented.”

Rebecca Jackson noted that the shroud Garlaschelli purports to have created has not been reviewed by anyone else, and that Garlaschelli used sympathetic media to publicize his work.

“He doesn’t bring anything for peer review. He announces it to the international press, banking on a secular environment,” said Rebecca Jackson. “They picked it up like wildfire, but they should have discerned a little more.”

Dr. Jackson cited several troublesome elements to how Garlaschelli reportedly developed a replica of the Shroud of Turin. Dr. Jackson said that he is willing to consider any credible theory on the shroud and its origins, but Garlaschelli’s work is suspect on the surface. Scientists at the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado performed several experiments using information that was available on this new creation to determine whether the methods could be accurate.

Garlaschelli told the press that he rubbed a pigment containing acid on the cloth to get a pigment on the cloth similar to what is on the shroud; he aged it by heating it in an oven and then washing it; and he added blood stains, burn holes and water to mimic the shroud’s appearance.

Dr. Jackson said that method leaves a host of questions as to what procedure Garlaschelli employed. Dr. Jackson said he would like to know what acid Garlaschelli used, as it could be several forms. He also pointed out that adding blood to the cloth after the fact is not consistent to how blood appears on the shroud.

“He says that he adds blood to his creation after the fact. Well, the problem with that is that when you look at the sequence of body and blood image on the shroud, it’s clear that the blood was on the cloth physically first before the body image was ever created,” said Dr. Jackson.

Also clouding Garaschelli’s claims is the question of whether his reproduction would hold up to three-dimensional tests. The Turin Shroud Center of Colorado has been able to prove through experiments that the markings of the cloth are consistent with how it would actually lay on a body by placing it on various three-dimensional models.

“Did he have a technique where you actually convert the intensified image to 3-dimensional relief? You do that by computer,” said Dr. Jackson. “When we did this to the shroud, you get a reasonable three-dimensional face because the intensity of the nose, the cheeks, the eye sockets in such a way to make that happen.”

The Vatican does not claim that the shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. However, Pope Benedict XVI will make a trip to Turin May 2 to pray before the shroud. He will also celebrate an outdoor Mass, visit with sick people and gather with youth, according to an Oct. 27 Catholic News Service report.