CNS photo/Paul Haring

A 1660 painting by Jean-Gaspard Baldoino showing the Shroud of Turin is seen in a permanent exhibit on the shroud at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome Jan. 21. Although the Shroud of Turin has been studied from virtually every scientific angle, no one has been able to fully explain how the image was transferred to the linen cloth.

Shroud of Turin exhibit coming to Valley parishes

Valley Catholics can experience the Resurrection in a new way this Easter season. Two parishes will host separate weekend exhibits displaying a life-size replica of the Holy Shroud, the one some believe covered Jesus’ body in the tomb.

The exhibit will be at St. Anne Parish in Gilbert April 9-11 and feature photos and negatives of the actual linen cloth, which re-opens for public viewing the same weekend in Turin. It will be the first public showing since the original shroud underwent restoration in 2002.

The shroud replica and related photos moves to St. Thomas More Parish in Glendale April 17-18.

“It has the imprint of a person who was killed or crucified. The Catholic Church considers it an image of Jesus Christ,” Felix Shabi, co-bishop of the Chaldean Catholic community in the western states, said of the shroud.

Bishop Shabi, episcopal vicar of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Arizona, is coordinating the shroud’s exhibition.

Chaldean Bishop Sarhad Y. Jammo will give an evening lecture on the shroud April 10. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted is also expected to attend.

“The height, the hair, the eyes, the wounds all indicate that this person was Jesus Christ,” Bishop Shabi said.

He cited one minor challenge surrounding the shroud: recent carbon dating testing indicates the original cloth was from the Middle Ages. Some believe the carbon dating results reflected restoration work following a church fire where the cloth was stored.

Pope Benedict XVI has long been cautious about the value of private signs, apparitions and revelations. But he seems to consider the Shroud of Turin in a different category, according to a Catholic News Service article on the Shroud’s upcoming exhibit.

As a cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger wrote that the shroud was “a truly mysterious image, which no human artistry was capable of producing.”

During a reflection on the Stations of the Cross on the Good Friday preceding his election to the papacy, he said the shroud “allows us to have an idea of the incredible cruelty” that Jesus suffered in being nailed to the cross.

Regardless of views on the shroud’s authenticity, Fr. Chris Fraser, judicial vicar for the Diocese of Phoenix, hopes the local exhibit attracts devotion to Jesus and the “tremendous suffering He endured for our sins,” he said.

“It remains a powerful symbol and reminder of God’s intense love for us — a love that He demonstrated to the very end of His earthly life.”

The pope will view the original shroud in early May during a visit to northern Italy, so Catholics who visit the replica in the Valley can make their own pilgrimage of sorts.

“I’m very optimistic because people are willing to discover things especially in the name of the Catholic faith,” Bishop Shabi said.

He also hopes the exhibit and the bishop’s talk raises awareness of the Chaldean Catholic community present in Phoenix — 1,000 families strong — and the challenges fellow Iraqi refugees face.

He’s hoping proceeds from admission to the shroud’s exhibit will give local Chaldeans, who have temporary worship space at Mar-Abraham Chaldean Church in Scottsdale, the ability to support newly arrived refugees.