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‘What does the Shroud of Turin tell you personally? That’s the quest here tonight.’ – Bill Wingard, Shroud of Turin educator
May 10, 2018
Christina Gray
If there was one thing that Bill Wingard proved with absolute certainty on April 19, it’s that almost 2,000 years after his crucifixion, death and resurrection, Jesus Christ’s purported burial cloth continues to transfix believers and even some skeptics.
Nearly half of St. Dominic Church in San Francisco was filled for the free presentation by Wingard, a Catholic layman whose life is devoted to educating others about the existence and authenticity of what is known as the Shroud of Turin.
After two decades of research and study, Wingard began hosting free “Shroud Talks” at churches and universities and all over the country in 2013. He was invited to share his program at St. Dominic by the parish’s Friends in Christ ministry, which hosts a monthly speaker series.
“How in the blazes did something like this, if it is the real thing, come from the tomb in Jerusalem and end up in Turin, Italy, and what does it tell us?” the folksy speaker asked.
With a laser pointer, Wingard gestured to the life-sized replica of the shroud he set up on the altar characterized mostly by symmetrical dark red stains.
In reverse image though, like a photographic negative, the unmistakable outline of a man with long hair and a beard, his hands crossed in front of him – can be seen clearly – an accidental darkroom discovery made by an Italian photographer in 1898. But does it necessarily mean that the man is Christ?
“You be the judge,” Wingard said.
It was clear, however, that Wingard’s conclusion is that the shroud, housed since the 17th century in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, is the genuine article. The 90-minute presentation led by Wingard with evangelical passion, traced the shroud’s centuries-old journey from Jerusalem to Turin. He also meticulously catalogued scientific attempts to prove or disprove the authenticity of the shroud, sometimes in unexpectedly gruesome detail.
He recalled a conversation between a doctor and scientists who doubted that the still-red stains on the shroud could be human blood, which turns brown when exposed to air.
“That’s bilirubin,” the doctor told the scientists. He said that a “sustained violent death” like a crucifixion would lead to shock that could build up a very high bilirubin content in the blood that does not oxidize the same way.
Wingard said that the point of his talk is much bigger than proving skeptics wrong. The mission of “Shroud Talks” is to bring Catholics to the fuller awareness of the enormous sacrifice undertaken by Jesus Christ to set us free from sin.
“What does the shroud tell you personally? That’s the quest here tonight,” he said.
Wingard added that nothing except the Eucharist comes as close as the Shroud of Turin to putting Jesus Christ front and center. “But the shroud is a visual that I believe we’ve been given to help us in our quest to go into the heart of Jesus,” he said.
Friends in Christ organizer Mike Chen noted the intense debate among theologians, historians and scientists about the authenticity of the shroud, including the fact that a portion of its linen fabric was carbon-dated only to the Middle Ages.
“Fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us to listen attentively and think critically so that during this Easter season we may fully appreciate the gifts of the resurrection and redemption, which is really what the Shroud of Turin is really about,” he said in a prayer before introducing Wingard.
According to Wingard’s research and sources, the burial cloth he and others believe is the shroud existed in secrecy for many years after Christ’s death, leaving Jerusalem for nearby Antioch possibly with the apostle Paul.
Written records about the shroud in this period are not good, he said. “Back then, any of the relics of the crucifixion were kept quiet because there was a tremendous movement to wipe out any relics of Jesus, any remembrances of him at all,” Wingard said.
From Antioch, it is believed that the shroud went to nearby Edessa, where it has “kept in a box between two stones above the water line,” according to Wingard. From there it is believed it went to Constantinople from 944-1204, before going off the radar for 150 years and resurfacing in France. The possession of an aristocratic family there, it was transferred to Turin in 1578 where it was been since the 17th century. In 1983, the shroud was given to the Holy See.
The Catholic Church has neither formally endorsed nor rejected the shroud. In 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. Pope John Paul II called the shroud a “distinguished relic linked to the mystery of our redemption.” Benedict XVI was more guarded, calling the shroud an “icon written with the blood of a whipped man, crowned with thorns, crucified and pierced on his right side.” In 2013, Pope Francis issued a carefully worded statement urging the faithful to contemplate the shroud with awe as an “icon of love” without asserting its authenticity.
“The church doesn’t say you have to believe the shroud is the real deal,” said Wingard. “I’ll tell you one thing though, it’s the greatest evangelizing tool you’ll ever work with. You can walk up to virtually anybody and tell them about the things you learned about the ancient piece of cloth, he said. “Next thing you know you’re talking about Jesus.”
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Members of the St. Dominic parish community get a closer look at a life-size replica of the Shroud of Turin after an April 19 presentation in the church nave by expert Bill Wingard. Wingard was an after-Easter guest speaker for the parish’s Friends in Christ ministry which hosts a monthly speaker series. (Photo courtesy Mark McHugh)