Benedict XVI's decision to allow a TV broadcast of the Shroud of Turin
on March 30, Holy Saturday, has been lauded by experts for highlighting
the link between the Shroud and death of Christ.
“Pope Benedict XVI, when he visited the shroud on pilgrimage in 2010,
spoke about the Shroud in terms of Holy Saturday,” John Jackson,
co-founder of the Turin Shroud Center of Colorado, told CNA March 7.
“From that vantage point, that all his remarks were made relative to
Holy Saturday, it is fitting that the broadcast happens on Holy
Saturday.”
The Shroud is venerated as the burial cloth of Christ, and bears a
mysterious image of a man who suffered in a manner consistent with
crucifixion. It is kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in
Turin, Italy, and is rarely available for viewing.
The extremely limited access to seeing the shroud gives the TV broadcast
particular significance. It will be shown internationally by the
Italian public service broadcaster Rai 1.
On March 1, Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin announced that as part
of the Year of Faith, he had gotten the consent of Benedict XVI, prior
to his resignation, to have a worldwide TV exhibition of the Shroud.
“The Shroud of course reminds us of the passion, death and burial of the
Lord and then to Holy Friday, the day in which the Church remembers and
celebrates the passion of Christ,” reflected Archbishop Nosiglia.
“Holy Saturday is a day of silent prayer and meditation on the Lord's
death, but it is also a day of joyful waiting of the light of the
resurrection that will explode in the great celebration of the Easter
Vigil.”
The Shroud, he noted, “is a witness of this double mystery: it brings us
back to the darkness of the tomb, but it also opens the way to receive
the light that from it will emerge, in the event of the resurrection.”
The Holy Saturday broadcast of the Shroud images is only the
second-ever, with the other occurrence taking place in 1973. “This is in
honor of the 40th anniversary of the first TV exposition,” Jackson
explained.
In his March 1 statement, Archbishop Nosiglia said that “the Shroud is
not a sign of defeat, but of victory, of life over death, of love over
hatred and violence, hope over despair...the face of the Man of Sorrows,
which is the face of every man on the earth, represents his suffering,
his death, it speaks to us of love and gift, of grace and forgiveness.”
He added that the Shroud is a reminder that “the proclamation of Christ
dead, buried and risen again,” which is at the center of the Christian
mystery.
The TV exhibition will last about an hour, and will be part of a celebration led by Archbishop Nosiglia.
Holy Saturday, the archbishop observed, is “a day of silence, prayer,
contemplation of the mystery of the passion and death of the Lord, but
also a day of expectation and openness of heart and life in the light of
the resurrection.”
Archbishop Nosiglia voiced his hope “that this worldwide event will
lead, in the hearts of many people who will see it, a little light and
peace in these complex times and give strength and hope to many sick and
poor, but also families and people in need.”