The Shroud of Turin - Scientists Can't Explain It

The Shroud of Turin: modern photo of the face,
positive left, negative right.
Negative has been contrast enhanced

The Catholic Church is filled with miracles that cannot be explained by science.  One example is a host in Lanciano, Italy consecrated by a doubting priest that literally turned into flesh and blood in the 8th century, and which host can still be seen today.  Interestingly enough, the blood type in the host at Lanciano is the same as the blood type found on the Shroud of Turin.  What is the Shroud of Turin, you say?  Wikipedia tells us:

The Shroud of Turin or Turin Shroud (Italian: Sindone di Torino, Sacra Sindone) is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy. The image on the shroud is commonly associated with Jesus Christ, his crucifixion and burial. The origins of the shroud and its image are the subject of intense debate among scientists, theologians, historians and researchers. The Catholic Church has neither formally endorsed nor rejected the shroud, but in 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.


The image on the shroud is much clearer in black-and-white negative than in its natural sepia color. The negative image was first observed in 1898, on the reverse photographic plate of amateur photographer Secondo Pia, who was allowed to photograph it while it was being exhibited in the Turin Cathedral. In 1978 a detailed examination was carried out by a team of American scientists called STURP. They found no reliable evidence of forgery, and called the question of how the image was formed "a mystery".

Well, now there is a new study by scientists who say the image on the Shroud was created by a powerful flash of light, 34 thousand billon watts of light to be exact.  As freerepublic.com reports,

Enea scientists (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, who conducted the tests) warn, "it should be noted that the total power of VUV radiations required to instantly color the surface of linen that corresponds to a human of average height, body surface area equal to = 2000 MW/cm2 17000 cm2 = 34 thousand billion watts makes it impractical today to reproduce the entire Shroud image using a single laser excimer, since this power cannot be produced by any VUV light source built to date (the most powerful available on the market come to several billion watts )”

So nothing we have today can make the shroud, and certainly there could not have been any man made technology to produce the shroud in the first century.  Could this possibly be supernatural?  Many scientists will not even consider this.  But there is just no other way to explain it. 

Great article by Father William P. Saunders on his website about the Shroud.  He makes an interesting statement about what caused this great blast of light:  "Some of the scientists, therefore, posited that a type a thermo-nuclear reaction occurred which caused the image on the shroud. Actually, when one thinks of Jesus rising body and soul from the dead in a radically transformed existence, such a scientific theory is enticing. "  Could it be that this great blast of light was caused by Jesus rising from the dead, and that what we see is the image of Christ coming back from the dead?  It's an interesting thought.  Certainly there is no other cloth like it in all history, where the image of a corpse is stained onto a burial cloth. 

Our Lord calls out to us in many, many ways.  And this is just one more.  When people stand before him and Our King says, "Why didn't you believe?", they will have no excuse. 

Michael Voris has a great video on this continuing story of the Shroud of Turin: