Finding Jesus: The True Cross

This episode investigates the incredible legend of the True Cross, the actual cross Jesus died on. Considered by many to be the greatest relic in Christianity, it boasts an amazing back-story. According to Church Tradition, the mother of the Roman Emperor travels to the Holy Land three hundred years after Jesus’ death. Empress Helena, as she is known, and her son Constantine are the first openly Christian rulers of the Roman Empire. On the site of Christ’s crucifixion she discovers the remains of three wooden crosses. News of the discovery spreads across the Empire and the legend will help turn Christianity from an underground movement into a global religion. But how much of this legend is true?

In drama, we reconstruct Helena’s epic quest. At the age of almost 80 she sets off on an arduous journey to walk in the footsteps of Christ but we’ll reveal an incredible tale of murder and deceit that could turn her pilgrimage into an act of penance. Helena arrives in Jerusalem only to discover that all traces of Jesus appear to have been eradicated. Using the Gospels, she painstakingly reconstructs his final moments, but what happens on the site of Jesus’s crucifixion? We know that Helena was in the Holy Land and we learn that pieces of the True Cross were being traded around the world shortly after her trip, but could she possibly have found the cross Jesus died on?

In documentary sequences, we follow archaeologist Dr. Georges Kazan as he travels around the world searching for a piece of the True Cross that he can carbon-date. This will be the first time a piece of the True Cross itself will be tested in this way. Will it date back to the time of Helena or even to the time of Christ himself?

Artifact

At last count there were more than 1,150 pieces said by some to be parts of the True Cross in existence. The first person to public question the authenticity of this relic was the Protestant Reformer John Calvin. He said that there were enough pieces of the True Cross to fill a ship. Then in the 19th century, a French Architect added up all the pieces of the True Cross in existence and discovered that they only added up to one-tenth of the size of the Cross. So who was right?

We examine the largest piece of the True Cross in existence – held in the Monastery of Santo Toribio, in Liebana, Spain. They are reluctant to test it however. Dr. Georges Kazan then identifies a relic held in Waterford, Ireland. It was said to have been given by the Pope to the King of Ireland in 1,000 AD. According to Kazan, this connection to Rome provides an excellent link back to Jerusalem. The Archdiocese has allowed for a sample to be taken and it will be carbon dated.