The Post-STURP Era of Shroud Research 1981 to the Present
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The Post-STURP Era of Shroud Research 1981 to the Present Presented by BARRIE M. SCHWORTZ Editor and Founder Shroud of Turin Website www.shroud.com President, STERA, Inc. © 1978-2013 STERA, Inc. 4 1 The Post-STURP Era of Shroud Research 1981 to the Present LECTURE 4 A Review of the “Bleak" Years 2 A Review of the “Bleak” Years After the radiocarbon dating results were released, most Shroud research worldwide came to a complete halt. Many qualified researchers simply walked away, accepting that the cloth was medieval. Others, who were not convinced by the dating, quietly continued their work. It would take another 12 years before any significant evidence would come to light that could credibly challenge the medieval results (see Lecture #3 - The 1988 Radiocarbon Dating and STURP). During that time, many theories were proposed as to why the results were inconsistent with the other scientific and historical evidence. These were all tested and eventually discarded, since none of them proved to be credible. In this lecture we will review some of those theories and the events that occurred during that “bleak” period in Shroud research. 3 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating October 13, 1988: (Thursday) At a press conference held in Turin, Cardinal Ballestrero, Archbishop of Turin, makes an official announcement that the results of the three laboratories performing the Carbon dating of the Shroud have determined an approximate 1325 date for the cloth. At a similar press conference held at the British Museum, London, it is announced that the Shroud dates between 1260 and 1390 AD. Newspaper headlines immediately brand the Shroud a fake and declare that the Catholic Church has accepted the results. Source: Shroud of Turin Website Shroud History Page http://www.shroud.com/history.htm#1900 4 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating October 13, 1988: (Thursday) At a press conference held in Turin, Cardinal Ballestrero, Archbishop of Turin, makes an official announcement that the results of the three laboratories performing the Carbon dating of the Shroud have determined an approximate 1325 date for the cloth. At a similar press conference held at the British Museum, London, it is announced that the Shroud dates between 1260 and 1390 AD. Newspaper headlines immediately brand the Shroud a fake and declare that the Catholic Church has accepted the results. November 17, 1988: (Thursday) Dr. Michael Tite gives lecture to the British Society for the Turin Shroud on his radiocarbon-dating work. February 15, 1989: (Wednesday) In a talk at the Logan Hall, Institute of Education, London, Professor Hall lectures to the British Museum Society on 'The Turin Shroud: A Lesson in Self-Persuasion'. He very forcefully declares anyone continuing to regard the Shroud as genuine a 'Flat Earther' and 'onto a loser'. February 16, 1989: Publication, in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, of the official results of the Shroud radiocarbon dating. This has twenty-one signatories. It declares that the results 'provide conclusive evidence that the linen of the Shroud of Turin is medieval'. Source: Shroud of Turin Website Shroud History Page http://www.shroud.com/history.htm#1900 5 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating March 20, 1989: (Palm Sunday) Retirement of Cardinal Ballestrero as Archbishop of Turin, to be succeeded by Giovanni Saldarini, formerly of the Milan Archdiocese. Cardinal Ballestrero temporarily remains official custodian of the Shroud. March 24, 1989: (Good Friday) A press release to the UK press announces that forty-five businessmen and 'rich friends' have donated 1 million to create a chair of archaeological sciences at Oxford to perpetuate the radiocarbon-dating laboratory created by Professor Edward Hall. The first incumbent is to be the British Museum's Dr. Michael Tite. April 28, 1989: Interviewed by journalists during a plane journey forming part of the papal visit to Africa, Pope John Paul II guardedly speaks of the Shroud as an authentic relic, while insisting that 'the Church has never pronounced on the matter'. September 7-8, 1989: Shroud Symposium organized by the French Shroud group CIELT is held in Paris. The speakers include Professor Michael Tite. September 30, 1989: New Scientist reports findings of the scientific workshop at East Kilbride that 'the margin of error with radiocarbon-dating ... may be two or three times as great as practitioners of the technique have claimed'. Source: Shroud of Turin Website Shroud History Page http://www.shroud.com/history.htm#1900 6 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating March 9 to September 2, 1990: London's British Museum holds exhibition entitled 'Fake. The Art of Deception'. This includes a life-size transparency of the Turin Shroud. May 4, 1990: During celebration of the Feast of the Holy Shroud in the Royal Chapel, Turin, several chunks of stone crash to the floor from the roof ninety-eight feet above. These are due to shifts on the part of exterior sustaining arches. The Chapel is closed and a temporary canopy erected over its altar. September 18, 1990: Vatican press conference announces the transfer 'of the position as Pontifical Custodian for the conservation and cult of the Holy Shroud to His Excellency Monsignor Giovanni Saldarini, Archbishop of Turin'. June 22-23, 1991: Scholars from Italy, Spain, France, Australia and the United States gather at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, for a Symposium on the Shroud. The meeting closes with the forming of a task force to ultimately formulate an American position on conservation and further testing of the Shroud. A second meeting for this purpose is held several months later, but with little impact on sindonology. Source: Shroud of Turin Website Shroud History Page http://www.shroud.com/history.htm#1900 7 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating September 7, 1992: (Monday) The Shroud is brought out for examination in the sacristy of Turin Cathedral before five textile experts: England's Sheila Landi; Switzerland's Mechthild Flury-Lemberg; the USA's Jeanette M. Cardamone; Italy's Silvio Diana and Gian Luigi. Optical observation only is permitted and no samples are taken. The Shroud is re- sealed in its casket. February 24, 1993: (Ash Wednesday) Because of the repairs to the Royal Chapel, the Shroud, without being taken out of its casket, is removed from its normal shrine in the Royal Chapel and transferred to a specially designed but temporary plate glass display case behind the High Altar, in the main body of Turin Cathedral. Source: Shroud of Turin Website Shroud History Page http://www.shroud.com/history.htm#1900 8 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating © Patrizia Mussa 9 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating Key to Diagram 1. The Shroud 2. The Silver and Wooden Casket 3. Bulletproof Glass Box 4. 39mm Thick Openable Bulletproof Glass Sheets 5. Tempered Glass Sheet 6. Base containing the opening mechanism for the external bulletproof glass sheets Based On Original Illustration © "Sindon“ Issue 5/6, December 1993 10 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating April 15, 1993: American pediatrician Dr. Leoncio Garza-Valdes, a respected amateur microbiologist, gives a paper on 'Lichenothelia varnish' to the Society for American Archaeology's annual meeting at St. Louis, Missouri. May 1993: Dr. Garza-Valdes examines Riggi's Shroud sample in Turin. June 10-12, 1993: Shroud Symposium, organized by CIELT, held at the Domus Mariae conference center, on the outskirts of Rome. Among the speakers are Dr. Leoncio Garza- Valdes, who suggests that 'Lichenothelia varnish, or bioplastic coating, on the Shroud may have contaminated the Shroud radiocarbon dating'. Russian Dr. Dmitri Kouznetsov is another of the speakers. In this same year the official charter of STURP, the team that examined the Shroud in 1978, is formally dissolved by the Secretary of State for the State of Connecticut. February 12, 1994: Conference on the Shroud held at the University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, at which pediatrician Dr. Leoncio Garza-Valdes again conveys his findings concerning a bioplastic coating on the Shroud's fibers contaminating the radiocarbon dating. Source: Shroud of Turin Website Shroud History Page http://www.shroud.com/history.htm#1900 11 After the 1988 Radiocarbon Dating September 2-3, 1994: Round table at the University of Texas San Antonio Health Science Center, attended by Professor Harry Gove, during which Gove views Shroud threads under the microscope and acknowledges that these certainly seem to have a substantial bioplastic coating. September 1995: Cardinal Saldarini issues statement declaring any Shroud samples in circulation other than those taken with official permission for the tests of 1978 as unauthorized. He remarks that 'if such material exists…the Holy See has not given its permission to anybody to keep it and do what they want with it' and he requests those concerned to give the pieces back to the Holy See. This statement seems clearly to be directed at the samples taken by Professor Giovanni Riggi in April 1988, portions from which were procured in all good faith by Dr. Garza-Valdes. Editor’s Note: That same year, Garza-Valdes took his Shroud sample to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio for analysis of the blood it contained and the so-called bioplastic coating. He enlisted two researchers, microbiologist Dr. Steven Mattingly and DNA expert Dr. Victor Tryon, to work with him. Tryon determined the blood was male, human and with normal chromosomes. Both expected Garza-Valdes to submit the data to a peer reviewed journal. Source: Shroud of Turin Website Shroud History Page http://www.shroud.com/history.htm#1900 12 A Review of the “Bleak” Years In 1999, Garza-Valdes publishes his “bioplastic coating” theory and the Texas DNA results in a provocatively titled controversial book, “The DNA of God” rather than in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.