January 7, 2009

Shroud of Turin expert has presentation, will travel

Kissimmee resident, John C. Iannone has been studying and writing about the Shroud of Turin for nearly three decades.

GERRI BAUER | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 10.13.08

DELAND | Florida resident John C. Iannone considers the study of the Shroud of Turin the “greatest CSI case in history.”

“You start to get the idea there’s only one person in history” whose image is imprinted on a centuries–old cloth,” he told a crowd of more than 100 gathered at St. Peter Parish in DeLand Sept. 23 to hear his presentation, “The Mystery of the Holy Shroud: A Case for Authenticity.”

The Shroud of Turin is a 14–foot, 3–inch–by 3–foot–7–inch linen cloth believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus, and believed by others to be a medieval fraud. The cloth shows a life–size photonegative image of a man with markings that believers say match the wounds Jesus suffered in his passion and death. The church does not take an official stance on the cloth’s authenticity, deferring to science in determining its age and place of origin. Scientists have studied and argued about the shroud for decades, and the question of authenticity remains controversial. The cloth continues to fascinate the nonscientific world.

“People have a real thirst for knowledge (about it),” said Iannone, who lives in Kissimmee and has a master’s degree in religious studies from The Catholic University of America. He started studying the shroud about 30 years ago. In 1998 he wrote a book, “The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin: New Scientific Evidence,” to help explain the subject in layperson’s terms, then was invited to view the shroud in Turin during an international conference. Seeing the cloth “was a defining moment in my life,” he told the audience. He started lecturing, created a DVD and wrote another book to share his beliefs.

“Really, it’s a personal passion to explain the authenticity of the cloth,” he said before the lecture started. “It’s a reminder of the essence of our faith: the Passion and the Resurrection.” He doesn’t charge for lectures, although some churches provide a stipend and he sells his DVDs and books after the program.

Iannone’s wife, Kim, accompanies him to presentations. “Every aspect of the shroud is fascinating,” she said.

His goal in each lecture is to explain the scientific evidence for authenticity in a manner easily understandable by people who aren’t scientists.

At the St. Peter’s lecture, he showed slides that illustrated his point–by–point clarifications about specific aspects of study, such as the carbon testing of the 1980s that pinpointed the cloth’s age as medieval. He cited early findings from the early 2000s that fibers from a medieval patch had intruded into fibers of the original cloth from which samples were removed for testing. A microphotograph detected the reweaving, he said.

He discussed such things as blood type, postmortem blood flow, median nerve damage, specific pollens from various flowers and their geographic distribution, and light and dark spots believed to illustrate rigor mortis setting in while Jesus was on the cross. He also addressed cultural aspects, burial customs and art history relating to how Jesus has been visually depicted over the centuries.

Several people in the audience who stayed to chat after the hourlong program appreciated Iannone’s detective–like analysis.

“I loved the presentation,” said Marge Smith of DeLand. “I was totally fascinated. I never heard of the rigor mortis aspect.”

“And I didn’t know anything about the flowers,” said Smith’s sister, Ethel Platte of Pittsburgh.

“We enjoyed it so much,” said DeLand resident Frank Reed as he shook Iannone’s hand while leaving the church with his wife, Debbie.

Annarita Razzetti of DeLand, who was born in Turin and has seen the shroud twice, said Iannone “wonderfully explained the shroud and he brought to light some things I hadn’t known,” such as the information about the flowers.

“Seeing the shroud was a personal moment for me,” she said. “It gave me a sense of peace.”

Iannone said he finds a great deal of interest among people whenever he presents the program, not just about the shroud but about spirituality and religion in general.

“People are struggling to get back to the roots of their religion in a very complicated world, especially with all the things that are happening today,” he said. “For me, the shroud supports the fundamental points of Christianity.”

ENDNOTE: In June, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Shroud of Turin will be placed on display in 2010.

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