The Shroud of Turin
A revered cloth, a disputed history, and what the testing does—and does not—show.
What people are looking at
The Shroud is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man with marks associated with crucifixion. Some believe it is Jesus’ burial cloth. Its devotional importance and its historical authenticity are separate questions.
John Paul II · Address in Turin, 24 May 1998
What the radiocarbon work found
Samples tested in 1988 by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich, and Arizona produced a medieval date. Published in Nature in 1989, the results are significant evidence against a first-century origin for the tested linen.
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit · Shroud research
Damon and colleagues · Radiocarbon dating, Nature (1989)
Why discussion continues
Debate concerns sampling, contamination, image formation, and the cloth’s earlier history. An unresolved question does not establish a resurrection, and a proposed explanation must be tested against the evidence.
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit · Shroud research
The Church’s position and devotion
In 1998, John Paul II acknowledged uncertainty about the Shroud’s authenticity and distinguished scientific investigation from its devotional meaning. The Shroud is not established scientific proof of Jesus’ resurrection.
John Paul II · Address in Turin, 24 May 1998
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