Author's Note: All previous volumes of this series are available here. The first 56 volumes are compiled into the book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible." "Part Two," featuring volumes 57-113, was published in December 2022.
Happy Resurrection Sunday! Thanks for joining us in celebrating the most significant event in human history. Jesus's victory over death changed humankind and continues to impact the world. Today, believers shout, “He is not here. He has risen!”
In John 20:1-9, read what Peter and John saw in the empty tomb — “the linen cloths lying there” and the “face cloth.”
Worldwide, millions of Christians believe, as I do, that Peter and John saw the burial cloth known as the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud has recently been called “the world’s first selfie.” That modern description is based on a preponderance of scientific evidence pointing to what Jesus looked like a nanosecond before a burst of energy propelled him from death to life.
Here are the facts. The Shroud of Turin is a linen burial cloth measuring 14.3 feet long by 3.5 feet wide. It has been conserved in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, since 1578, but before that, it was venerated for centuries as the burial Shroud of Jesus.
Although blood-soaked, water-stained, burned, and patched, the Shroud clearly shows a mysterious man who has been horrifically scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified, and pierced in his side. The wounds seen on the man’s front-to-back life-size image mirror the Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ's Passion and death. The Shroud has numerous unexplained properties, which is why it remains the world’s most studied artifact.
To commemorate Resurrection Sunday, I conducted a special interview with Joe Marino. Since June 2024, Joe has been president of the Shroud of Turin Education and Research Association (STERA) — the Shroud’s equivalent of the Library of Congress. Most famously, STERA publishes Shroud.com, the world's leading Shroud website.
STERA and Shroud.com were founded by Barrie Schwortz, the world-renowned Shroud authority who died in June 2024. You can read my 2020 interview with Barrie, “Shroud of Turin: Interview with the World’s Leading Expert, Who Happens to Be Jewish.”
Since today is Joe Marino’s first Easter in this high-profile Shroud leadership position, I thought an interview would be both fitting and informative. This is my second interview with Joe. In December 2020, the first was about his book, “Shroud of Turin: Interview With Expert of New Book Disputing Medieval Date Test.” Let’s begin.
Myra Kahn Adams: National and international secular media coverage of the Shroud is at an all-time high with no ceiling. Why is this happening?
Joe Marino: Thank the internet for making the Shroud more popular. After the landmark 1978 study by the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), one went to libraries for Shroud information, and there was only one major Shroud documentary. Today, an abundance of Shroud material and media appears on our phones, including the original papers from the 1970s and early 1980s.
Numerous documentaries and YouTube videos are produced by scientists and researchers who find the Shroud an enigma, despite the controversial 1988 C-14 test, which ascribed the Shroud a date of AD 1260-1390. Initially, the assumption was that those medieval dates would end the Shroud debate. Thankfully, that timeframe did not align with and contradicted STURP’s scholarly scientific evidence.
Most famously, STURP concluded that the Shroud “is not the product of an artist.” Note that STURP’s only goal was to discover how the image of the crucified man was formed. The scientists found no answers, and today, formation remains the world’s greatest mystery, although there are many untested theories.
MKA: Joe, as a Shroud expert and author of a respected book about the discredited 1988 Carbon-14 test, why has there been no “official” 21st-century date-related testing?
JM: The Church was highly criticized about how the 1988 test was conducted. That was followed by the equally controversial 2002 secret Shroud “restoration,” which eliminated some key scientific evidence from the cloth. Worse, no outside experts were consulted, including STURP scientists. Then, in 2017, raw data from the 1988 C-14 tests was finally released. In 2019, the scientists concluded that the labs’ supposed “95%” confidence factor attached to the dating results was not warranted. So, after all that, the Church might be a bit “gun-shy.”
However, after millions visited the Shroud’s public exhibitions in 1998, 2000, 2010, and 2015, the Church realized that people were interested in burial cloth even without additional date testing. Furthermore, Pope Francis has said there will be no Shroud testing of any kind while he is Pope, so we look to the future.
MKA: Speaking of Shroud testing, the first and only “official” hands-on, comprehensive scientific study of the Shroud was the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). Nevertheless, over the years, many “unofficial” Shroud studies have been conducted by highly credentialed international scientific and academic community members. What are the latest scientific breakthroughs that support the Shroud’s authenticity?
JM: Prof. Giulio Fanti of Padua University in Italy has been at the forefront of various Shroud studies that support authenticity, especially regarding dating. Several of Fanti’s most publicized methods point to Shroud dates as compatible with Jesus.
The professor has also conducted blood studies, indicating that the man in the Shroud had been tortured. Recently, separate advances by two historians, Dr. Cheryl White and Jack Markwardt, reveal new information that the Shroud apparently existed before its first documented appearance in France during the mid-1350s.
Then, I wrote a 55-page article documenting mentions of Jesus’ burial clothes between the 2nd and 1st half of the 14th centuries. Not all of them refer to the Shroud, but it’s plausible that some might.
MKA: Since our dear friend Barrie Schwortz passed away last June, you have been editing Shroud.com and publishing your weekly newsletter chronicling all Shroud-related happenings. What are your thoughts about Shroud leadership, and where are you and your board taking STERA and Shroud.com?
JW: I miss Barrie terribly—he was one of a kind. I have big shoes to fill, but dedicated STERA board members help me keep Barrie’s legacy alive and fulfill STERA’s mission to promote Shroud education and research. In 2026, for the 30th anniversary of Shroud.com, we plan to modernize the site, which continues to break traffic records because the Shroud keeps growing in popularity.
MKA: On Easter Sunday, what does the Shroud of Turin mean to you?
JM: Although the Shroud receives the most attention in Lent and Easter, it captivates me 365 days a year! I’ve been taken by this mysterious cloth ever since I saw my first Shroud book in 1977. The lifelike image of that Holy Face on the cover (the negative image that is a positive image) penetrated my soul. It concretizes the Gospels for me since the Shroud is a pictorial companion of the Scriptures. Pope John Paul II called the Shroud “a mirror of the Gospels,” which is apt. I see the Shroud of Turin as a very precious gift given by God for all who have eyes to see the truth about Jesus.
MKA: Joe, on behalf of Townhall readers, thanks for this interview. See you at the August Shroud of Turin 2025 International Conference in St. Louis. Happy Easter!
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer with numerous national credits. Her book, "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible," reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. "Part 2,” with the same title, reprints Vols. 57 –113. Order it here.
She is also the Executive Director of the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit, dedicated to building a future permanent Shroud of Turin exhibit in Washington, D.C. Join our effort! In July, the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit hosted a four-day exhibit (with a “Chosen” VIP guest) at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, IN. Some new news. Contact: <MyraAdams01@gmail.com>