PHOTOGRAPH OF CHRIST

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 June 1934, Page 4

PHOTOGRAPH OF CHRIST

HOLY SHROUD OE TURIN Mgr. A. S. Barnes adds the weight of his testimony to the growing belief that in the Holy Shroud of Turin, which is in the possession of the King of Italy, we have an authentic photograph of Christ. In "’rhe Holy Shroud of Turin” writes C. B. Mortlock in the London "Daily Telegraph”) he holds it Io be beyond dispute that the relic preserved at Turin is the veritable linen cloth in which the body of our Lord was wrapped after it. has been taken down from the Cross. Ho goes fully and scientifically into the grounds for believing that, the full-length image impressed upon it is a chemically produced likeness of Christ and that every detail of the. scourgitigs, the crowning with thorns, the wounds and the nailing to the. Cross may be discerned. Indeed, he goes further and suggests that, we have what is virtually a. fifth Gospel of the Passion, since a minute examination of the markings of the linen affohds new knowledge of the torture which preceded our Lord's death. Hitherto the Shroud has been suspect. The leading upholder of its authenticity was, ironically enough, the agnostic Professor Delage. But against him was arrayed the adverse opinion of (he bulk of (he Roman Catholic .clergy led by Canon Chevalier. The scientific arguments -were disregarded in face of the. discovery that in the fifteenth century the Shroud was said to be merely a piece of painted linen. Examinatin by photo-micrography shows that, it is not. a painting, for (here is not. a. single particle of colouring matter on the threads. Nor is there any trace of outline or .-.hading inseparable from human work. Moreover the anatomical detail and proportion are exact, and the details of ti e blood-flow true to nature as unknown in the Middle Ages.

The most convincing argument, lies in the fact that the image is negative. Mgr. Barnes doubts whether the most expert retoucher of photographs could produce a negative image which, upon being reversed, would preserve so delicate a thing as, the expression of the human face. It is, he further holds, inconceivable that, any forger would have thought of producing a negative image.

The possibility that the impression on the Shroud was nothing other than a photograph was suggested when it was photographed in 1878, and the developed negative revealed a face of striking beauty and majesty. French scientists at the Sorbonne satisfied themselves that the combination of aloes, with which the body was anointed, and the ammoniac exhalations of the body would produce just such an image. Mgr. Barnes’s careful study of all the facts is an absorbing narrative. It is informed throughout with the scientific spirit of research and should result in the genuineness of the relic being openly accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. The tercentenary performances of the famous Passion Play at Oberammergau this summer will follow the tradition of the last 300 years, in spite of efforts to bring the play into line with the Nazi conception of German religion (writes the Ecclesiastical Correspondent, of the London “Daily Telegraph”). It was the possibility of the loss ot tourist traffic that induced the German Government to abandon their demands for radical changes. The English contingent was expected to be very large and the travel agencies had made reservations in the village and taken seats for the play representing tens of : thousands of pounds. . Money is also being spent in building a. temporary church for the use of English-speaking visitors. When news of the impending changes was received the authoiities were informed that if they were persisted in arrangements which had been tentatively made by one of the principal tourist organisations would be cancelled. Consequently, I am assured the play is to remain unchanged this year. But the respite is temporary only. In 1940 the “reforms” must, be strictly carried out. These “reforms,” I understand, consist of making the central figure of the play a Nordic Christ and replacing with a Teutonic background the Palestinian setting of the sacred drama. Judas, under the new scheme, remains a Jew, but arrangements were to have been made this year whereby a section of the audience should be paid to attend each performance and to hiss Judas on every occasion that he entered the scene. These changes were naturally resented by most of the Oberammergau families, though 1 am told they found favour in the eyes of some ol the players. No doubt local sentiment .voijld have been unavailing but for the tourist factor.