It took three years of painstaking work involving negotiations, correspondence, creating a reproduction, blessing it, and making shipping arrangements to display a new copy of the Shroud of Turin at Saint George’s Cathedral in Lviv. (There are eight copies in the world). The idea of making a copy for Ukraine was conceived in July 2002, when the Miensk copy was flown to Lviv and later displayed at St. George’s Cathedral and then at a church in Ivano-Frankivsk. Not only the church community, but all of Halychyna took an interest in this precious relic. First, an organizing committee was founded, whose members supported the idea of making a copy. Among them were Stepan Davymuka, Mykola Horyn, Tadei Eder, and Bohdan Pikh. When His Eminence Cardinal Lubomyr Huzar suggested that a copy of the shroud should belong to Ukraine, the committee was joined by people representing various regions, and the process sped up.
The Shroud of Turin is a square cloth 4 meters 36 cm long by 1 m 10 cm wide. According to the Holy Bible, it was used to cover the body of Jesus Christ and thus brought into the cave. The body lay on one side of the cloth, while the other side covered His body over the head. An image of Jesus emerged on the shroud, not bright but strangely clear. You can make out His features, beard, hair, and the hands crossed on the lower stomach. You can also discern traces of blood from multiple wounds. Most likely the original cloth was longer, but over the centuries thin strips were cut off as relics for churches and monasteries. The shroud was also burned in several fires. During tests of its authenticity, the cloth was placed in boiling oil, but the image remained.
In France the Shroud of Turin appeared in 1353 at the estate of Count Geoffroi de Charny, where it may have been brought from Constantinople.The relic changed hands many times. King Umberto II, who owned the shroud for a time, bequeathed it to the Varican. From then on the shroud has remained the property of the Vicar of Christ, stored in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin. It is kept under tight security in a special silver reliquary, behind a grate; it is taken out only once every 12-15 years, mainly to consecrate copies and if requested by scientists. Historians and pathologists agree that the image on the Shroud of Turin is of a person who was crucified in accordance with Roman laws, that he was a Jew, 178 cm tall, and 30-45 years old.
Interestingly, the late John Paul II gave his blessing for making a copy, and the prepared cloth was blessed by Pope Benedict XVI. The ceremony took place on St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, after a Holy Mass. The members of the organizing committee, in turn, presented the pope with a copy of the Ostroh Bible.
The copy of the shroud will remain in St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv, where it will be displayed in a bulletproof case on a special stand. Cathedral administrator Rev. Roman Kravchyk says an appropriate neutral site is being sought for the relic in Kyiv — maybe at St. Sophia’s Cathedral or in another church. The idea is to arrange for the shroud to be displayed in most if not all churches in Ukraine, provided adequate conditions are secured. Special guards were hired for St. George’s Cathedral. An authorized delegation is slated to arrive from Turin to make sure the shroud is being maintained properly and honored in a proper manner.
“Its spiritual meaning makes this relic invaluable,” says Rev. Roman, “because, as His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI said during his blessings, the Ukrainian copy of the shroud is capable of “embracing all people on earth.” It carries within itself spirituality and inspiration. The copy was consecrated by touching it to the original, in other words it absorbed its strength. The copy is absolutely identical to the original. The technology used to create it is a secret known only to the priests of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, where the original is stored. Another heartwarming aspect of this story is that this copy is the best there is because it was made immediately after the Shroud of Turin was cleaned.
