Benedict XVI in Turin twelve years after the visit of John Paul II
The presence of the Pontiff at the exhibition of the Shroud in the spring of next year has been confirmed. Benedict XVI will be in Turin 12 years after the visit of John Paul II, which took place on occasion of the 1998 exhibition. «Many believers from all over the world – Mgr Giuseppe Ghiberti, vice president of the Committee for the Exhibition, communicated – have expressed their wish to see the Shroud before the next exhibition for the Jubilee, which is expected to take place in 2025. Thus we have thought of 2010. When we asked the Holy Father, he agreed and said he would come personally».
The religious and cultural event will also offer the occasion of attracting to Turin prominent personalities of the international cultural scene. In the exhibition period several conferences will be held and, among the others, the Biblical scholar Gianfranco Ravasi, the Wien Cardinal Christopher Schonborn and the art historian Timothy Verdon will attend. The 2010 exhibition, therefore, is preparing “to take off”. New is also the approach path. During the conference held this morning in the Metropolitan Seminary of Turin, Fiorenzo Alfieri, president of the Committee for the Shroud exhibition, explained: «It will be different from the 1998 and 2000 exhibitions. It will begin from the Low Real Gardens, will continue through one of the more fascinating points of the Real Pole, “la Manica Nuova”, where, in the rooms along the corridor, works of religious art will be exposed, will lead to the halls of the pre-reading and, then, in front of the Shroud».
There will also be innovations, in comparison with the previous exhibitions, for the “Penitenzieria” (Penitents Hall), that will be in the Chiablese Palace, and for the preparation of a bookshop on the ground floor of the Region Palace. Together with the new path, also the official website of the Shroud (http://www.sindone.org) and the poster realized by the “InTesta” agency for the campaign of communication of the 2010 exhibition have been introduced. The advertising poster shows the Shroud Face with, in evidence, the blood spot on the forehead that reminds a turned three. On top, the 2010 exhibition motto is emphasized, “Passio Christi. Passio hominis” (“Christ Passion. Man Passion”).
The computerized space devoted to the Holy Shroud, deeply changed and managed by the Archdiocese of Turin, is online from this afternoon. In the renewed version, www.sindone.org collects also the information contained in the pages of www.sindone.it, the portal of the Museum of the Shroud run by the International Center of Sindonology. Through www.sindone.org it will be possible to book the visit to the Shroud free of charge. From December 1, in fact, the reservation service will be active online and, with some simple and fast operations, will allow to reserve the day and the time of the visit. The site, from November completely translated into English and partially into German, French, Spanish and Russian, is divided into sections. Also “the timetable of the Shroud” was anticipated by Mgr Ghiberti. At 7:00 a.m. the Cathedral door will be opened, at 7.30 the Mass will be celebrated and half hour later, at 8:00, the visits to the Shroud will begin. The Cathedral doors will be closed at 8:30 p.m.; they will be re-opened at 9:00 p.m. in order to accommodate some conferences, every Thursday in order to celebrate the Mass and every Friday the Way of the Cross.