The Petition
We Request That Pope Francis Allow Sophisticated Scientific and Minimally Invasive Tests to be Conducted on the Shroud of Turin.
Since 1978, thousands of scientific tests and experiments have been performed on this famous burial cloth and its samples. Significantly, only one of these results ― its medieval radiocarbon dating ― is inconsistent with the Shroud’s authenticity as Jesus’ burial garment. Examining this linen cloth and its blood marks at the molecular and atomic levels could prove that the radiocarbon dating attributed to the Shroud is inherently incorrect and that an unprecedented event happened to the dead man wrapped inside of this burial cloth after he was tortured and crucified.
We respectfully request that the new pope allow these new tests to be performed on the Shroud of Turin as summarized above and described in more detail in articles throughout the www.testtheshroud.com web site. These new tests would yield the most detailed information ever acquired from the cloth, while testing every explanation for the Shroud’s radiocarbon dating and image forming hypotheses that have been proposed.