On June 21, 2015, Francis became the fourth pope-the third in contemporary times after St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI-to gather in prayer before the Shroud, the linen cloth that wrapped the body of the crucified Jesus. In the early 19th century, Pope Pius VII made two private acts of veneration before the Shroud.
Before Pope Francis, it was Benedict XVI, on Sunday, May 2, 2010, who paid homage to the Cloth. “This is for me,” Pope Benedict admitted, “a very awaited moment. On another occasion, I found myself before the Holy Shroud, but this time I live this pilgrimage and this stop with particular intensity: perhaps because the passing of the years makes me even more sensitive to the message of this extraordinary Icon. Perhaps and I would say above all because I am here as the Successor of Peter, and I carry in my heart the whole Church, indeed all of humanity. I thank God for the gift of this pilgrimage.”
The Shroud, the Pope further explained, is an icon of Holy Saturday, the day of God’s concealment: “The Shroud was immersed in that profound darkness, but it is at the same time luminous; and I think that if thousands and thousands of people come to venerate it – without counting those who contemplate it through images – it is because in it they see not only darkness, but also light; not so much the defeat of life and love, but rather a victory, the victory of life over death, of love over hatred; they see, yes, the death of Jesus, but they glimpse his Resurrection.”
John Paul II paid homage to the Holy Linen twice, in 1980 and 1998. The Pontiff spoke of a “provocation to intelligence” since the Shroud “requires first of all the commitment of every man, especially the researcher, to grasp with humility the profound message sent to his reason and his life.” For the believer, “the Shroud is a mirror of the Gospel; in the Shroud is reflected the image of human suffering. It reminds modern man, often distracted by well-being and technological achievements, of the drama of so many brothers and sisters and invites him to question himself about the mystery of pain to delve into its causes. The imprint of the martyred body of the Crucified, testifying to man’s tremendous capacity to procure pain and death for his fellow human beings, stands as the Icon of the suffering of the innocent of all times.”
But the Shroud, St. John Paul II added, “is also an image of God’s love, as well as of man’s sin. Before it, believers cannot fail to exclaim in all truth: Lord, you could not love me more! And immediately realize that being responsible for that suffering is a sin: it is the sin of every human being. Speaking to us of love and sin, the Shroud invites us to imprint in our spirit the face of God’s love, to exclude the tremendous reality of sin.”
