ROME, 2 (NE) A symposium to study and reflect about scientific research regarding the Holy Shroud will begin today in the city of Turin. Encouraged by the Diocesan Commission for the exhibition of the Holy Shroud, more than 40 experts will gather at the Italian city to discuss several aspects of the Sindone -considered the shroud that covered Jesus' body after his death- in the light of the latest research. Almost half of the participants are Italians, while the rest come from countries in America, Asia and Australia. Results will be given afterwards to the Archbishop of Turin, official custos of the Holy Shroud, who will be also attending. The symposium will have as main theme "The Sindone of Turin. Past, present and future."

    The event that will take place until Sunday will have four main sessions, each of them focusing on crucial themes about the Shroud. The first session will discuss how did the image was printed on the shroud. During the second session, experts will focus on the stains of blood present in the Sindone, in the light of chemical and physical analysis made. A more historic point of view will be considered during the third session, to discuss the relationship between the Gospel and the shroud, as well as historical data documenting the existence of the shroud through the centuries. The last session will discuss the validity of Carbon 14 dating, considering as well later research.

    Over the last years, several studies have increasingly validated the authenticity of the Holy Shroud. In 1998, a group of experts from three different countries gathered to analyze the shroud, from their different scientific disciplines, with the latest scientific equipment. These scientists concluded that there was a 2 million against 1 probability that the Shroud was authentic. And in August last year, botany professor Avinoam Danin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem concluded that the origin of the Shroud of Turin was Jerusalem after an analysis of pollen grains and plant images on the cloth. He identified these as coming from species only found in the months of March and April in the Jerusalem region.

    Pollen identified as "Gundelia tournefortii" was also found in the Sudarium of Oviedo, a 83 x 52 cm. cloth that has several blood stains and believed to be the burial face cloth of Jesus. A 1983 study showed that both the Shroud and the face cloth -the latter of which is documented from the First Century and kept in the Cathedral of Oviedo in Spain since the 8th Century- were stained with type AB blood.