THE SUDARIUM OF OVIEDO
AND THE SHROUD OF TURIN,
HOLY RELICS OR HOAXES?

By Harrell Rhome, M.Div., Ph.D.

©2009 Harrell Rhome All Rights Reserved.

Does the Sudarium (Latin for face cloth), a companion relic, authenticate the disputed Shroud of Turin?  While most readers are familiar with the better-known artifact, fewer are aware of the Sudarium of Oviedo, Spain.  It is alleged to be the head section of the body wrappings, the larger part being the Shroud.  While the history of the Shroud is fascinating, the Sudarium’s past is no less colorful, including Knights Templars, Moors, El Cid, saints, bishops and others in a colorful cast of characters beginning with its arrival in Spain in AD631. 

Believers and devotees cite the gospel of St. John (20: 3-8) as clear testimony from the New Testament authenticating the existence of the Sudarium.  Indeed, the scripture verses surely do speak of the face cloth as a separate item, seen by St. Peter apart from the rest of the burial wrappings when he entered the tomb.  Since these are Roman Catholic relics, we read from the Douay Rheims English translation of St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Bible.

“Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple: and they came to the sepulchre.  And they both ran together: and that other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulchre.  And when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying: but yet he went not in.” 

“Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre: and saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place.”

          While Carbon 14 dated the Shroud samples to the thirteenth century, this has never been done on the Sudarium.  Microscopic analyses in 1978 showed a rare form of calcite dust from near the Gate of Damascus in Jerusalem, something a thirteenth century forger would probably not consider.  The Sudarium carries the image of a badly beaten man’s head, impregnated with blood and lymph stains.  Later tests matched the blood type to that found on the Shroud.  These tests are confusing, but others seem to show a relationship between the two artifacts.  Polarized photography of the Sudarium shows many points in common with the Shroud.  Pollen tests show some that are alike, and some differing, but this only indicates that the artifacts have been separated since leaving Palestine. 

          All of this testing has been featured in several books, and all concluded that these are not only companion artifacts, but true relics of Jesus.  Remember, excepting the Judeo-Roman writer Josephus’ one brief mention (probably added later) in tens of thousands of words, we have no historical testimony to any of the New Testament events.  For this reason, some verifiable tangible forensic evidence is of crucial importance.  In other words, IF the Shroud and its companion relic can be scientifically proven valid, this moves us beyond faith to provable facts.  

Three Shroud images appear below, followed later in the article by those of the Sudarium. 
You will see the eerie similarities.

          The history of the Sudarium leaves a much clearer trail than that of the Shroud, veiled in numerous medieval myths and legends.  The supposed burial cloths passed through many hands during an era of superstition, belief in sorcery and magical objects, and the more church-accepted versions with the full gamut of veneration of saints and accompanying relic-adoration.  A WorldNet Daily article summarizes the Sudarium’s provenance.

[Begin Quoting.]  A simple cloth of little value, other than that it contained the Blood of Christ, the Sudarium accompanied a presbyter named Philip and other Christians fleeing Palestine in AD616 ahead of the Persian invasion.  Passing through Alexandria, Egypt, and into Spain at Cartagena, the oak chest containing the Sudarium was entrusted to Leandro, bishop of Seville.  In 657 it was moved to Toledo, then in 718 on to northern Spain to escape the advancing Moors.  The Sudarium was hidden in the mountains of Asturias in a cave known as Montesacro until King Alfonso II, having battled back the Moors, built a chapel in Oviedo to house it in AD 840.  The most riveting date in the Sudarium’s history is March 14, 1075.  On this date, King Alfonso VI, his sister and Rodrigo Diaz Vivar (El Cid) opened the chest after days of fasting. 

This official act of the King was recorded and the document is preserved in the Capitular Archives at the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo.  The King had the oak chest covered in silver and an inscription added which reads, “The Sacred Sudarium of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Juan Ignacio Moreno, a Spanish Magistrate based in Burgos, Spain, asks the critical question:  “The scientific and medical studies on the Sudarium prove that it was the covering for the same man whose image is on the Shroud of Turin.  We know the Sudarium has been in Spain since the 600s.  How, then, can the radio carbon dating claiming the Shroud is only from the thirteenth Century be accurate?” 
[End quoting from  http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22403 .]
 

   Images of the Sudarium follow.  First it is shown in a medieval religious art work by Albrecht Durer surrounded by angels, then the photographic images.  The similarity of the two artifacts is easily apparent.

MORE LABORATORY TESTING IS NEEDED.

          Some Shroud believers say the discrepancy in the previous testing was due to the fact that the Shroud was almost destroyed by a fire in 1532, tainting the test results.  More DNA testing, including the Sudarium, which has never been tested at all, would best serve the pursuit of truth.  A larger section of both cloths - agreed upon in advance by all parties - should be analyzed again.  As said, critics of a previous test say that the fire supposedly damaged the cloth and compromised the results, or that the test piece was from cloth added to repair the fire damage.  Newer testing involves improved technology, and should resolve the discrepancies.  Once that is done, samples from both artifacts could be compared even more scientifically with state of the art technology.

          The photograph shows the Shroud prior to the removal of a small swatch for testing. As you can see, this is a reasonably large piece of cloth.  Of course, the Sudarium is smaller.    

SUMMARY.

          Isn’t this religiously and scientifically important enough that the world should learn the truth?  Here’s how I see it.  All the extremes -- all the way from Catholic ultra-traditionalists and fundamentalist Protestant evangelicals to equally sincerely convinced atheists -- both should intellectually and actively support this.  Why not have the facts?  For the atheists and the anti-religious factions, wouldn’t the failure of the cloths to pass the reality test add even more weight to their arguments?  Perhaps Karl Marx was right.  Religion is just the mental opiate of the ignorant masses.  But on the Christian front, wouldn’t the more-accurate testing disprove and forever silence those who maintain the Jesus character never existed?  This could be a world-shaking moment, uniting science and Christianity.  This could be a true and valid holy mystery revealed through a genuine holy relic that touched the Christ Himself -- but not just as a philosophical or theological opinion, but a divine reality proven beyond the shadow of a doubt by worldly science.  Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, New Age types and billions of others might “see the light” and convert. 

          That is, if the Shroud-Sudarium proponents are correct, so don’t rush out to build thousands of new churches and start collecting all the new offerings from the fresh converts, just yet.  It seems doubtful any more testing will ever be done.  The Roman Church and the devotees say it is a sacrilege to cut off too large a swatch.  The larger samples (come on now, it’s not all that much bigger!) are necessary, and more than one independent lab must do the testing.  Will this ever happen?  I am skeptical.  Forces on all sides may prefer to leave the matter tabled, left to individual believers as a “matter of faith”, “a divine mystery beyond our understanding” leaving the whole question conveniently unanswered and in dispute.  So, dear readers, for now, just remove the Sudarium and the Shroud from your equations.  Faith still speaks but science is silent due to its exclusion from the process.  The same centuries old questions and queries still remain, frustratingly and annoyingly, unanswered.

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©2009 Harrell Rhome All Rights Reserved.