Italy : The Holy Shroud of Turin venerated by more than 2 million pilgrims
The exposition of the Holy Shroud in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin has drawn more than 2.1 million pilgrims since April 10, 2010. Most of the pilgrims have come from Italy, with 130,000 others from neighboring countries, especially from France, Cardinal Severino Poletto, Archbishop of Turin, noted in a press conference on May 22.
“This event has revived the faith at a moment of spiritual confusion and muddle,” the Cardinal declared. “I am very happy about the arrival of more than two million pilgrims, but also about their spiritual participation, which is much more recollected than ten years ago during the exposition in 2000.” He mentioned also Sunday, May 2, the day of the pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Turin, the Mass on the Piazza San Carlo for a congregation of 25,000 (with another 25,000 attending the Mass through giant television screens installed for the occasion) and the Holy Father’s meeting with young people.
The exposition ended on Sunday, May 23, at 2:00 p.m. Cardinal Poletto celebrated a Solemn Mass preceded by the reading of a letter from the Pope, and he announced that the next public expositions of the Shroud would be of more limited duration because of the risks that the cloth might deteriorate. (Sources : apic/imedia/Torino republica - DICI no. 216 dated June 5, 2010)
