Turin, Italy--Pope Francis prayed Sunday before the mysterious Shroud of Turin, believed by Christians to be the burial cloth of Jesus but held by sceptics to be a medieval fake.
On the Argentine pontiff's first pastoral visit to northern Italy, Francis -- whose father grew up there -- was met by crowds of enthusiastic faithful, before making his way to the city's cathedral where the shroud is on display.
Sitting before it in silence, Francis remained with his head bowed in prayer for some minutes, before rising to contemplate up close the linen cloth which bears the faint image of a man who appears to have died by crucifixion.
Radiocarbon dating in 1989 declared the 14 by four foot (4.2 by 1.2 metres) cloth, which has traces of blood and DNA on it, to be around 700 years old. But if it is a fake, international experts have so far failed to discover how it was made.
The Church sidesteps the issue by calling the shroud a religious icon.
The head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics was in the industrial city in the north-west of the country for a two-day visit which will see him spend time with the poor, sick and marginalised, including prisoners and migrants.
In a speech straight off the plane from the Vatican to the workers of the Piedmont region, the pontiff warned people not to blame those fleeing war and famine for economic difficulties in the recession-hit country.
AFP
