In October 1988, the Cardinal Archbishop of Turin, Cardinal Balestero announced the results of scientific tests done to date the Turin Shroud: it was almost certainly created between 1260 and 1390.
But is this use of science the end of the religious and human story? What are we now to think of the apparent face of Christ on the shroud that has so caught the imagination of Christians for over 600 years?
Richard John Carew Chartres is the 132nd Lord Bishop of London, in office in November 1995 until 2017. He was previously Bishop of Stepney (1992-1995) and Gresham Professor of Divinity (1987-1992). His Gresham lectures covered topics as varied as prayer, the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. He read history at Trinity College, Cambridge and was ordained as a priest in 1974. He is very concerned with environmental issues, and since 2006 has the led the Church of England's Shrinking the footprint campaign. In 2008, the Independent on Sunday named him the 75th most important environmental campaigner in Britain.
All the previous lectures by the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dr Richard Chartres can be accessed on our website here.
