These are meetings that take place monthly – one Saturday morning a month from 9 am to 12 noon (UTC+1) – from November 2024 to April 2025. Some lecturers from the Pontifical Salesian University will alternate as speakers along with members of the Scientific Committee of the CISS.
The approach is multidisciplinary thanks to the involvement of experts in the theological, historical, physical, chemical and medical sciences. The introduction to the course will be entrusted to Fr Cristian Besso, Dean of the UPS Branch in Turin. The speakers will be Frs Roberto Carelli, Paolo Merlo, Silvano Oni, Luca Ramello (UPS professors); Fr Alberto Nigra (professor at the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy); Gian Maria Zaccone, Enrico Simonato, Paolo Di Lazzaro, Nello Balossino, Paola Iacomussi, Walter Memmolo, Francesco Violi, Federico Valle (members of the CISS scientific committee).
It is intended to offer participants the necessary knowledge to select, address and organise the most relevant and current issues regarding the Shroud in an objective and critical manner, based on theological, scientific and historical methods. The formation project is part of the context of the upcoming Jubilee which has Christian hope as its central theme and is in continuity with what has been indicated by the Archbishop of Turin, Archbishop Roberto Repole, who intends to accompany young people to a special encounter with the Shroud in the upcoming Jubilee year.
"We will not make a classic exhibition" said the prelate "but we will experiment with new ways of being custodians of the Shroud. First of all starting from the young people, with whom we undertook a course of catechesis on the foundations of Christianity, because it can be wonderful for them to be first of all in contact with this shroud and, through it, with the freshness of the Gospel, above all the deep sense of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus."
The Salesians of Don Bosco, who host this course, and are charismatically committed to the good and education of youth, have always been spiritually linked to the Shroud and have seen numerous scholars and disseminators around the world among their members of the message and image of the man of the Shroud.
The International Centre for Shroud Studies based in Turin is a cultural institute, the only centre in the world to be officially recognised by the Archbishop of Turin, Pontifical Custodian of the Shroud, offering its own commentary on the shroud and coordinating and developing studies, research and initiatives in Italy and abroad.
This series of meetings is aimed not only at students of theology, but also a wider audience: cultural volunteers – in particular the volunteers of the Shroud and the Shroud Museum – teachers of religion or other disciplines, pastoral workers and more generally all those who want to deepen the vast and rich field of Shroud studies with an interdisciplinary approach.
Registration is free and mandatory by 18 October 2024, by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For members, it will be possible to purchase in-depth teaching materials at reduced prices by the CISS. Participation in the lessons is recommended in person, but it will also be possible to access the course by live stream on Zoom for non-residents.
