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Shroud of Turin Education and Research Association, Inc. (STERA, Inc.)

Late Breaking Website News!
Updated January 21, 2012




Check here for important announcements and other Shroud of Turin Website news. This page will be updated whenever new page additions, articles and other resources are added to the site. Each item carries a posting date indicating when it first went online. The most recent update appears at the top of the page. As you scroll down through the page, you can review the items that were added this year in chronological order. You should find this an excellent way to sample the evolving content of this website.

Archived Website News pages: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996

Shroud.com Celebrates 16th Anniversary with a New Look!

If you have managed to get to this page and are reading this article, you will have already noticed a dramatic change in the look of this website. After sixteen years online, we have given the website a long overdue "facelift" to make it more modern in appearance and much easier to navigate. I have had many criticisms about the look of the site over the past few years, but some months ago a reader pointed out that the site was difficult to view and navigate, particularly on the smaller screens of smart phones or tablets. Although we have always put more emphasis on content than design, it is hard (or downright stupid) to ignore the fact that over 100 million Americans alone now view the internet on such devices. It was certainly time to make some changes.

The first thing I hope you noticed is the dramatic redesign of the front page. We have replaced the original variegated, multi-colored background site-wide with a solid light gray background that is easier to read and loads much faster. We eliminated all the link buttons that littered our Main Menu and other pages and replaced them all with simple text links. Most importantly, we combined the Main Menu into the front page, where it belongs. The menu is broken into two sections, one for General Contents and the other for In-Depth Contents, the latter of which is now listed on the page in alphabetical order. Instead of having to click a link to view a separate Main Menu page, just scroll down a bit and the menu content is right there. (You can still click on the Shroud photo if you like, which simply jumps you down the page directly to the menu items). You will also find that the Search Engine box has been moved to the front page. Of course, as always, a second search box is still available from the Website Library page. You will also find a Navigator bar at the bottom of every main page that gives you quick links to other important pages of the site. Navigator bars have also been added to the top and bottom of the Scientific Papers & Articles page and the Links To More Information page that allow you to find papers and links alphabetically instead of scrolling through scores of listings. There are many other changes and refinements you will find as you navigate the site, all designed to make it more user-friendly. I hope you find the new look of the site a good step in the right direction. And it only took sixteen years!

Speaking of sixteen years, one friend and viewer of our site recently asked me how the website got started and what prompted me to build it. In fact, he strongly urged me to write an article telling the story and include it in this update. It seemed like a good idea, so you will find links to the new article titled The History of Shroud.com from all the appropriate pages of the site. Of course, as I've already stated, content is still our primary focus, and this update is no exception. Although it is not as large as some previous anniversary updates because of the time necessary for the redesign, it still contains some very important new materials. I have included the usual Update Table of Contents below to make finding the new content easy.

Finally, no update would be complete until I thanked each and every author, scholar, researcher, student and viewer who, by their continued participation and support, make this site possible. You truly make this all worthwhile. Thank you for being there.

Barrie Schwortz, Editor & Founder

Here is the Update Table of Contents:

Posted January 21, 2012

The Shroud in the News for Christmas 2011 - An Editorial Response by Barrie Schwortz

On December 14, 2011, an article titled, "New research from ENEA on the sacred Linen kept in Turin" by Marco Tosatti was reported by the Vatican Insider and the Catholic World News Headlines. Ironically, the information that was reported as "new" research was actually taken from papers that were originally presented at the International Workshop on the Scientific Approach to the Acheiropoietos Images on May 4-6, 2010 by the ENEA Research Center in Frascati, Italy, more than one and a half years earlier! However, the original ENEA paper that was quoted in the article was in Italian. A week later, on December 20, 2011, an article titled "Turin Shroud Really Could be Christ's Burial Robe, Say Scientists," appeared in English in The Daily Telegraph, a British paper. I found out about the original news release quite early, as my mailbox suddenly filled with hundreds of e-mails from around the world, either informing me of the article or asking my opinion. I even received a physical clipping by postal mail a few days later. Over the next few days, as I watched the story get picked up by dozens more media outlets, the headlines became more and more dramatic. Sadly, they also became more and more inaccurate. I realized then I would have to speak out and have written an editorial response that summarizes what the paper actually said and addresses the various media claims that resulted from the story and the furor that resulted afterwards in the various Shroud blogs. It has never been our policy to "react" to media stories and we generally wait until the dust has settled before responding. That allows us time to hear all the varying points of view, put them into their proper perspective and address them in our response.

To that end, I have written The Shroud in the News for Christmas 2011 - An Editorial Response by Barrie Schwortz and have included it in this update. You will find links to it in all the regular places. Of course, this is an editorial and as such, expresses my personal points of view and not necessarily those of STERA, Inc. or its Board of Directors. I hope you find it helpful.

Posted January 21, 2012

British Society for the Turin Shroud (BSTS) December 2011 Newsletter + 5 Previous Issues Added

The British Society for the Turin Shroud page has been updated to include the text of the most recent issue (December 2011, No. 74) of the BSTS Newsletter. As regular website viewers already know, the newsletters always include relevant articles, book reviews, news from around the world and much more. Newsletter editor Mark Guscin (www.markguscin.com) also includes a full color, high quality photographic feature in each issue, (although we generally reprint a text only version on this website). See below for information on joining the BSTS so you can receive the full color, fully illustrated printed versions of the newsletter.

BSTS Issue No. 74 is the largest single issue in the newsletter's history and features: an article by Denis Mannix titled Shroud Image Formation: some notes on the image formation mechanism proposed by Rogers & Arnoldi, a new article by F. Curciarello, V. De Leo, G. Fazio and G. Mandaglio titled The Stochastic Mechanism That Produced the Latent Image on the Shroud of Turin, an article by Mark Guscin about The Making of a New Shroud Documentary, a fully illustrated article by A. A.M. van der Hoeven titled The Turin Shroud as John Mark’s temple garment, an article by Ian Wilson titled Geoffrey de Charny, Edward de Beaujeu and the first battle for Smyrna in 1344-5, an illustrated article by Hugh Duncan titled The Shroud Relic in Prague, an in depth review by Emanuela Marinelli of two new skeptical books by A. Nicolotti, some notes on the Shroud Exhibition in Wells and Alrewas by Brenda Benton and Juliet Faith and much more.

In addition to this excellent new issue, I am happy to report that we have added another five back issues to the archives of the BSTS Newsletter, Issues #35 through #39, dating from 1993 to 1995. We are indebted to the ongoing efforts of BSTS member Stephen Jones in Australia for doing the scanning and optical character recognition necessary to create the fully searchable pdf files you will find on our site and to Ian Wilson for recreating many of the original covers. Our goal is to archive the entire collection of back issues so that every issue ever published will be available to our readers. We hope to have this completed by the end of this year. Stephen reports that the issues from 1988 forward that detail the first reactions to the radiocarbon dating are particularly fascinating to read. Keep watching. We've only just begun!

For those of you who might be interested in a membership in the BSTS (which includes a subscription to two printed issues of the Newsletter per year) see the printable BSTS Membership Application for details. The newsletter is published semi-annually, usually in June and December, and the text is reprinted on this website in the Acrobat PDF format, but usually without the photographs or illustrations.

Posted January 21, 2012

New Shroud Books

Wrapped Up In The Shroud by Joe Marino
Wrapped Up In The Shroud

I am proud to announce that the Shroud Booklist and Shroud Books Online pages have been updated to include the important and anxiously anticipated book Wrapped Up In The Shroud, Chronicle of a Passion, by noted Shroud scholar (and close friend and member of STERA's Board of Directors) Joe Marino. The book was released at the end of the year and is now available from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com and Eden.co.uk (in the U.K.). You can also click on the photo above for more detailed information about the book. Joe's contribution to Shroud scholarship spans almost 35 years, starting in the "early days" when he published and mailed a regular newsletter to Shroud researchers around the world, helping everyone stay abreast of the latest Shroud news in the days before the internet. Of course, he is best known for the important work he did with his late wife Sue Benford, that demonstrated the serious possibility that the c14 dating was skewed by an anomalous or rewoven sample. Findings that ultimately stimulated Ray Rogers to reexamine the Shroud in an effort to prove them wrong, calling them the "lunatic fringe." In the end however, Rogers findings supported their conclusions and he ended up proving they were right. Whether or not one agrees with those conclusions, without question, Joe Marino's personal passion for the subject and his many important contributions have had a significant, positive impact on the world of the Shroud for many years, and this book is truly a chronicle of that passion.



Resurrected or Revived? by Helmut Felzmann In Search of the 'Real God' by Helmut Felzmann
 New E-books by Helmut Felzmann

German author Helmut Felzmann, a member of the online Shroud Science Group, has announced the availability of two new e-books which are, in effect, updated versions of his 2008 book, New Light On Jesus (available as a single paperback at this link). According to the author, e-book Volume 1, titled Resurrected or Revived?, deals only with the Shroud and has two recently updated chapters. E-book Volume 2 is titled In Search of the 'Real God' and, in the author's own words, "is the result of my own spiritual struggle with the main outcome of the research, namely that as far as humanly possible to tell, Jesus survived his crucifixion." Helmut believes the Shroud is authentic but that the evidence it bears indicates Jesus was not dead when the image was formed. As you might expect, Helmut's conclusions have sparked considerable debate, and, like so many other facets of Shroud research, you will have to decide this one for yourself.


Pierre de Riedmatten, President of the French Shroud association "Montre Nous Ton Visage," (Show Us Your Face) has published a new book in French titled, Que penser de? (What about?). The book tries to answer briefly, but as accurately and objectively as possible, the questions that everyone asks about the Shroud of Turin. The 143 page book is available from bookstores or from Procure MNTV, 215, rue de Vaugirard - 75015 - Paris. I checked the association website at the above link and there was no mention of the book that I could find, so apparently it is currently not available online.



All The Diamonds In The World by Mark Guscin from Amazon.com
All The Diamonds In The World

Since we first went online in January 1996, it has been the policy of this website to feature and list only non-fiction books about the Shroud of Turin and not to include works of fiction that are often based only loosely on the Shroud (and of which there have been many). Over the years, there have been only two exceptions, and those were both children's books designed to teach young people about the Shroud within the context of a fictionalized story. However, all of the facts about the Shroud were correct and what was presented was completely accurate. Those books were exceptions because they were both written by noted Shroud scholars whose knowledge of the Shroud was well established by their other published non-fiction work on the subject. And such is the case with All The Diamonds In The World, by well known Shroud scholar Mark Guscin, editor of the BSTS Newsletter and member of the Centro Español de Sindonologia in Spain.. After eight history books (including several on the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Shroud and an award-winning biography of Lady Hester Stanhope written in Spanish), he has now published his first novel. The book is a fascinating blend of historical novel, thriller, love story and spiritual search for freedom. It is also available from the publisher's website, Arche Books, which includes additional information about the book.

Posted January 21, 2012

New Shroud Papers & Articles

The Website Library and Scientific Papers & Articles pages have been updated with links to several new Shroud papers that are now available online. The new articles include:

Posted January 21, 2012

Links To More Information Page Updated

I am pleased to announce that the Links To More Information page has been updated with some links to other, Shroud-related websites. Here is a list of the new additions:

Posted January 21, 2012

"International Conference on the Holy Shroud in Spain" Scheduled in Valencia 28, 29 & 30 April 2012

Valencia Conference Poster
Valencia Conference Poster

The Centro Español de Sindonologia (CES) has recently announced their International Conference on the Holy Shroud in Spain in the city of Valencia on 28, 29 & 30 April 2012. The invited speakers include many well known Shroud researchers, like Ian Wilson, Dr. John Jackson, Barrie Schwortz, Mark Guscin and Bruno Barberis, and many others are expected. If you wish to register and attend the conference, click on the poster image above, which links directly to the English language registration page of the CES website. Of course, it is also available in the Spanish language at this link: http://sindone2012.es/formulario-de-inscripcion.php. (En Español) It should be a great event and I hope to see some of you there!

Posted January 21, 2012

STERA, Inc. Flyer Available For Download

STERA Flyer © 2012 STERA, Inc.
Download STERA Flyer

I am pleased to announce that we have created a new, single page flyer in pdf format for public distribution that provides an excellent overview of STERA, Inc. and its mission. We are now including a copy with every item we ship from our Website Store and with every receipt we send for charitable contributions made to STERA, Inc. I am also printing these and making them available as handouts at every lecture I give and would greatly appreciate it if the speakers on our Speakers Directory page would consider downloading, printing and distributing them at their own lectures as well. If you decide to print the flyer, set your printer to output grayscale rather than color. Otherwise, the links in the document will print in blue, which doesn't look as nice and will not be very useful to those receiving only a printed copy. Should any of our viewers with websites of their own wish to include the flyer on their site or make a link to it, please feel free to do so. You can also use the above JPEG of the flyer if you like. We would certainly appreciate everyone's participation in helping let more people know about STERA, Inc. and www.shroud.com.

Posted January 21, 2012

The Shroud Blogs

Over the past few years the internet has continued to evolve and blogs have now become an important part of the internet landscape. Of course, having a blog, particularly on such a controversial topic as the Shroud of Turin, comes with its own special problems. The blog host is forced to create filters to avoid spam or foul language, but still has to carefully monitor what is posted every day (or every hour?) to insure that nothing offensive shows up on the page. Frankly, shroud.com was created to provide a resource of reliable information about the Shroud and not to provide a forum for the opinions of the general public or to react to news stories about the Shroud. We generally will wait for the media dust to settle before commenting on any news stories and we usually do that in the form of an editorial. (See above). Trust that we still receive plenty of e-mails from people out there that have their own opinions or agendas, which of course, they have every right to have. It's just that such commentary is best reserved for a blog and not for the kind of website we publish.

So I am very grateful to those who have taken up the task of providing such a forum for the public and wanted to provide you with links to some of the more extensive and successful blogs. This is by no means a complete list of what is available, but these are several of the largest blogs out there:

Posted January 21, 2012

Upcoming Shroud Lectures

Viewers often write me asking where and when I might be giving Shroud presentations. Since this year is shaping up to be the busiest I have ever had, I thought I would publish my upcoming schedule in case I happen to be in your area. If so, please drop by and say hello.

Posted January 21, 2012
Updated February 1, 2012

News From STERA, Inc.

On December 18, 2011 STERA, Inc. held its annual Board of Directors meeting. The first item on the agenda was a presentation of the first draft of STERA, Inc.'s official access policy that will establish the procedure to eventually allow qualified researchers direct physical access to various STERA materials. Board member Bill Meacham created the first draft and the board members will now review it and make any necessary corrections or additional suggestions. These will be compiled into what will become our "official" policy and voted on by the Board of Directors at our next meeting, to be held in July or August 2012. Once formalized, a set of STERA, Inc. Access Guidelines will be published on the website.

Next on the agenda was an update on the STERA, Inc., archiving project. We currently hold the collections of a number of STURP team members and other noted Shroud researchers, including Ray Rogers, Bob Dinegar, Mark Evans, William Mottern, Jean Lorre and Rev. Albert "Kim" Dreisbach, Jr. among others, and our goal is to digitally archive all of those materials and ultimately make them available on shroud.com. This was followed by a comprehensive report on our end-of-year fundraising efforts.

We then discussed the design and use of the new STERA, Inc. Flyer, which is now available as a free download to the general public as part of today's update (see above). This was followed by a review of the changes being made to the design and navigation of the website that would comprise this, our 16th anniversary "facelift." Finally, I presented our 2011 Financial Report, after which the meeting was adjourned.

Posted January 21, 2012

The Next Update

With my extremely busy schedule of traveling and lecturing about to begin, the next update will probably not go online until the end of July or early August. Of course, if any major news breaks, I will inform our Subscriber list first and get it onto the site as soon thereafter as possible. If you have not yet done so, you can quickly and easily become a subscriber to the Shroud of Turin Website - STERA, Inc. Mailing List and receive an e-mail notice whenever the website is updated. In addition, subscribers receive exclusive opportunities not available to the general public. These include access to papers and articles in advance of their publication, discounts on Shroud books and other materials and much more. To join, go to the Send Us E-mail page, enter your e-mail address in the box provided and hit "Go!" Follow the instructions and you will be added to the list in less than a minute. And finally, thank you for your continued support and patronage. It is truly appreciated. See you later this year!

Barrie Schwortz
Posted January 21, 2012

Archived Website News pages: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996


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