ROBERTO Card. REPOLE

ARCHBISHOP OF TURIN, BISHOP OF SUSA

PRESS RELEASE

THE IMAGE OF THE TURIN SHROUD
ON SMARTPHONES ALL OVER THE WORLD

The Turin Shroud as it has never been seen before: Pope Leo XIV was the first, yesterday morning, to experience the digital reading created by “Avvolti”, presented to him by the Papal Custodian of the Shroud, Cardinal Roberto Repole, Archbishop of Turin, during an audience granted in the Apostolic Palace.

The digital reading of the image on the Shroud is an absolute novelty: it will be possible to connect to the programme via the Internet from the website www.avvolti.org and from the official website www.sindone.org using any device: smartphone, tablet, PC, with access from all over the world.

Using the programme, it is possible to “travel” across the image on the Shroud on your screen, enlarging the most significant details (the face, the crown of thorns, etc.). Each enlargement is accompanied by explanations and links to passages from the Gospels describing the Passion of Jesus.

The digital reading is intended to bring the general public, throughout the world, closer to the image of the Shroud and its meanings. Despite the scientific rigour of the texts and images, the aim has been to create a product that is accessible to all, rather than an initiative intended for specialists.

The “global” digital experience, accessible via the Internet anywhere in the world, is part of “Avvolti”, an initiative launched by the Diocese of Turin for the 2025 Jubilee. Last spring, an Avvolti tent was set up in Piazza Castello in Turin. Among other things, the tent featured a digital reading experience that reproduced a 1:1 scale image of the Shroud on a specially designed 5-metre-long table. The tent was visited by over 30,000 people from 79 countries during its eight days of opening (from 28 April to 5 May). Now the programme presented on the “Table”, suitably adapted, is available to everyone online. Images and texts of the experience can be found on the website www.avvolti.org and on social media (Facebook and Instagram).

Cardinal Repole recalled that the publication of the global digital experience is part of the “Shroud pastoral programme” that the diocese of Turin launched in 2024 and of which “Avvolti” was the centrepiece for the Jubilee Year 2025. Other initiatives will be planned and developed in the coming months, in order to create a path of accompaniment towards the Jubilee of 2033.

For information: marco.bonatti@sindone.org