FR. ROBERT SPITZER, a Jesuit priest, educator, lecturer and author, who has written multiple books and given numerous presentations on the Shroud, will be the featured speaker at Christ Cathedral on Aug. 22 as part of the Lumen Christi Speaker Series.
The lecture, titled “Science, Medicine & the Shroud,” will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. inside the Arboretum on the cathedral’s Garden Grove campus.
Fr. Spitzer’s talk will focus on the scientific evidence proving the existence of the Shroud as the burial cloth of Jesus.
The Shroud of Turin, believed by millions to be the burial cloth used to wrap the body of Jesus of Nazareth following His crucifixion, has arguably undergone more scientific testing than any other relic in history.
And in the words of Fr. Spitzer, founder and president of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, the 14 foot, 3-inch long by 3-foot, 7-inch-wide swath of linen “always comes up smelling like a rose.”
Fr. Spitzer discussed the miraculous nature of the Shroud along with Adriana Acutis, a noted researcher on the relic. during a presentation at Christ Cathedral in April.
The Jesuit priest and educator said the image on the Shroud is perfectly three-dimensional, similar to today’s MRI imaging used to acquire pictures of soft tissue such as organs and muscles that don’t show up on x-rays.
“That image is lying right on the uppermost surface of the fibers and never penetrates to the medulla of the fibers,” Fr. Spitzer said. “It’s sitting there on those fibers, and it’s sitting there with perfection, and you can see the inside of that man’s body, like the backbone, relative to the flesh. There’s only one way you’re going to get it, you guys. Only one way. Radiation, radiation, radiation. The definition of radiation is what? Action at a distance. And that’s what caused that image.”
Ultraviolet radiation is one hypothesis that can explain how the image on the Shroud was created, he said. The radiation would require 6- to 8-billion watts of light energy for one 40 billionth of a second, Fr. Spitzer said.
“Let me tell you, dead corpses do not produce 100,000 to 500,000 searchlights worth of light energy for a 40 billionth of a second, let alone at all,” he added.
Another theory proving the Shroud’s authenticity is the particle radiation hypothesis, which theorizes that the entire body simultaneously underwent nuclear disintegration at one moment.
“It caused a big light, it caused a big boom,” Fr. Spitzer said. “It caused a flux of protons and deuterons that produced the image, which produced a flux of neutrons and strength in the cloth that turned the blood bright red. If that was the case, then of course, it’s a miracle.”
Fr. Spitzer currently hosts a weekly EWTN television program titled “Fr. Spitzer’s Universe,” which features discussions on faith, science, philosophy and culture. He has made multiple media appearances, including a 2010 appearance on “Larry King Live” when he debated noted physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking on the existence of God.
Fr. Spitzer’s most recent books on the relationship between faith and science are titled “Science at the Doorstep to God,” “Christ, Science, and Reason” and “Science, Reason, and Faith: Discovering the Bible.”
To register to attend Fr. Spitzer’s talk on Aug. 22, visit https://www.rcbo.org/ministry/lumen-christi/lc-speaker-series-registration/
The Diocese of Orange Lumen Christi Institute offers Catechetical and lay ministry certifications, street evangelization training and a biblical education program. To learn more, visit https://www. rcbo.org/ministry/lumen-christi/