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Books
The DNA of God: Newly Discovered Secrets of the Shroud of Turin, Garza-Valdez
Reviewed by Anthony Cappello
| | Contents - Aug 2001 - Buy a copy now
Editorial: The Assumption of Our Lady: 15 August - Michael Gilchrist
Melbourne's new Archbishop receives Pallium from John Paul II - AD2000 Report
News: The Church Around the World
After 14 years: why does AD2000 continue? - Michael Gilchrist
Denver Archdiocese: the future of Catholicism - David Scott
US bishops implement papal teaching on Catholic universities - Charles E. Rice
Appreciating the Mass: a successful new publication - Fr Robert Egar PP
Australian scholarship for African priest
Letters: Balanced presentation (letter) - Denis O'Leary
Letters: BEC success stories (letter) - Errol P. Duke
Letters: BECs not new (letter) - John Barich
Letters: Radical feminists (letter) - Dr T.R. White
Letters: Statement of Conclusions (letter) - Mark Power
Letters: Orthodox seminary (letter) - Paul Chigwidden
Letters: Finding more priests (letter) - Theo Silvas
Letters: Evolution/Original Sin (letter) - John Schmid
Letters: Vatican II 'ambiguities' (letter) - George F. Simpson
Letters: Choosing life (letter) - Mark Whybrow
Letters: St Thomas Aquinas (letter) - Valentine Gallagher
Letters: Generous response (letter) - Fr Stephen B. Muchemwa
Letters: Mass leaflet (letter) - Stephanie McClarty
Letters: Correct statement (letter) - Elizabeth Carr
Books: Genetic Turning Points, by James Peterson - Bill Muehlenberg (reviewer)
Books: The Cross of Anzac, by Tom Johnstone - Mark Posa (reviewer)
Books: Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God, by Scott Hahn - Catherine Sheehan (reviewer)
Books: Learning to Pray, by Julie Keleman - Anthony Cappello (reviewer)
Books: The DNA of God: Newly Discovered Secrets of the Shroud of Turin, Garza-Valdez - Anthony Cappello (reviewer)
Books: The Christian Travellers' Guides: France, Britain, Italy, Germany - F.T. Long (reviewer)
Events: Victorian Thomas More Winter School 2001 in Ballarat, 3 - 5 August 2001
Events: Cardinal Lustiger to visit Australia, 6 August 2001
Events: Second National Chesterton Conference, 30 Sept - 1 Oct 2001
Reflection: Clerical celibacy: Giving ourselves up completely to God and the people He loves - Fr Dennis W. Byrnes PP |
THE DNA OF GOD: Newly Discovered Secrets of the Shroud of Turin
by Dr Leoncio A. Garza-Valdez
(Berkeley Books, 2001, 206pp, $24.95. Available from AD Books)
More and more studies on the Shroud of Turin are questioning the radio-carbon tests of 1988 which found the Shroud to date from the period 1260 to 1390. Dr Leoncio A. Garza-Valdes, a paediatrician from San Antonio, Texas, has written another study that challenges those dates.
Unlike many who have simply rejected the radio-carbon dating, Garza-Valdes offers a reason for the unreliability of the dates. His studies demonstrate that there are millions of microbiological organisms on the shroud forming a layer which he has called a "bioplastic coating."
Having studied tape samples of threads from the Shroud under a microscopic camera, Garza-Valdes confirms that such a coating exists on the Shroud, which he had earlier discovered on ancient Mayan artefacts. Yet, his findings have encountered strong opposition, particularly from the custodians of the Shroud, including the Archbishop of Turin.
This US edition contains an additional 92 pages of appendices covering definitions and medical procedures pertaining to the study of the Shroud. What is most interesting about these sections is the explanation of the DNA found in bloodstains on the Shroud.
So the debates continue, but Garza-Valdez's studies still remain on the fringe of Sindonology (the study of the Shroud). But his research is fresh and interesting and with more technological advances. Allowing greater scope for interpretation, his study could well be ground-breaking.
Anthony Cappello works at the Thomas More Centre, Melbourne
Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 14 No 7 (August 2001), p. 18 |
