Southern Nebraska Register
St. John the Apostle Parish in Lincoln will host a presentation March 17 on the Shroud of Turin.
The talk will be held at 7 p.m. at St. John Church, 76th and Vine streets, Lincoln. It will be presented by Jim Bertrand, M. Ed., a retired teacher, a member of St. Peter Parish in Lincoln, and a member of the American Confraternity of the Holy Shroud.
Bertrand has given hundreds of talks around the nation on the Shroud, an artifact believed to be the burial cloth of Christ. In his presentations, Bertrand uses a life-size replica of the artifact – 14.5 feet long and 3.5 feet long – that was purchased with the help of the Knights of Columbus and the PCCW of St. Peter Parish in Lincoln.
The program will last 90 minutes, and will include time for questions and answers.
See a photo slideshow from a 2022 presentation.
Scientists have studied the Shroud since the early 1900s. While some claim the cloth is a forgery, many others point to a host of evidence that says otherwise. Bertrand first read about the Shroud in a National Geographic magazine article in 1981, when the publication featured photos from a 1978 scientific study called the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP). In 1996, Dr. John Jackson, STRUP team leader, gave a presentation on the Shroud in Lincoln.
In 2014, Dr. Jackson and Bishop Michael Sheridan of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, founded the American Confraternity of the Holy Shroud to help people learn about the shroud and grow closer to Jesus. The organization’s Critical Summary is 148 pages and spans four decades of research. Bertrand assisted the Confraternity by creating a PowerPoint presentation of the Critical Summary. His presentation became a pilot program of training people within their own dioceses to present factual information about the Shroud.
Kathy Beran, administrative assistant at St. John Parish, invited Bertrand for the March 17 event. She saw a shortened version of his presentation for schoolchildren and found it “amazing.”
“The science and history behind the Shroud was just fascinating to me,” she said. “It helped my faith to see actual signs that our Lord was truly here and suffered so much for us. It brought the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary to life, knowing what He endured for us. I wanted to share this experience with my parish family and invited Jim to come to St. John’s during Lent, which will make it even more impactful.”
All are welcome to attend the presentation March 17. There is no charge, but free-will offerings will be accepted for the American Confraternity of the Holy Shroud.
