Shroud of Turin to go on display – Pope announces (Tickets on sale soon?)
Not for nothing have the new Pope's PR skills earned him the title "Papa Razzi" (after his real name Joseph Ratzinger). The Turin Shroud announcement is a public relations victory, indeed:
Reuters reported today: The Shroud of Turin, the mysterious yellowing linen which some Christians believe was Christ's burial cloth and others think is a medieval fake, will go on display again in 2010, Pope Benedict announced on Monday
Not as excited as the Catholic News Agency that gushed:
"(...) The Pope also had a special gift that he gave the Catholics from Turin as the contemplate Jesus Passion. At the audience he announced that he had accepted the request of the archbishop of Turin to have another 'Solemn Exposition of the Shroud' in the spring of 2010.
He spontaneously added that, "If the Lord gives me life and health, I too hope to come." The Exposition of the Shroud, he said, "will provide an appropriate moment to contemplate that mysterious Face which silently speaks to the hearts of men, inviting them to recognize therein the face of God.""
I guess the question on every Da Vinci Code fan's lips is: where can I get a ticket?
UPDATE, MAY 09: The shroud is scheduled to go on exhibition 10 April to 23 May, 2010. No date has been announced for the sale of tickets, but when they do become available, you will be able to get them on the official site here.