In addition to this another problem has come to light casting doubt on the
origins of the Shroud.
This is due mainly to the research of Canon Ulysse Chevalier, a
series of documents was discovered which clearly proved that in 1389 the
Bishop of Troyes appealed to Clement VII, the Avignon Pope then recognised
in France, to put a stop to the scandals connected to the Shroud preserved
at Lirey. It was, the Bishop declared, the work of an artist who some
years before had confessed to having painted it but it was then being
exhibited by the Canons of Lirey in such a way that the people believed
that it was the authentic shroud of Jesus
Christ.
The pope, without absolutely prohibiting the exhibition of the
Shroud, decided after full examination that in the future when it was
shown to the people, the priest should declare in a loud voice that it was
not the real shroud of Christ, but only a picture made to represent it.
The authenticity of the documents connected with this appeal is not
disputed. Moreover, the grave suspicion thus thrown upon the relic is
immensely strengthened by the fact that no intelligible account, beyond
wild conjecture, can be given of the previous history of the Shroud or its
coming to Lirey.
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