“First of all, the Shroud is a gift, as Saint John Paul II pointed out in his address in Turin in 1998. The Shroud has been given to us so that we may contemplate the love of God, His limitless self-giving. In the Shroud we contemplate the extent to which God has loved us; we see His immolation, His sacrifice for us. Thanks to the Shroud, we can see what the Gospels tell us about the Lord’s Passion, death, and Resurrection.”
– Father Pascual

Rafael Pascual’s article in Imagens em Foco examines the Shroud of Turin as more than a historical artifact. He writes that the Shroud is presented as a “gift” for humanity, meant to help believers see the depth of Jesus’ love and sacrifice as described in the Gospels. Pascual connects the visual marks on the cloth with the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Christ, using theological reflection and references to church leaders like Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. His writing emphasizes that the Shroud can help modern readers move beyond abstract belief and engage with the story of Christ in a direct, sensory way through the image itself.

What makes the piece worth reading in full is how it moves between contemplation and questions people actually have. It treats modern image culture and scientific curiosity as real starting points, then invites the reader to look longer, especially at the Face, with the idea that prayer can include “allowing ourselves to be gazed upon.” Even when he touches debates about authenticity and recent claims about image formation, the main thread stays pastoral: the Shroud as a prompt to conversion, reflection, and witness. If you want a spiritually grounded overview that still engages the “I want to see and verify” mindset, it’s the kind of article you will finish and then want to revisit more slowly.