For some, science confirms shroud faith

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Fountain Valley, Calif., surgeon August Accetta has not given up on proving the Shroud of Turin is authentic, despite evidence to the contrary.

Believers in the shroud, which appears to be bloodstained with the image of a crucified body, say it was Jesus’ burial shroud. However, a series of scientific tests -- including radiocarbon testing that dates the cloth to 13 or 14 centuries after Jesus’ death -- have cast doubt on the shroud’s origins, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported Sunday.

Accetta, a 48-year-old urogynecological surgeon, is not dissuaded, the newspaper said. He has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his quest, and has even founded a local museum about the shroud.

The self-made researcher has visited Turin, Italy, several times to examine the shroud, and even zapped himself with gamma rays in an attempt to prove his theory that the image was created when Jesus turned into light during his resurrection.

Acetta is not alone, the Register said. Some researchers support such theories about the shroud, and he is also part of a larger trend of researchers seeking to settle religious questions through scientific methods.