Monday, April 12, 2010

Shroud of Turin Hidden in Italy During WWII; Church Leaders Feared Hitler Would Steal It

The Shroud of Turin was hidden in an Italian Benedictine abbey during World War II, because church authorities feared Adolph Hitler might want to steal it, according to an official at the monastery.

The Shroud -- which many believe to have been the burial cloth of Christ -- was transferred secretly from the Turin cathedral in 1939 to the abbey of Montevergine in southern Italy, and returned to Turin in 1946, after the war had ended.

Benedictine Father Andrea Cardin, director of the Montevergine library that holds the relevant documents, said church officials seemed to fear that the Nazis wanted to take possession of the Shroud, according to the Cybercast News Service website.

Father Cardin said that during a visit by Hitler to Italy in 1938, church leaders were alarmed when Nazi officials asked unusual and persistent questions about the Shroud and its custody.

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