By Victoria Arruda
Bill Lauto is an environmental scientist and energy consultant who has been following and studying the Shroud of Turin since he was 14.
It all started when he found a photo of the artifact on the internet and “could not imagine how we were looking at a photograph of Jesus himself.”
Nowadays, with a degree in science and faith in environment and energy and a Master’s in Shroud studies, Bill is one of the expert members of the Shroud of Turin Exhibit at the 10th National Eucharist Congress occurring in Indianapolis.
Alongside an identical replica of the Shroud on display, he is “talking and educating people on all the facts and over 100 years of scientific study that’s been done on the Shroud.”
He adds that “the image itself still cannot be explained on how it was formed and everybody that looks at it is affected one way or another.”
Bill grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., attending a Catholic school, until his family moved to Long Island and he went to public school, where he began to question his faith.
“So I was a 14-year-old going into the field of science and questioning the possibility that there was no such thing as a God. I looked up Jesus Christ in the Encyclopedia Britannica, saw that photograph, and from there, it all started for me”.
He attests that studying the Shroud gave him faith like never before, as it is also based on reason.
“Now when people come up to me and say ‘Bill you’re a scientist, you don’t believe in all that God stuff….’ I say, ‘You’re right, I don’t believe, I know.’”
“And then I take the picture out of my wallet, which shows the three-dimensional data of Jesus from the Shroud of Turin, and show it to them and as their mouths drop open, I say, ‘If you could explain away this image, then maybe I’ll talk to you about the possibility of there being no such thing as God.'”
He then ensures:
“But all the scientific studies for over 100 years show the Shroud is 2,000 years old and the information on it is overwhelming. The evidence is overwhelming and you come to the conclusion that yes, this was and is the burial court of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
This story was first published by Churchpop, EWTN Norway`s news partner.
