Shroud of Turin to be displayed

The Shroud of Turin, a linen relic believed by millions to be the actual burial cloth of Jesus, will be an open exhibit at the Catholic Church in Turin, Italy, from April 10 to May 23.

It's just the fifth time since 1898 that the shroud will be available for public view, and the longest exposition in its modern history.

Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit the shroud on May. 2.

The Shroud of Turin bears the full-body image of a crucified man that closely resembles the New Testament description of Christ. Its authenticity has been a subject of debate and the Vatican in 1988 allowed laboratories from the University of Oxford, the University of Arizona and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich to subject small samples cut from the shroud to radiocarbon dating analysis, according to WorldNetDaily.

Those tests dated the shroud between 1260 AD to 1390 AD, making many believe it is a forgery. Those findings have been discounted by many who believe the samples were contaminated when they were cut from the cloth.