In his new book The Face of God: The Rediscovery of the True Face of Jesus (Ignatius Press), Vatican reporter Paul Badde (whose previous three books include Maria of Guadalupe: Shaper of History, Shaper of Hearts, Jerusalem, Jerusalem and The Heavenly City) reports on a personal journey that he believes also has great meaning for Christians around the world. 

In great detail he tells of his quest to discover the truth behind an image of a human face on a mysterious cloth on display at a tiny church in the remote Italian village of Manoppello.

Known as the Holy Face of Manoppello, the recently “rediscovered” relic has been rumored to be “Veronica’s Veil” — a cloth
used to wipe the face of Jesus as he carried his cross on the way to Golgotha
and His crucifixion.

Badde’s reporting on the cloth prompted Pope Benedict XVI to travel to Manoppello to see it for himself in 2006 — a pilgrimage he reportedly made despite the counsel of others in the Vatican who advised against it.

Badde’s book also tells the story of Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer, recognized by many as the true redisocoverer of the sacred cloth. It was her meticulous research and investigation that convinced Badde (and others) that the Holy Face provides a “positive” photograph-like image of the same “negative” image that appears on the far more famous Shroud of Turin.

The image of a man’s face is clearly visible on the surface of both relics — and, most astoundingly, when the images are laid over one another they match perfectly. The evidence strongly suggests that they are, in fact, the same face.

Also worth noting, as Badde does, the cloth in Manoppello is made of a rare and delicate fabric called byssus (also known as sea silk) that is woven from a silky filament produced by mollusks. It is so thin and delicate that it is said to be impossible to paint on.

In his book, Badde reports that experts studying the cloth have concluded that it is not “Veronica’s Veil” but a burial cloth of Jewish tradition that was laid over Jesus’ face in the tomb. 

Badde, who believes Mary herself, has led him the tell the cloth’s story traces the known and speculated history of the Holy Face — from the time of Jesus to today.

He notes that John the Evangelist makes apparent reference to more than one cloth when, in the most crucial part of his gospel, he reports on the discovery of the empty tomb following Jesus’ death. One, he believes, was the Shroud of Turin, the other, the relic which is now known as the Holy Face. 

He says the discovery could not immediately be made known because claiming to have such an image of God would have been seen as violating Jewish law. So, they had to keep it secret.  

At first, it was most likely kept with the shroud and was in possession of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Then the apostle Jude is believed to have brought the veil and the shroud (possibly together) out of Jerusalem  to Edessa  in the Eastern Anotolia region of Turkey following Mary’s death in about 50 A.D. At some point they two sacred items got separated.

Badde says the Holy Face was kept in Rome for hundreds of years until the year 1527 when the city was plundered by German soldiers. At that time it was saved, probably by an unknown soldier, and later turned up again in Manoppello where it became a local relic.

But the people of Manoppello didn’t know exactly what they had — speculating that it was brought to them by an angel. “They had no idea whatsoever,” Badde says, “where it actually came from.” But research and investigation suggest that it is, in fact, the face of Jesus Himself.  

Today, of course, the Shroud is in Turin and the cloth (or “napkin” as it is sometimes called) is in Manoppello. Though they are about 500 miles apart from each other physically, their images can be compared online. (To see Holy Face of Jesus and learn more about it, go to holyfaceofmanopello.blogspot.com.)    

Badde also says that, while images of the cloth and the shroud match perfectly, in another sense, they couldn’t be more different. The shroud, he says, shows traces of blood and the agony of the Passion in great detail.

“You can count all the wounds,” he says, “You see the thorns. You see everything.”  He goes on “The Shroud of Turin shows a dead man. There’s no doubt about it.”

But the veil, on the other hand, is like a positive photographic image (as opposed the negative one on the shroud) that clearly shows a man who is alive, whose eyes are wide open.

It’s as if, Badde contends, “He’s telling us ‘Look, I’ve been dead. Now, I’m alive for ever and ever.” 

Badde says the Holy Face has been the cause of conversions and has reportedly been linked to healings.

Of the image’s eyes, he says they “look into your soul and into your heart.” He adds “I’ve often been asked ‘Does it prove anything?’ No, but (it is) the strongest confirmation of the Truth. That Jesus – who named himself the Truth, the Light and the Way — that He is all true. You don’t have to believe in Truth but you can rely on it.

“Truth doesn’t change. It doesn’t alter whether you believe it or not. But, if
you rely on Truth, you rely on solid ground. If you believe a lie, or rely on it,
then you get on very shaky ground with you life.”

Badde urges Americans to learn about The Holy Face of Jesus and take the opportunity to see it for themselves and, perhaps, visit the small shrine in Manappello where it is being viewed by pilgrims on a daily basis.

Note: This is a corrected version of an earlier version which misidentified the area to which the veil and the shroud were taken by the apostle Jude as Odessa (rather than Edessa). The earlier version also suggested that, following the plundering of Rome by German soldiers in 1527, it was probably saved by a “German soldier.” The term should have been, and now reads, “unknown soldier.”