His lordship the Archbishop to the Clergy and to the People of the City and Dioceses

Revered Brothers and loved children,

In the first pages of this issue of the "Review" you can find the speech the Holy Father gave in answer to The Sacro Collegio’s Christmas wishes, and the Bull that announces an Extraordinary Holy Year in commemoration of the 19^th Centenary of the Redemption of mankind.

In the next month issue I will speak of a very important subject: the Extraordinary Jubilee, granted to commemorate the great mysteries of our Redemption. Nonetheless, I can not delay the announcement of an event that will fill your souls with much consolation.

The radio spread the Holy Father’s words through the world. He invited all Catholics to commemorate the centenary of the institution of the Holy Eucharist, of the Passion and the Death, of the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord to Heaven, of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and of the foundation of the Church. Our thought went spontaneously to the remarkable Relic of the Holy Shroud that Turin is proud to own, and we wished for another exposition. On the 9 of this month I talked about this intention to the Holy Father and He approved and expressed his wish that in the Holy Year all the Relics related to the Passion of Christ would be particularly venerated. I went then to ask His Majesty the King his permission to display the Shroud in another exposition. He welcomed me on Wednesday 11, he listened to my request and he appreciated the spiritual meaning of this occasion, celebrated for the first time. He promised he would consider my request, which responded to a universal wish. Today he has communicated us his approval for the Exceptional Exposition of the Holy Shroud.

Giving you this piece of news, I promise to bring your feelings to His Majesty our beloved King and express him our gratitude for the favor he granted us. Yet I can not give you details about the dates and modalities of the new exposition, since the Minister of the Royal House and the Local Authorities are still making agreements on the subject. They want to make sure that the event will take place in peace and meditation, as it is needed by the preciousness of the Relic and the recurrence of the Holy Year. In the meanwhile prepare your souls to enjoy the spiritual fruit of this event, so that we can meet the expectations proposed by the Holy Father when he invited the Catholics of the world to celebrate the 19^th Centenary of the Redemption. I trust that many pilgrims will come from other nations to prostrate themselves in front of the Shroud and pray with us. May God our father concede to the whole humankind the peace they covet and that agreement among the nations that is a necessary condition to go back to a quiet living together, for the merits and the sufferings of the blood of Christ, of which the Shroud is eloquent witness.

May the blessing that I give you be an anticipation of the Grace that will come on the City and Dioceses for the Exposition of the Shroud.

Torino, 22 January 1933.

His Lordship Cardinal Fossati, Archbishop.

"Atti Arcivescovili", pag. 7-8.