Turin, 15th April 2010 – Over 100,000 new bookings to see the Holy Shroud were made in the last two days. So far the total number of visits booked is 1,607,437.

 

A delegate from the patriarchy of Moscow, the Archbishop Veniamin of the Vladivostock diocese has been among today’s pilgrims.   There was also group of 50 Latvians who left from Riga last Sunday by bus accompanied by some nuns of the city’s convent and the quick-change artist Arturo Brachetti. At the end of the visit, Brachetti declared: “This is a mystical experience that must be done by everyone. Whether the Shroud is real or not, it does not count. The Holy Shroud is a reason for deep reflection about something greater; it diverts our attention from the daily life”. In the evening, the painter Ezio Gribaudo has come before the Holy Shroud.

 

Tomorrow 150 pilgrims from Loreto are expected; the actress Claudia Cardinale will be visiting the Holy Shroud, too.