Presented at Pescara the Book by Antonio Bini - Heinrich Pfeiffer and the Recognition of the Veronica in the Holy Face of Manoppello

A compelling story between the Jubilees of 2000 and 2025 is recounted in Antonio Bini's book, Heinrich Pfeiffer - Lo studioso che identificò la Veronica nel Volto Santo, which was presented in Pescara during a meeting promoted by the Culture, Art and School Association of Pescara, held in the packed conference room of the Pescarabruzzo Foundation. 

Gianni Melilla, president of the Association, who introduced the conference, confessed that he was very taken by the book so much that he finished reading it late at night, explaining that "Antonio Bini with this work honors Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, professor of the history of Christian art at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and one of the greatest contemporary scholars of the cultural heritage of the Church. With his studies on the Holy Face and the Veronica, Pfeiffer, like David, challenged the Goliath of sindonologists evidently "irritated" by a thesis that disturbed centuries-old beliefs on Christ's burial cloths. The Culture, Art and School Association believes it is important to promote the historical-religious heritage of our land and for this reason we wanted to present this very interesting book".



from the left, Fr. Antonio Genitili, Gianni Melilla, Antonio Bini, Stefano Falco, director
(photo by Francesca Esposito Bini)

Fr. Antonio Gentili, rector of the Shrine, then spoke, thanking Antonio Bini for his work and the Association for organizing the presentation. After recalling the importance of the figure of the German Jesuit, he wanted to recall the devotion of so many pilgrims who come to Manoppello from all over the world. "There are many," said the rector, "who encounter the Holy Face full of devotion and hope, often moved to tears. Many are suffering people or even with serious problems who find comfort and hope in that gaze."

(photo by Antonio Bini)

Fr. Gentili also recounted a list of the churches of various countries where the Holy Face is present, and revealed two upcoming enthronements that will take place, in February in a church in London, and in April in a church in Pennsylvania, while it is not excluded that during the Jubilee 2025 there will be other enthronements.

This was followed by the talk by the director Stefano Falco who produced the interesting documentary "The Mystery of the Holy Face" at the end of 1999, including images of the press conference in Rome on May 31, 1999, as well as the testimonies of Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer and Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer, interviewed at the time in her religious community of Maria Frieden in Dahlem (Eifel), Germany. As is well known, since 2003 Sister Blandina has lived in Manoppello, near the Holy Face. The documentary was then shown to the audience.

Antonio Bini, author of the book, then spoke, stating that it was his desire to give a personal testimony of the work of Fr. Pfeiffer, of whom he was a friend and collaborator since 1998, and to recall little-known facts and events, which preceded and followed the international press conference in Rome on May 31, 1999 which, a few months before the beginning of the Great Jubilee of 2000, brought to light the complex historical-religious story of the Veronica, the most important relic of Christianity, which was believed to be lost.

As the promoter of that conference, Antonio Bini himself played a role in the dissemination of the Holy Face in the world. But starting from that May 31, 1999 the life of Fr. Pfeiffer, who passed away in 2021, was not easy, remembered Antonio Bini. Only the visit of Pope Benedict XVI – on September 1, 2006 – contributed, in fact, to confirming the validity of the German Jesuit's studies.



Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer and Prof. J.S. Jaworski, Professor of Chemistry, Warsaw University
(photo by Antonio Bini)

Bini's talk was followed by the questions from various people present at the meeting, who took the opportunity to find answers to their questions, showing however that they possessed a non-superficial knowledge of the Holy Face.

The author of the book, in conclusion, expressed his gratitude for the turnout and for the interest shown in his book, referring to the email he received a few days earlier from the French scholar Guillaume Nocq, author of the essay "Le Voile de Véronique, Enquête sur le Suaire de Manoppello", who called the book "beautiful and fascinating", expressing his "emotion to see the history of the Holy Face retraced through the work of Heinrich Pfeiffer and to see its reflections in the faith of the Church". This testimony, said Antonio Bini, "is also pleasing as it demonstrates the usefulness of his work among scholars and the most attentive faithful."

It All Began with the International Press Conference of May 31, 1999

Press conference of May 31, 1999. From the left Prof. Donato Vittore, University of Bari, Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, Gregorian University, Erik Kusch, journalist, Marco Verticelli, president of the Abruzzo Region, Fr. Germano Di Pietro, superior of the Shrine of the Holy Face.



By Antonio Bini

Editor's note: This article is a translation of one of the chapters in Bini's work "Heinrich Pfeiffer Lo studioso che identificò la Veronica nel Volto Santo" (Heinrich Pfeiffer, the Scholar who Recognized the Veronica in the Holy Face), Teaternum Edizioni, 2024

On May 31, 1999, the media around the world for the first time discovered the Holy Face and Manoppello, placing, in many cases, the news among the headlines of the main newspapers and television news programs. Many considered the research of Fr. Pfeiffer convincing and well documented, also including commentary by historians in the news reports.

Father Germano OFM Cap, superior of the Shrine, wrote enthusiastically in his editorial published in issue 2/1999 of the Rivista del Volto Santo: "We never imagined what would happen. At the foreign press conference, an announcement resounded throughout the world: the Roman Veronica has been found... Manoppello was invaded by journalists and television networks from all over the world, up to CNN" (footnote 1) who broke into the quiet life of the Shrine. Also relevant were the reflections on the internet, where the presence of the Holy Face multiplied in just a few months (footnote 2).

Some media reported on the veil of Veronica found in "a remote monastery in the mountains" at the foot of the Maiella, while the news of the Spanish television Antenna 3 emphatically emphasized the "total silence of the Vatican" with respect to the result of the studies announced by Father Pfeiffer.

In the midst of so much silence, one voice, in fact, was picked up. The historian Guglielmo de' Giovanni Centelles, in an article published in the newspaper Il Tempo (footnote 3), while referring to the hypotheses of the disappearance following the Sack of Rome, makes his own the testimony obtained from a disgruntled canon of St. Peter's, the Portuguese archbishop Alvim Pereira (1915-2006), who confirmed that: "The Veronica is as always in its place", adding, as if to reproach Father Pfeiffer, "that the major relics are to be venerated and not argued about." There is also some annoyance about the article regarding the Holy Face, just published in the Sunday Times. Without sensing contradictions, the author of the article wrote that "the authenticity of the Vatican Veronica does not weaken the veneration of the icon of Manoppello."

Silence and denial on the part of the Church fueled doubts, opposition, mistrust and criticism of the German Jesuit and his studies, sometimes with intolerable critical insinuations about the Holy Face itself, sometimes expressed by those who had never even seen the sacred image.

Nevertheless, the fog of oblivion which had formed over the centuries was still destined to progressively dissolve. For example, the English historian Ian Wilson, a member of the British Society for the Shroud of Turin, wondered, as had others, why on the occasion of the Great Jubilee of 2000 "the other cloth bearing the imprint of Jesus, once exposed to millions of believers?" was not displayed? (footnote 4)

Not a single line appeared in L'Osservatore Romano. Considering that the historic newspaper of the Holy See, founded in 1861, already had digital archives, I sought confirmation on June 15, 1999, resulting in this negative response: in the almost 150 years of its existence, L'Osservatore Romano had never found a way to concern itself with the Holy Face.

Even the Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana ignored the press conference. A devotee of Manoppello who turned to the editor complaining about the silence maintained on the Holy Face, while articles on the Shroud were frequent, received a reply in a letter dated September 21, 1999, that the weekly "did not usually chase after sensational discoveries", evidently questioning the theses of Father Pfeiffer and the research of Prof. Donato Vittore, emphasizing that the problem was that "of not fueling easy sensationalism about events and realities where there is often no certain tradition and where there is no certainty of the miracle, when there is even a lack of approval or authentication on the part of the ecclesiastical authority." The letter concluded, however, leaving the possibility of returning to the question "if studies should emerge or events aimed at accurately clarifying the nature of the sudarium of Manoppello should emerge". And this is what actually happened a few years later.

Figure 1 – card with the prayer of Father Pfeiffer sent in December 2000

To speak of the Holy Face and even more to claim that it was the Veronica, as Father Pfeiffer courageously affirmed, meant touching on a delicate subject, as the Church had never admitted the disappearance from Rome of what was the most venerated relic of Christianity, capable of attracting crowds of pilgrims, even before the first Jubilee in history, established by Boniface VIII in 1300.

There was no lack of ironic jokes directed at me at that time, but nothing compared to the criticism and hostility shown towards Father Pfeiffer, whose theses created "turmoil," precisely as the Great Jubilee of 2000 approached.

His convictions also emerged in the prayer to the Holy Face that he wrote and had printed, sending it with his best wishes to me and my family in December 2000. The text of the prayer is preceded by the Latin verse taken from the Gospel of John 20:7 "Et sudarium, quod fuerat super caput ejus" (The face cloth, which had been on his head), an evident reference to what he considered to be the origin and formation of the Holy Face (Fig. 1).

Very intense years followed, with meetings, visits, contacts, interviews, research, but also contrasts and discussions, which were not only public.

Rose-Marie Borngässer wrote in Die Welt of June 2, 1999, in an article entitled "Deutscher Pater findet vershollen Reliquie" (German Father finds the missing relic), in addition to her reflections on Father Pfeiffer's conclusions and the outcome of Prof. Vittore's research on the absence of color, that "until now science had dealt exclusively with the Shroud of Turin, considered the burial sheet of Christ. The similarity of the somatic features of the Turin relic to those of the now rediscovered sudarium is shocking."

The reference to what the journalist expressed seems appropriate for a brief mention of the critical position towards the Holy Face expressed by some sindonologists (experts on the Shroud of Turin). I was able to discover that this was unfortunately a question that had been open for some time, which arose when the Holy Face was still almost completely unknown, as the Passionist Father Enrico Sammarco noted in 1972, who believed, with a certain intuition, that "the two relics of the Passion are not mutually exclusive, but rather, in a certain way complemented each other", so it would be "useless any controversy, as some would like, in the defense of the Holy Shroud, excluding at all costs other faces of Jesus imprinted on other sudaria" (footnote 5). But from Manoppello, a small provincial situation quite different from the Turin capital (footnote 6), I do not know that any polemics have ever been raised against disapproving opinions, let alone doubts expressed about the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin cloth.

From some research it has been possible to detect that such a comparison between the two cloths dates back to the beginning of the last century when the Tribuna Illustrata of May 31, 1902 published two separate articles in the same issue, the first on the Shroud and the research begun by two French scholars, only four years after the photographs of Secondo Pia that made the Shroud "legible" for the first time, the second on the Holy Face of Manoppello, taking up a writing by a certain Clemente Rije, in which it was stated that "the small veil is made of silk of the finest weaving, as large as the silver frame in which it is kept ... The characteristics of the cloth would be surprising because no trace of coloring appears, while the face of Jesus is bright and clear, the hair is long and falling on the shoulders, the features are pale, the eyes glassy, just as Publius Lentulus describes in his letter to Caesar". Rije's letter concluded by stating that "the cloth should be a stimulus for serious studies, all the more so since today the discussions on the Shroud of Turin have rekindled such a legitimate interest. This could therefore be the true icon from which the name of Veronica derives, whom tradition believes to be the pious Jewish woman who wiped the face of Jesus on the way to Calvary" (footnote 7).

Important hypotheses and questions, but unfortunately we had to wait almost a century for the first studies on the Holy Face.

Coinciding with Easter 2005, Famiglia Cristiana published a work on the Holy Face by Saverio Gaeta, then editor-in-chief of the weekly, with the eloquent title "The Face of the Risen One", including the preface by the archbishop at the head of the diocese of Chieti-Vasto, Mons. Bruno Forte, who arrived in Abruzzo a few months prior. It was the first book circulated nationally on the veil of Manoppello, in which the face of the resurrection of Jesus was recognized. It was Mons. Forte to deliver a copy of the book to the then Cardinal Ratzinger.

Until then, publications on the Holy Face had been very rare, certainly because of the fears that the Capuchins had for the fate of the veil, so much so as to induce them to hide the sacred image for decades "in a small cabinet or niche on the right side of the main altar" (footnote 8), which, as a result of papal measures, in particular that of Pope Urban VIII, could have been destroyed if mistaken for a copy of the Veronica. (footnote 9) These fears may also have influenced Father Donato da Bomba, leading him to hypothesize the arrival of the veil in Manoppello as it happened before 1527, when he was commissioned by the Order to draw up the Relatione (1640-1646), after the donation of Donato Antonio De Fabritiis to the Capuchins, more than a century after its presumed arrival in the Abruzzo town.

It is also discovered that "that manuscript, although furnished with due approval, was never published", as admitted by Father Filippo da Tussio in the preface of his Memoirs, suggesting that the mandate he had received from the superiors constituted precisely that of explaining and finally making known the Relatione, which had until then been hidden "for reasons that need not be remembered" even fromthe bishops, as in the case of Mons. Giosué Maria Saggese, archbishop of Chieti (from 1838 to 1852), who had also authorized the dissemination of a novena. (footnote 10) For a long time, the Relatione had been known only by an exceedingly small number of people, while the Memoirs of Fr. Filippo da Tussio would have had an extremely limited diffusion.

The public cult of the Holy Face actually began only in 1703, due to popular pressure following earthquakes that struck the town and Abruzzo. Yet, after only a few years, on April 21, 1718, Clement XI granted the plenary indulgence for seven years, which helped to make the Shrine even more frequented. A surprising circumstance for the unknown Shrine, then isolated and reachable only through footpaths and mule tracks, while until the early sixties there was only an unpaved road. It is not possible to know whether the papal decree has been renewed.

The constant concerns of the Capuchins aimed at defending the Holy Face must have known fluctuating periods over time. In order to shelter the relic, whose importance they knew, the father guardian of the convent, Fr. Francesco da Orsogna, in 1790, "for reasons that it is not useful to recall now" (footnote 11), with the help of the community of Manoppello, even went as far as to request the unusual protection of King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, which was granted by decree of August 27, 1794. Here too, Fr. Filippo da Tussio, who would have liked to say much more, did not go beyond a nod to make us understand the difficulties experienced by the friars, who in the past were engaged, not without tensions, even with the local clergy who aspired to the custody of the Holy Face.

For L'Osservatore Romano it was not until the year following the publication of Gaeta’s work in Famiglia Cristiana, that on September 2, 2006, the newspaper of the Holy See dedicated its entire front page to Pope Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to Manoppello which had taken place the day before. It was the pope himself who "approved," indeed who urged the cult of the Holy Face, even more so through his prayer spread exactly one year after his visit.

Even Professor Pierluigi Baima Bollone, an authoritative representative of Italian sindonologists, who, interviewed by TG1 RAI on May 31, 1999, had doubted the veil of Manoppello, affirming it could be one of the copies of the Veronica spread in past centuries, a year later published a new essay in which he recognized that the Holy Face "has an identical general appearance, overlapping dimensions and ten points of congruity with the Shroud" (footnote 12).

Reviewing some of the news programs that aired after the press conference, I was able to note the presence, among the many journalists, of two visibly displeased prelates, identified thanks also to the research of Paul Badde (footnote 13), as two brother archbishops, at the time apostolic nuncios and Vatican diplomats. They were Giovanni De Andrea and Giuseppe De Andrea, of Piedmontese origin, both now deceased, respectively, in 2012 and 2016. This is just one of the many circumstances that can make us understand the difficulties encountered by Father Pfeiffer's theses.

I had met Father Pfeiffer on December 19, 1998, during a conference promoted by Prof. Nicola Costantini, president of the Pro-Loco "Volto Santo" of Manoppello, on the theme "Holy Face, future prospects" (Fig. 2). Among those present was also the mayor Giorgio De Luca, still at the helm of the town.

Figure 2 – Invitation - Program

I had been invited in my capacity as regional tourism manager and head of the "Jubilee Communication Project" of the Abruzzo Region. In reality, mine was a casual presence, as the organizers initially invited the regional councilor who, unable to participate due to other commitments, delegated me. Although I live in Pescara, just thirty minutes by car from Manoppello, I must admit that it was the first time I went to visit the Shrine. In fact, although I knew of its existence, I thought it housed a painting and not the legendary Veronica, or in any case a veil with the extraordinary characteristics of the Holy Face. And as a painting it had been presented on the other hand by some rare publications. (footnote14), while, to remain in Abruzzo, there is a monastery of the Silvestrini Benedictine monks dedicated to the Holy Face in Giulianova, and in Tagliacozzo the feast of the Holy Face is celebrated annually, represented by a painting kept by the Benedictine nuns.

On that occasion I was very struck by that first encounter with the Holy Face, especially by that intense, mysterious, alive and profound gaze that was imprinted on me. I immediately had the impression that it was an inexplicable image. I then listened with great interest to Father Pfeiffer's speech during the conference, in which I also spoke about the prospects of the imminent Jubilee for the main shrines of Abruzzo.

The Jesuit recounted his first visit to Manoppello, his joy at coming across the Holy Face, which he immediately believed to be the the Veronica, long studied, venerated by huge crowds of pilgrims, including Dante and Petrarch, and considered lost forever. His exhibition was documented by the projection of a series of slides, as was customary at the time.

His was a completely isolated opinion at that time.

Already glimpsing the difficult path that his theses would have to travel in the future, he stated with his usual calmness that “all art history will have to deal with it, perhaps even long after my death. But that doesn't matter."

Fig. 2 – Invitation page two – Program of the Conference “Holy Face, future prospects”, December 19, 1998

Taken by a strong curiosity, in the following days I returned to the Shrine to inform myself and to do research on the Veronica (footnote 15), which until then I thought was only a legend. On that occasion I had the surprise of meeting Father Pietro De Guglielmo OFM Cap, originally like me from Vasto Marina (Chieti), whom I had not seen for a long time was very old and was now difficult to recognize by his copious white beard. Hearing my name, pronounced by Father Germano, he said that he remembered my father and that he was still celebrating Mass with the chalice donated by my family on the occasion of his priestly ordination (footnote 16). Finally I recognized him and it seemed to me a positive circumstance, which made the relationship with the Shrine even more familiar. Like Father Pietro, I had also grown up as a child in the shadow of the Capuchin convent attached to the church of Stella Maris in Vasto Marina, then little more than a village.
Returning to research, in those months, as the Great Jubilee of 2000 approached, the history of that legendary veil was returning to history thanks to conferences, exhibitions and the important editorial push aimed at reconstructing the history of the jubilees that have occurred over the centuries, coinciding with the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Christ. I also met Father Pfeiffer in Rome at the Gregorian University, to try to deepen my knowledge of some aspects of the complex history of the Veronica. I don't know how, but suddenly I had the idea of organizing an international press conference.


I proposed to him and to Father Germano Di Pietro, who had been assigned to the convent of Manoppello a few months earlier, to make public the studies on the Holy Face, together with the results of some scientific research conducted a few months earlier by Prof. Donato Vittore of the University of Bari (footnote 17), who had been invited to Manoppello in the previous months by the former superior Father Celestino Di Giovanni. who sought to do everything in his power to increase devotion to the Holy Face, also through the Peregrinatio del Volto Santo (Pilgrimage of the Holy Face) in the neighboring countryside, which ended up raising heated disputes among the people of Manoppello. (footnote 18)

Fig. 3 - Fax sent to the archbishop of Chieti-Vasto mons. Edoardo Menichelli on 28 May 1998.

Fig. 4 - Telegram of thanks from the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto dated June 1, 1999

I had never promoted such initiatives before, but I felt the strong conviction develop in me that the Holy Face, “the most important relic of antiquity” (footnote 19) could not remain known by only a few, maturing in me the need for broader horizons that would favor the knowledge of the authentic face of Jesus, going far beyond the prospect of promoting the imminent Jubilee. The idea immediately convinced both of them. Years later, I remember with gratitude their availability and trust in me, even though they had only known me for a brief time, for an event that could have created problems.

The conference was promoted by the Abruzzo Region on May 31, 1999 and was held at the Roman headquarters of the Foreign Press Association in Italy, with the coordination of the German journalist Erik Kusch. On that occasion, extensive documentation was made available to journalists, also concerning the overlapping of the Shroud and the Holy Face, together with the guide "Abruzzo on the way to the Jubilee", just published in five languages, where I had just had time to have information on the veil of Manoppello inserted.

To be fair, I felt the need to inform in advance the archbishop of Chieti Edoardo Menichelli, then president of the Abruzzo-Molise Episcopal Conference and very close to the Holy Face, with a letter dated May 28, 1999, with which I shared my intention of showing the historical-scientific outlines emerging from the studies of Prof. Pfeiffer and Prof. Vittore "about the possible identification of the Holy Face of Manoppello in the precious relic of the Veronica, once venerated in St. Peter's". (Fig. 3)

A formulation that many years later appears simplistic and at the same time naïve with respect to the complex and complicated historical and religious problem linked to the centuries-old oblivion that had accompanied the Veronica until the threshold of the third millennium.

Monsignor Menichelli, struck by the exceptional and unexpected flow of communication, sent me a telegram the next day in which he expressed the need to thank me for informing him of the event (Fig. 4), without adding anything else. On leaving Chieti, on 21 October 2004 he replied to my wishes from the new episcopal see of Ancona, thanking me and urging me to "always follow Manoppello with love and generous commitment" (Fig. 5), an invitation that I have always continued to make my own.

Fig. 5 - Letter from the Archbishop of Ancona dated October 21, 2004.

In 2015 he was created cardinal by Pope Francis.

From June 1999 numerous flows of pilgrims reached the Shrine, which until that time had been concentrated on the two annual feasts of the third Sunday of May and the sixth of August, the feast of the Transfiguration. I remember that Father Germano, then superior, told me that an elderly devotee of the village complained to him stating in dialect: "But couldn't this one stay at home?", alluding to me, expressing, like other people, an almost "possessive" feeling for the Holy Face.

When the cult was still local, Fr. Pfeiffer grasped "the love with which the people of Abruzzo surround this relic of theirs and the extraordinary and miraculous deeds that it has worked in this region" (footnote 20). On the other hand, for centuries it was precisely popular devotion that gave depth to the relic, with heartwarming companies of pilgrims who until the nineteen fifties came on foot to sing and pray in Manoppello, even from distant villages, led by parish priests and accompanied, sometimes, by patron saints. Devotion to the Holy Face has always been nourished by emigrants as well (footnote 21).

In addition to many pilgrims, numerous bishops and cardinals arrived in Manoppello, starting with the then secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, as well as scientists and scholars enraptured by interest in the Holy Face, such as Paul Badde, author of important essays translated into various languages, or Andreas Resch, former professor of paranormalogy at the Pontifical Lateran University (footnote 22). Many political figures, Italian and foreign, including the former Polish leader Lech Wałęsa.

Significant was the testimony given by Giulio Andreotti who said: "Father Pfeiffer's book gave me emotion. Standing in front of the Holy Face, however, is something else: It is impressive, above all the sweetness of his gaze is striking". (footnote 23) At that time many turned to Father Pfeiffer, especially from abroad. He answered as best he could, he explained, as in the case of an English gentleman to whom he replied on August 23, 1999 with a fax from Santa Fe, Mexico, where he was for summer university courses. In the following weeks he gave me a copy of the letter in which he summarized his conclusions on the Holy Face. (Fig. 6)

Fig. 6 - Letter from Father Pfeiffer dated 23 August 1999.

Among the many episodes, I remember that of a gentleman who came to Manoppello from outside the region, a few days after the conference, to deliver to Fr. Germano numerous copies of the tenth volume of the mystic Maria Valtorta, of "The Gospel as it was revealed to me", containing the revelation dated February 22, 1944 (637.7), in which she speaks of the veil of the Veronica, with an invitation to compare the Face of the Sudarium with that of the Shroud: "The one is the Face of a living person, the other that of a dead man. But the length, width, somatic characters, shape, characteristics, are the same. Overlay images. You will see that they match. It' is I." Without knowing Maria Valtorta's revelations, Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer sensed the need to study and compare the two faces since 1979.

In the following years, along with the Holy Face, there re-emerged the extraordinary figures of Father Domenico da Cese (footnote 24), prophetic and tireless popularizer of the sacred image, also in relationship with Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, and of Sister Amalia Di Rella (footnote 25), apostle of the Holy Face.

In those years Father Pfeiffer was often in Manoppello, welcomed familiarly by the Capuchins and always respected by the local community. I remember that an elderly friar, Fr. Ignazio Scurti, affectionately called him the "Piper of God", good-naturedly playing with his surname.

Much study is needed to fill the in the blanks during the centuries of silence that have characterized the presence of the Holy Face in Abruzzo, as well as the possible role that, (according to Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto), Gian Pietro Carafa (1476-1559), former bishop of Chieti and founder of the order of the Theatines, who later became pope with the name of Paul IV in 1555, may have played.

Others must also have known the true nature of the veil. Emblematic is the case of Don Evandro Marcolongo, then parish priest of the Basilica of San Tommaso in Ortona and poet, who published two poems in the magazine of the Holy Face: "To Mary" (May 1909) and "San Francesco" (November 1909), while for the one entitled "Before the Sudarium of the Veronica", recently discovered and containing specific allusions to the sad eyes and the half-open mouth, he had to find space in the periodical "Il Santuario di Maria SS. dei Miracoli di Casalbordino", certainly due to the prudence of the Capuchins, then led by Father Francesco da Collarmele, who in 1906 had courageously founded the publication of the magazine of the Manoppello Shrine. (Fig. 7)

Fig. 7 - "Innanzi il sudario della Veronica" (Before the sudarium of the Veronica), poem by Don Evandro Marcolongo published in the magazine of the Shrine of the Madonna dei Miracoli in Casalbordino.

I had arrived by chance in Manoppello for reasons of work, and then remained attached to the Shrine, living intensely the period of the Great Jubilee of 2000, always collaborating with the Capuchins, participating in conferences and presentations, also together with Father Pfeiffer (footnote 26), offering support for the making of documentaries and television reports, assisting writers and journalists, monitoring international communication around the Holy Face, without failing to continue my research activity and to become myself a witness to many events that I have often recounted and documented in the shrine's bi-monthly magazine of the Holy Face, since 1999 (footnote 27). Since then my articles have been constantly present in every issue of the magazine (footnote 28).

In those months, preparations were underway for the important exhibition on "The Face of Christ", which would conclude the Jubilee Year and would be held at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, starting on December 9, 2000. In the previous months, the Shrine was contacted, on October 11, by the publishing house that was to take care of the creation of the catalog, to request a slide of the eighteenth-century monstrance (Fig. 8).


On this occasion, Father Germano, in consideration of the fact that the exhibition was organized by the Vatican Apostolic Library, in agreement with Father Pfeiffer, proposed the loan of the reliquary, together with the nineteenth-century painting reproducing the Holy Face, by Father Alfonso Maria Taito from Torino di Sangro (1831-1908), a self-taught artist who collaborated in the decorations of San Lorenzo al Verano (footnote 29).

Fig. 8 - letter from the publisher in charge of editing the catalogue of the exhibition "The Face of Christ".

For the occasion, the painting was quickly restored. There was also a letter from me in support of the operation, but then contacts became less frequent, not without call backs, until it was possible to reach the curator of the exhibition, Prof. Giovanni Morello, then director of the Vatican Library, who with an email dated November 29, 2000, wrote referring to misunderstandings also alluded to the poor quality of the images and the delay with which Prof. Pfeiffer, who was also part of the prestigious scientific committee of the exhibition, would have moved, excluding in any case the possibility of exhibiting the painting or including the reliquary in the catalog due to the imminent opening of the exhibition. I remember Father Pfeiffer's silent bitterness about the affair that he preferred not to comment on, even if a few months later in one of his articles he wrote that in that important exhibition "the veil of Manoppello figured as the great absentee." (footnote 30)

The exhibition displayed the fourteenth-century empty reliquary of the Veronica, part of the Treasury of St. Peter's, which once enclosed the veil between two overlapping broken panes of glass, a clear sign that the image had been visible from both sides, as in Manoppello (footnote 31). Father Pfeiffer's own monograph on the Holy Face, which had just been published, appeared in the bibliography of the exhibition.

The prestigious exhibition displayed a set of extraordinary works, from the Vatican and foreign museums. The The Veronica was documented as never before, with a converging series of works between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, also of Vatican provenance, which clearly reproduced it with eyes open. Among these works, considered among the most distinguished in St. Peter's, the panel of the Holy Face by Ugo da Carpi, imprinted and not painted, commissioned by Pope Clement VII and made in 1524 to be placed in the ancient basilica of St. Peter, right in the ciborium where the Veronica was kept (footnote 32).

Another illustration from the same period, much less known, that I was able to acquire is significant. This is the image contained in the "Rosary of the most glorious Virgin Mary", edited by Alberto da Castello (or Castellano), a Venetian Dominican, printed in Venice in 1521 and then re-proposed in a subsequent color edition published in 1523, including on the back the interesting description of the sudarium (footnote 33) (Fig. 9).



Fig. 9 - The Veronica illustrated and described by Alberto da Castello in 1523. Frontispiece.

Like many other works of the period, Alberto da Castello's illustration and Ugo da Carpi's panel show open eyes, unlike what would have happened after the Veronica's disappearance, when copies showed it with eyes closed. In the catalog there were several references to the Holy Face present in the comments of some historians. That exhibition, which was to document the Face of Jesus in history, produced, together with the relative catalogue published by Electa, the implicit effect of proving the disappearance of the Veronica, to which the Argentine cardinal Jorge Maria Mejía, appointed by Pope John Paul II as librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church, made a hasty reference in his introductory speech. (footnote 34)



Fig. 9 bis - The Veronica illustrated and described by Alberto da Castello in 1523. Back.

And yet there was no lack of those who continued to support its presence in St. Peter's, in a very articulated scenario of positions and prejudices, made up of openings and steps backwards, until a communique released by the Holy See Press Office on July 14, 2012, coinciding with the presentation of the exhibition "The Man, the Face, the Mystery", with works from the Vatican Museums, to be exhibited in San Marino, in addition to confirming the disappearance of the Veronica, made known the circumstances that brought it about: the Sack of Rome in 1527, as some historians had already argued in previous centuries. This admission is owed to the then director of the Vatican Museums, Prof. Antonio Paolucci, recently deceased and former Minister of Cultural Heritage of the Italian Government (footnote 35).

The exhibition – open from August 20 to November 6, 2011 – was held in continuity with Benedict XVI's visit to the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro on June 19, 2011.

But copies or alleged reproductions of the Veronica with its eyes closed continued (and continue) to confuse and disorient believers and some scholars, sometimes fueling useless contrasts and gratuitous, and at times even offensive criticism, especially among those who are poorly informed or blindly rely on falsely authenticated reproductions or are even acting in bad faith.

Among the initiatives aimed at clarifying history, it is worth mentioning the ambitious Veronica Route project, a work in progress aimed at "reconstructing the lost features of the relic", promoted by the Milanese Association "Il Volto Ritrovato" (The Rediscovered Face), which aims to collect in an online catalog, which has now become impressive, the artistic and literary works relating to the Roman Veronica cf. www. Veronicaroute.com. The association, made up of a group of enthusiasts and scholars from different research disciplines, launched the Project after Benedict XVI's visit to Manoppello, also promoting the creation of a documented traveling exhibition. A noteworthy case, on the positive side, is represented by the gesture by Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini (Rome, 1916-2014), the day after the first international congress on the Face of Christ, when on November 6, 1997, he went to Manoppello, accompanied by Father Pfeiffer and Sister Maria Biancucci, superior general of the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Reparation of the Holy Face. On that occasion, the cardinal inaugurated the guest register of the Shrine by leaving the following message: "With deep emotion I admired the venerated image of the Holy Face of Manoppello; the Holy Face, which a Servant of God and father of my soul, Abbot Ildebrando Gregori, was able to impress on my life as a priest and bishop. In this well-known Shrine I entrust, together with the Superior General, the present and the future of our beloved Religious Congregation: Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus, to the Lord, the Holy Face, and I repeat my fervent desire to continue to spread his devotion everywhere" (Fig. 10).



Fig. 10 - Message from Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini left on the guest register of the Shrine on November 6, 1997.

In his message, also signed by the Superior General, the cardinal recalled Abbot Ildebrando Gregori, to whom he had been very close, who was confessor and spiritual father of Sister Pierina De Micheli (Milan, 1890-Centonara, 1945), mystic and seer, to whom Jesus would appear, to whom it was granted in July 1940 to have a medal of the Holy Face minted, taking as a reference a painting in the convent, bearing a well-known photographic reworking of the Shroud face, carried out in 1933 by Giuseppe Bruner, making it more recognizable. When in 1945-46, Father Ildebrando Gregori, founded the female religious congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Reparation of the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ, he continued the dissemination of the medal desired by Blessed Pierina De Micheli. But the convinced expressions of Cardinal Angelini, for years guide of the Congregation and spiritual heir of the venerable Fr. Hildebrand (footnote 36), are destined, certainly not to question the medal, but to extend veneration also to the Holy Face of Manoppello, a tangible image of the face of Jesus



Fig. 11 - Veneration of the Holy Face in the headquarters of the General Procuratorate of the Sisters of Reparation of the Holy Face - Rome 18 January 2016. On the wall is a reproduction of the elaboration by G. Brunner (1933).

Thus, in fact it happened that on the occasion of the first re-enactment of the ancient rite of Omnis Terra, Sister Biancucci, asked to be able to venerate the copy of the Holy Face of Manoppello the night after the exposition in the basilica of Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome, on January 17, 2016, at the headquarters of the superior general’s office in Via della Conciliazione (Fig. 11). The next morning, Mass was concelebrated by Cardinal Beniamino Stella and Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, before returning to Manoppello. In the course of a cordial conversation that followed the Mass, Sister Biancucci, in the presence of Father Carmine Cucinelli, recalled the figure of Cardinal Angelini, his strong bond with the Holy Face and with Father Ildebrando Gregori himself, as well as his esteem for Father Pfeiffer and also his fraternal relationship with Pope John Paul II. She reported that she always accompanied the elderly cardinal, even when he met the Polish pope. On those occasions, John Paul II as soon as he saw him would say smiling "The Holy Face" and they would talk about that.
When on February 10, 2006 the cardinal spoke in Chieti at the international conference promoted by the Shrine on the theme "The Holy Face and the iconography of the image of Christ", sharing the theses on the Veronica proposed by Father Pfeiffer and, hoping for further studies (footnote 37) (Fig. 12), affirmed that "the time was ripe for the discoveries on the veil of Manoppello to be shared not only by the local Church, but by the national and universal one", hinting that he was aware of Benedict XVI's intentions to visit the Shrine soon. There was also a veiled reference to the possible influence that his activity, through the International Institute for Research on the Face of Christ which he founded, would have exercised with respect to the convictions that led John Paul II to publish on January 6, 2001, at the end of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the apostolic letter "Novo Millennio Ineunte," containing the pressing invitation for Christians to contemplate the human and divine face of Christ at the beginning of the third millennium and the insistent exhortation: "Those who have truly encountered Christ cannot keep him to themselves. They must announce him". (footnote 38)

Just a few months later, on September 1, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI, who had been informed of the ongoing research for some time, arrived as a pilgrim before the Holy Face. The visit was announced only a few days earlier, as it was opposed to the end by the Curia, as Saverio Gaeta (footnote 39) wrote and as admitted a few year later by Mons. Bruno Forte, archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, on the occasion of the presentation of a documentary film (footnote 40) – on June 8, 2017 – at the Marrucino Theatre in Chieti.

Father Carmine asked me to be present at the Shrine from the day prior to the Pope’s visit, for any helpful collaboration to reckon with the exceptional organizational effort connected to the event and with the management of the press room set up in the San Damiano room, considering that the access roads were scheduled to be blocked at dawn on September 6. It was an unforgettable day.

The Pope was visibly moved by that image. The visit and his intense prayer dedicated to the Holy Face, which he defined as "the human face of God who entered history to reveal the horizons of eternity", opened up new perspectives, relieving those fears that had characterized the life of the Capuchins for centuries, favoring the further spread of the Veil of Manoppello throughout the world (footnote 41). The pope recalled how fundamental in the Christian faith was the encounter with the figure of Jesus Christ. A reproduction of the Holy Face will accompany him until his death.



Fig. 12 - photo of Card. Fiorenzo Angelini and Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer during the conference at the University of Chieti on February 10, 2006.



The Pope prays before the Holy Face.


Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI dedicated to the Holy Face

Lord Jesus, show us, we beg you, your ever new face, a mysterious mirror of God's infinite mercy. Let us contemplate him with the eyes of the mind and the heart: the human face of God who entered history to reveal the horizons of eternity. The silent face of the suffering and risen Jesus, who loved and welcomed changes the heart and life. We want to draw from your eyes, which look at us with tenderness and compassion, the strength of love and peace that shows us the path of life, and the courage to follow you without fear and compromise, to become witnesses of your Gospel, with concrete gestures of welcome, love and forgiveness. Holy Face of Christ, light that illuminates the darkness of doubt and sadness, life that has defeated forever the power of evil and death, mysterious gaze that never ceases to rest on individuals and peoples, face hidden in the Eucharistic signs and in the gazes of those who live beside us, make us pilgrims of God in this world, thirsting for the infinite and ready for the meeting of the last day, when we will see you, Lord "face to face" (1 Cor 13:12) and we will be able to contemplate you eternally in the glory of Heaven. Amen! September 1, 2007 Benedict XVI

A few years after the Pope's visit, I interviewed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle who, after meditating for a long time before the sacred image, spoke to me of the "Face of Truth", later becoming a convinced supporter of the Holy Face. (footnote 42)

The commitment of so many religious and lay faithful continues to be relevant, as seen in the spontaneous enthusiastic promoters of the true icon in the world, but also that of scholars in the wake of Father Pfeiffer’s studies (footne 43). Among these promoters, I cannot fail to mention Daisy Neves (1938-2019) (Fig. 13), an American of Filipino origin, who spent the last years of her life in a generous and tireless commitment, organizing, together with the Shrine, international missions (2014-2016) in the United States, the Philippines and Canada, supporting religious and promoting numerous enthronements of the Holy Face in various countries, as per the attached partial list (footnote 44). I hope that her life as a missionary of the Holy Face, carried forward even during her illness, will continue to be an example of faith for the future and not only for those who had the privilege of knowing her, who moreover continue to perpetuate her memory.

Knowledge of the Holy Face is increasingly widespread, as can also be seen from the airing on the global platform Netflix, from November 2023, of the documentary Mysteries of the Faith, made in view of the 2025 Jubilee, with extensive insights dedicated to devotion to the Veil of Manoppello, visible in over 180 countries, while it is increasingly difficult to follow communication and initiatives organized in various parts of the world.

When many years ago I first approached the knowledge of the Holy Face, I could not have imagined, not even remotely, what would be the extraordinary path that would await me over time, what my possible contribution to the cause could be, or the many people I would meet, nor the discoveries or the difficulties, hopes as well as the inevitable setbacks. A journey, also interior, that keeps going, continuing to amaze myself first of all.


Fig. 13 - Daisy Neves in Manoppello.


Footnotes

1 I also authored an article entitled "Dal silenzio... alla CNN" (From Silence...to CNN), in Turismo d'Abruzzo, bimonthly magazine of the Tourism Sector of the Abruzzo Region, n. 5, December 1999, p. 4.

2 For an initial recognition of the presence of the Holy Face on the web, cf. Antonio and Paolo Bini, “Il Volto Santo su Internet”, in Il Volto Santo, n. 2, 2002, p. 5 et seq.

3 Guglielmo de' Giovanni Centelles, “Si riapre il dibattito sulle reliquie: la Veronica vaticana sarebbe falsa”, (The debate on relics is reopened: the Vatican Veronica would be false), in Il Tempo, 1.6.1999.

4 Ian Wilson, “La Veronica e la Sindone”, in Il Telo, rivista di sindonologia, n. 1, 2000, p. 14 ff.

5 Enrico Sammarco, “Ricordando il Volto Santo di Manoppello” (Remembering the Holy Face of Manoppello), Tipografia Porziuncola, Assisi, 1972, p. 82. The author also mentions the meeting with Fr. Domenico da Cese.

6 Compared to the simple and humble reality of Manoppello, the human and financial resources available for some time to promote the Shroud are significant. For the 2010 exhibition, a budget of about ten million euros was settled on, cf. E. Minucci, "La Sindone ha trovato lo sponsor” (The Shroud has found its sponsor), in La Stampa, March 13, 2009

7 Antonio Bini, “105 anni fa scrivevano del Volto Santo e della Sindone” (105 years ago they were writing about the Holy Face and the Shroud), Il Volto Santo, n. 2, 2007, p.28 et seq.

8 Cf. Fr. Filippo da Tussio, Del Volto Santo. Historical memories collected around the prodigious image of the passionate face of Jesus Christ our Lord, Tipografia Vescovile, L'Aquila, 1875, p. 154.

9 The first monograph, edited by Father Filippo da Tussio, was published in L'Aquila by the bishop's printing house in 1875, that is, after the Papal States had ceased to exist. The work is "ordered by the superiors", under the protection of Cardinal Raffaele Monaco La Vallette. Still in 1966, Father Antonio da Serramonacesca published "The Holy Face of Manoppello and the Shrine", published by Italica, Pescara, declaring obsequious respect for the papal decrees and especially for Urban VIII.

10 P, Filippo da Tussio, op.cit. p. X.

11 P. Filippo da Tussio, op. cit. cit., p. 166.

12 Pierluigi Baima Bollone, Shroud: 101 questions and answers, San Paolo Edizioni, 2000, p. 34.

13 Paul Badde, writer, former correspondent of Die Welt and professor of history. Author of numerous essays on the Holy Face

14 Luigi Vittorio Bertarelli, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Touring Club Italiano, Milan, 1926, p. 204. Writes of an "image of Christ painted on silk"

15Antonio Bini, “La Veronica com'era. L’importanza dell’Opusculum di Jacopo Grimaldi” (The Veronica as it was. The importance of the Opusculum of Jacopo Grimaldi) in Il Volto Santo, n.1/2002, p. 2 ff. The article was published under the supervision of Father Pfeiffer.

16 Antonio Bini, In memory of Father Pietro De Guglielmo, in Il Volto Santo, n. 2, 2022, p. 40 et seq.

17 Donato Vittore, "Il Volto di Manoppello. A painting? Le ultime indagini", in Il Telo, rivista di sindonologia, n. 1, 2000, p. 35. Prof. Vittore through a satellite scanner ascertained the absence of color residues. He also stated that it was necessary to avoid opening the windows that would have put the integrity of the very thin veil at risk. A similar assessment was made by Prof. Giulio Fanti, professor of thermal measurements at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Padua.

18 Cf. Ricci, The Holy Face will not come out again. The friars renounce pilgrimages, Il Messaggero (Abruzzo supplement), 23 April 1998. The City Council even met to approve a motion directed at the friars to give up letting the relic leave the Shrine. Father Celestino was very affected "left the convent to be assigned to Penne. Father Germano Di Pietro arrived in his place. Those facts show what the situation was like just a year before the international press conference

19 Pope Nicholas IV, in listing the various relics present in St. Peter's, indicated the Veronica in first place, the body of St. Peter in the second, cf. Genoveffa Palumbo, Jubilee Jubilees, Rai-Eri, Rome, 1999, p. 250

20 From the speech given by Father Pfeiffer on 8 December 1999 on the occasion of the conferral of honorary citizenship by the Municipality of Manoppello.

21 Cf. Antonio Bini, "Toronto-Manoppello, Comitato Volto Santo: un legame con l'Abruzzo" (Toronto-Manopello, Holy Face Committee: a link with Abruzzo), in Corriere Canadese, 11 August 2003.

22 For Prof. Resch it is likely that the Veronica was "rescued by someone" in Manoppello. Cf. Valentina Donatelli, "La paranormalogia incontra il Volto Santo" (Paranormal studies encounter the Holy Face), in Il Volto Santo, n. 1, 2000, p. 12 et seq. The singular figure of Father Andreas Resch was outlined by Andrea Missori, in his article "Miracles, in the warehouse of the inexplicable", in the Corriere della Sera of April 25, 2003.

23 Rosalba Ciancaglini, "It's the most beautiful day of my life I saw Jesus", in Il Messaggero, Abruzzo supplement, 7 April 2001.

24 Father Domenico da Cese, born Emidio Petracca, born in Cese di Avezzano on March 27, 1905. He was part of the Capuchin community of the Shrine of the Holy Face, whose divine origins and relationship with the Shroud he intuited. A mystical figure, he had close relations with Padre Pio, even in bilocation. Cf. Antonio Bini, "Padre Pio before the Holy Face", in Il Volto Santo, n. 1/2005, p. 11 ff. He died in Turin, where he had gone for the exposition of the Shroud, on September 23, 1978.

25 Sister Amalia Di Rella was born in Ruvo di Puglia on May 25, 1934. She found her spiritual guide in Father Domenico da Cese. She spread the Holy Face in Puglia, collaborating in charitable works with Don Tonino Bello, bishop of the Diocese of Molfetta, despite her precarious health. She became the first Disciple of the Holy Face. She died in Genoa on June 16, 1998. cf. Michele Ippedico, "La Pupazza di Dio", ed. Youcanprint, Lecce, 2023.

26 As in a conference on March 4, 2011 promoted by the Diocese of Lucca on the comparison with the crucifix of the Holy Face of Lucca. Cf. Antonio Bini, "The Image of Christ. From the Shroud to the Holy Face. Reflections on the Lucca conference", in Il Volto Santo, n. 1/2011, p. 22 ss.

27 On issue no. 2/1999 – special issue, published for the first time in color – I published my first article "On the threshold of 2000 the Holy Face makes news in the world", in which I also mentioned the exhibition on the research of Sister Blandina inaugurated on October 23, with the collaboration of the Jubilee Communication Project team.

28 Numerous articles have been translated into English by Ray Frost of San Francisco and then disseminated in English on the webste https://holyfaceofmanoppello.blogspot blog.com and often taken up by sites in various countries.

29 The painting of the Holy Face made by Father Alfonso was used until the early sixties for the printing of images and prayers, for the impossibility of photographing the sacred image with the cameras of the past.

30 Heinrich Pfeiffer, "From the Carpocratians to the Shroud", in Il Telo, magazine of Sindonology, January-April, 2001, p.7. 31

31 In 1999, some German television stations were denied permission to film the ancient reliquary as part of reports on the Holy Face. Many years later, such filming was made possible on the occasion of the making of the documentary entitled "Oblicze Jezusa" (The Face of Jesus), by Polish director Jarosław Rędziak, broadcast on Easter Day 2024 by the Telewizja Republika television network.

32 Looking at the work very closely during an exhibition taking place in Carpi from 24 February to 29 June 2024, in the Palazzo dei Pio Museum, I was able to find the presence of slight signs of swelling at the level of the nasal region and the different sizes of the two pupils, which the artist evidently captured in the Veronica. With the exhibition, the city of Carpi remembered the artist in his homeland five centuries after the creation of his most famous work.

33 On the back there is the following description: "The sudarium of The Veronica... venerably preserved in the church of St. Peter, it is displayed on certain days of the year with the greatest reverence and devotion of all the people to the praise of the Lord God: which he wished to leave to his faithful Christians as a memory of his most holy passion on earth: the figure being of such fineness that, clearly shown to all the people, moves them to tears and devotion".

34 Jorge Maria Mejía, "Seeing the Face of Christ", in Il Volto di Cristo (The Face of Christ), ed. Electa, Milan, 2000, p. 15. Even the historian Gerhard Wolf, in affirming the disappearance of the Veronica from Rome, wondered if it was now preserved in Abruzzo, op. cit. cit. p. 20.

35 The Veronica's disappearance was in fact confirmed in a subsequent interview that Paolucci gave to Letizia Cini in Il Resto del Carlino on August 18, 2011, in the article entitled "In the face of man, the image of God", close to the inauguration of the exhibition

36 Fiorenzo Angelini, L'uomo delle beatitudini, (The man of the beatitudes) Edizioni Velar, Rome, 2000, p. 175 et seq.

37 Regarding this charge, it is worth recalling the important research on the substantial reliability of the Relatione Historica by Father Donato da Bomba, edited by Emanuele Colombo and Michele Colombo, ed. Marietti, Genoa, 2016.

38 Fiorenzo Angelini, "I tempi sono maturi" (The times have matured), in Il Volto Santo di Manoppello, n. 1, July, 2006, p.2 et seq.

39 Saverio Gaeta, "Questo e’ il volto che rivedremo" (This is the face that we will see again), in Famiglia Cristiana, n. 37, 2006, p. 57.

40 Il Volto Ritrovato di Gesu’: viaggio tra i luoghi, la storia e le leggende del Volto Santo di Manoppello (The Rediscovered Face of Jesus: a journey through the places, history and legends of the Holy Face of Manoppello), documentary film edited by Anna Cavasinni and Fabrizio Franceschelli, produced by Territori Link, 2018.

41 Antonio Bini, “Viaggio” nel mondo dei media internazionali. Il pellegrinaggo di SS. Benedettto XVI alla Basilica del Volto Santo" ("Journey" into the world of the international media. The pilgrimage of SS. Benedict XVI to the Basilica of the Holy Face of Manoppello), supplement to Il Volto Santo di Manoppello, n. 2, December 2006.

42 Antonio Bini, "Il Volto della verita’, La testimonianza del cardinale Tagle" (The Face of Truth, The Testimony of Cardinal Tagle), in Abruzzo nel Mondo, n. 4, June-July, 2017, p. 3.

43 Walter Teti, "Manoppello piange padre Pfeiffer" (Manoppello mourns Father Pfeiffer), Il Centro, 28 December 2021. The article expresses the bond between the local population, the Capuchins and the German scholar.

44 I recounted the international missions in the English-language book The Holy Face, from Manoppello to the World, supplement to Il Volto Santo, n. 1, 2016.

The Sack of Rome and the Arrival of the Holy Face in Abruzzo

 

by Antonio Bini

Editor's note: This article is a translation of one of the chapters in Bini's work "Heinrich Pfeiffer Lo studioso che identificò la Veronica nel Volto Santo" (Heinrich Pfeiffer, the Scholar who Recognized the Veronica in the Holy Face), Teaternum Edizioni, 2024

In a communiqué issued on July 14, 2011 by the Holy See Press Office (VIS-Vatican Information Service), in conjunction with the inauguration of a Vatican exhibition held in San Marino, the disappearance of the Veronica from St. Peter's Basilica during the Sack of Rome of 1527 was admitted. It was a low-profile choice to confirm the theses and historical reconstructions that various scholars had advanced over time about the disappearance of the important relic, once venerated by millions of pilgrims and then accompanied by centuries-old silence, while the expansion of the new basilica of St. Peter’s was underway. In this regard, the authoritative thought of Arsenio Frugoni must be considered compelling. In the context of a detailed historical reconstruction in which the absence of the Veronica is argued, Frugoni asserts that there was "a smothering of interest around this image" on the part of the Church (footnote 1). As was mentioned, the Veronica had been missing for a long time. The copy exhibited at Easter in 1581 appeared to Michael de Montaigne as "a pulpy face, of a somber and dark color." (footnote 2)The French traveler actually saw nothing. The True Icon must have appeared quite different before, producing "an impact comparable to that which would have been garnered by Christ in person” (footnote 3). 

But who brought it to Abruzzo? Who could be the mysterious pilgrim who gave it to Dr. Leonelli? The starting point for the research stems from a reference by Fr. Filippo da Tussio, in his Memoirs, in which he stated that the Relatione Historica of Father Donato da Bomba, substantially kept secret from the Capuchins, was instead made available to the bishop of Venosa, Pietro Antonio Corsignani (Celano, 1686-1751). Why was that? An answer comes from the voluminous historical work "Reggia Marsicana" (footnote 4), published in two volumes by Corsignani, in which there is a description of previous visits to the Shrine of Manoppello which the author himself points out "although outside the Marsi", recalled that the Colonna family, in addition to being Dukes of the Marsi, also possessed the County of Manoppello, “as well as many fiefdoms in the Papal States". 

The Front Cover of the "Reggia Marsicana" of Corsignani printed in 1738.

                                                                (Photo by Antonio Bini)

In the work, for the first time, some excerpts from the "Relatione Historica" by Fr. Donato da Bomba, were revealed concerning "the famous image of our Redeemer Jesus Christ". 

Corsignani, evidently linked to the Colonna family, emphasizes "how much caution" is reserved by the Capuchins and that the manuscript that bears the Relatione is "in every part true, although it is copious of long digressions..". The historian prudently believes that it is not his "task to speak of the Face of Christ on the Veronica", he states that he visited the Shrine on several occasions, beginning in 1730, attesting, above all, to the attendance by "bishops, foreigners, princes and knights from various parts, and also Romans with their Great Sovereign knights, from time to time, of the illustrious Casa Colonna,  who have all often visited it". 

Fr. Filippo da Tussio in his Memoirs recalls that even an employee of the Colonna, sensing his vocation, decided to become a friar taking the name of Fr. Andrea da Rocca di Botte. He was part of the religious community of the Shrine, dying in Manoppello on March 7, 1651 in the odor of sanctity. (footnote 5) 

 Of particular importance is the circumstance of such a significant involvement of the important Roman family of Colonna, in frequenting a small modest convent - which was distinguished only by its precious image - not easily accessible and hidden, at the time, on the edge of a forest at the foot of the Maiella,  the Domus Christi, as it was defined by Petrarch. At that time, only the presence of the Veronica could justify pilgrimages from Rome. 

This frequentation is to be related to the role that Cardinal Pompeo Colonna played on the occasion of the Sack of Rome. Strongly hostile to Pope Clement VII, whom he had opposed on the occasion of the conclave of 1523 - during which the member of the Medici family was elected pope - he supported the invasion of Rome, which he saw above all as an opportunity for the elimination of the pope.

This is not the place to reconstruct the complex historical events and the causes of those very serious events, which caused violence, deaths, the desecration of sacred places and the tombs of the popes, devastation, destruction, robberies of all kinds, with the Pope forced to take refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo, while St. Peter's Basilica was attacked, with the last Swiss Guards who were exterminated at the foot of the central altar. It is held that "The Sack of Rome was a shameful torment to civilization, art, religion, human dignity, such as the barbarians of the early Middle Ages had not been able to inflict, in their vandalic raids, on the city of the Caesars and the Pontiffs." (footnote 6) 

Among the various sources, the account of Jacopo Buonaparte, advisor to Pope Clement VII, of Tuscan origin, who was a witness to the tragic events of 1527, consulted in the edition reproduced in 1844, by the Pirotta printing house in Milan, has been taken into consideration. The author wrote of how "they lifted sacred images from the altars," while St. Peter's Basilica, the pope's chapel and other sacred places were devastated, "already full of so many venerable relics, having become at present horse stables." Among the most important relics, the Veronica disappeared  (footnote 7) 

Buonaparte describes the meeting between the Pope and Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, at which he was probably present. The cardinal returned to the city after the capture of Rome. Rejoicing at the damage and danger endured by the pope, the cardinal then had to realize the grave consequences for Rome and for the Romans, while the effects of the plague began to be felt, with hundreds of the dead left unburied in the streets. He met the imprisoned pope at Castel Sant'Angelo and, Buonaparte writes, "they wept together with the most vivid tears for the misery of Rome". 

At that time, the garrison that watched over Castel Sant'Angelo was commanded by the Spaniard Hernando de Alarcón (in Italian, Ferdinando Alarcon), who distinguished himself in the battle of Pavia in 1525, who had been appointed marquis by Charles V, receiving the entrustment of the Valle Siciliana, in the province of Teramo, on the eastern side of the Gran Sasso, until then assigned to the Orsini and before that to the counts of Paleara or Pagliara. Colonna then committed himself to the Pope's release and did everything in his power, including economic, to free and ransom the prisoners, as well as to negotiate the difficult end of the occupation that lasted until October, with the subsequent escape of the Pope, who took refuge in Orvieto. 

The Roman cardinal, together with the members of his powerful family, must have known Alarcon, who later became, together with Prince Philibert of Orange, governor of Rome, (footnote 8) and therefore the subsequent fate of the Holy Face. It cannot be ruled out that Pompeo's cousin, Vittoria Colonna, Marquise of Pescara, poet and deeply religious person, widow of Fernando Francesco D'Avalos, an aristocratic family of Spanish origin, also exerted her influence. 

A significant testimony came a few years from the travel account of the Dominican preacher Fra Serafino Razzi who on July 24, 1575 arrived in Tossicia, the capital of the Valle Siciliana, "the seat of an ancient civilization" (footnote 9). 

The friar was invited to the Marquis Palace, even if the descendant of the commander was not at the headquarters, but probably in Naples, his habitual residence from which he used to return in the summer. "This gentleman, as they say," Razzi writes, " is very courteous and Catholic, he delights a lot in spiritual things .. he keeps a beautiful library . And because the said Lord delights in the playing and singing of music, we saw a room of almost all sorts of musical instruments". But for the purposes of this publication, his testimony is fundamental regarding what the curious Tuscan preacher observes when visiting the private chapel, which he defines as "adorned as much as one can say, full of sacred things, with a rich altar and organ, with royal and papal vestments received by the father of this marquis from Pope Clement VII, after the Sack of Rome and comported himself with that pope in a Christian manner" (footnote 10),  while no trace of the Holy Face appears, hidden or perhaps brought to Manoppello and already in the hands of the Leonelli family. The circumstances described by Razzi were gathered from the conversation that the Tuscan preacher had with the "v. marquis". The next morning, the preacher celebrated Mass in the presence of the deputy marquis and other religious, then continued his journey to Montorio al Vomano. 

Two years later, the preacher, while on his way to the Abbey of San Liberatore a Maiella, then a flourishing community of Benedictine monks, noted his transit through Manoppello, perhaps without stopping and in any case without noting anything. 

Father Pfeiffer himself, on the occasion of a testimony given during the making of the documentary film "In search of the face of Jesus", characterized by a historical setting and edited by director Luca Trovellesi Cesana (and which since 2012 has appeared on international television networks),  mentioned in general terms the possible involvement of Ferdinando Alarcon, based solely on the circumstance related to the role of Spanish commander during the pope's imprisonment in Castel Sant'Angelo,  hypothesizing how, in the years following, once the situation had normalized, it would have been very compromising for the marquis to still keep the Veronica. These concerns, he argued, may have led him to free himself from the sacred image. 

The close relationship of the Colonna family with the Shrine and the role of Ferdinando Alarcon during the Sack of Rome are further elements to reconstruct the history of the Veronica, a compelling story of faith,  of intrigues and twists, with questions that find answers and others that remain in mystery. 

Marquis Palace of Tossicia
(Photo by Antonio Bini)

The large Marquis Palace of Tossicia, which houses the Museum of the People of Gran Sasso, suffered damage caused by the earthquakes of 2009 and 2017 and is only partially accessible and the town itself is experiencing the phenomenon of depopulation. From information taken by the director of the Museum, Giuliano Di Gaetano, whom we thank for his collaboration, it has been confirmed that traces of the Chapel described by Serafino Razzi have disappeared, such as sacred furnishings, as over the centuries the historic building has undergone adaptations and transformations inside, having also been used in the past as the municipal headquarters and as a school. In the museum spaces that can be visited, there are few references to the history of the family, with the exception of some coats of arms carved in stone, surrounded by cannons, to underline the military origins of the progenitor of the family, "brave Spanish captain" (footnote 11), born in 1466 in the village of Palomares del Campo, in the region of Castile-La Mancha, and died in Naples, on January 17, 1540. 

Vault frescoed with the coat of arms of the Marquis Ferdinando Alarcon

                                                              (photo by Giuliano Di Gaetano)                                        

A subsequent reconstruction of the marquis palace of Tossicia coat of arms can be found on the frescoed vault of one of the rooms of the Palace. The best preserved coat of arms is found inside the church of the Madonna degli Angeli and bears the motto "Religionis et loci amator" engraved at the base, to highlight the relationship with faith and his Valley by Ferdinando Alarcon, to be considered, almost certainly, as the one who saved the Veronica, bringing her to safety in his marquisate in Abruzzo. In the Museum of Ceramics of the nearby municipality of Castelli, which was part of the marquisate, together with Isola del Gran Sasso, there is an elegant vase dating back to 1594, with the coat of arms of the Alarcon y Mendoza family, made on the occasion of the marriage between Francisco Ferdinand, fifth Marquis of the Sicilian Valley, and Lucrezia Coscia (footnote 12).

In the same museum there is also an eighteenth-century ceramic work bearing the adoration of the Veronica, attributed to Berardino Gentile the Younger. There is no shortage of Spanish influences in religious architecture, such as the presence of a large shell, a historic symbol of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, on the altar of the central nave of the church of Saint Sinforosa, patron saint of Tossicia. During the first decades of the Alarcon rule, "Tossicia reached a high level of economic and social development" (footnote 13), but the period still awaits in-depth studies. 

"Abruzzo is a great producer of silence," wrote Giorgio Manganelli. And these little-known stories, in particular that of important figures such as Alarcon, who found in Tossicia and in his palace the ideal place to hide in silence the traces linked to the Sack of Rome amply deserve this fame.

Vase with the Alarcon coat of arms exhibited at the Ceramics Museum of Castelli. 
(Photo by Alessia di Stefano)

1Arsenio Frugoni, “La Veronica nostra” (Our Veronica) in Humanitas, n. 5, 1950. The article was included in the book Pellegrini a Roma nel 1300. Cronache del primo giubileo (Pilgrims to Rome in 1300. Chronicles of the first Jubilee), ed. Piemme, Casale Monferrato, 1999, p. 89. 

2 Montaigne, Viaggio in Italia, editori Laterza, Bari, 1972, p. 204. 

3 Desmond O' Grady,  2 Giubilei, Storie e segreti di Roma negli anni santi dal 1300 al 2000 (25 Jubilees, Stories and Secrets of Rome in the Holy Years from 1300 to 2000), ed. Piemme, Casale Monferrato, 1999, p. 94. In his book, published in various countries, the author recalls Father Pfeiffer's thesis on the Holy Face of Manoppello. The Australian vaticanista returned to the theme of the Holy Face, anticipating the Pope's visit, with an extensive article in the Sydney Morning Herald, weekend edition of August 16-27, 2006, with the eloquent title "The Shroud of evidence!". The article also reports a statement by Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini confirming Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer's hypotheses

4 Antonio Pietro Corsignani, Reggia Marsicana, ovvero Memorie topografico-storiche di varie colonie e città antiche e moderne della provincia de i Marsi e Valeria, parte I. (Reggia Marsicana, namely topographical-historical essays of various settlements and ancient and modern cities of the province of the Marsi and Valeria part I), ed. Il Parrino, Naples, 1738, p. 443 ff. 

5 Filippo da Tussio, op.cit., p. 146. 

6 Carlo Castiglioni, Storia dei Papi, vol. II (History of the Popes), UTET, Turin, 1945, p. 250. So also A.E. Berault-Bercastel, Storia del Cristianesimo, vol. XX (History of Christianity), ed. Girolamo Tasso, Venice, 1830, p. 11.

7 Andrea Frediani, Il Sacco di Roma (The Sack of Rome), Giunti Editore, 1997, Florence, p. 43. 

8 Andrea Frediani, op. cit., p. 57. 

9 Gustavo Strafforello, La Patria. Geografia dell'Italia, Provincie di Aquila, Chieti, Teramo, Campobasso, Unione Tipografica Editrice, Torino, 1899, p. 280. 

10 Serafino Razzi, Viaggi in Abruzzo (Travels in Abruzzo), ed. Japadre Editore, L'Aquila, 1968, p. 98 ff. 

11 Thus defined by the historian Vincenzo Balzano, Abruzzo and Molise, UTET, Turin, 1927, p.130. 

12 I thank Dr. Alessia Di Stefano, municipal councilor with responsibility for culture and tourism of the municipality of Castelli, for the report. 

13 Igino Addari, Tossicia tra storia e mistero (Tossicia between history and mystery), Comune di Tossicia, 2011, p. 88.