Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco Receives the Reliquary Displaying the Replica of the Holy Face of Manoppello

 

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Deacon Christoph Sandoval

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has expressed his joy to receive from a group of Friends of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption  the beautiful reliquary, crafted in Sicily, displaying the replica of the Holy Face of Manoppello which  had been blessed and touched to the original Holy Face  during a celebration on September 13 in the  Basilica of the Capuchin Franciscans in Manoppello.

The presentation of the reliquary to the Archbishop took place in the private chapel of his residence, adjacent to the Cathedral, on October 4 the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of the Archdiocese of San Francisco,

Deacon Christoph Sandoval, who led the delegation from San Francisco which participated in the rite of September 13 at the Shrine of Manoppello gave a short talk on the meaning of the Holy Face and his hopes for the furthering of devotion to the Holy Face, The reliquary was presented to thank the Archbishop for his service to the Archdiocese on the occasion of  the twelfth anniversary of his installation as Archbishop of San Francisco.

The presentation to the Archbishop was especially meaningful as the Archbishop has visited the Shrine of Manoppello and describes the opportunity he had to pray and spend time alone before the Holy Face as one of the most moving experiences of his life and led him to encourage all the faithful to cultivate a devotion to this holy image.

At the end of the short ceremony the Archbishop led the group in the prayer to the Holy Face composed by Pope Benedict XVI and imparted his blessing to those gathered.

An article from the archdiocesan publication Catholic San Francisco, accompanied by a video and photos, is available on the website of the Archdiocese 12th-anniversary-of-his-installation/

Archbishop Cordileone also posted on X/Twitter about receiving the reliquary of the Holy Face

https://x.com/archcordileone/status/1844841739976323276?s=51

The Holy Face Also to Shine In San Francisco

 

Text and photos (except as noted) by Antonio Bini

In the basilica of Manoppello, the blessing of a precious reliquary destined for the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco

 

A precious reliquary bearing the image of the Holy Face, visible from both sides, and which will soon be enthroned in the Cathedral in San Francisco, was the focus of a solemn ritual held on September 13, 2024 at the Basilica of the Holy Face in Manoppello.

 

The celebration was presided over by Fr. Antonio Gentili, rector of the Shrine, together with Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, Deacon Christoph Sandoval of the Cathedral of San Francisco, Fr. Bonifacio (Ted) Lopez (Diocese of Rome), Fr. Arturo Alcantara Arcos, several other priests and Fr. Anatoliy Grytskiv, a representative of the Orthodox Church of Abruzzo-Molise. During the celebration there was the blessing of the new reliquary which was made by the historic Palermo workshop directed by the master goldsmith Antonino Amato, represented by his daughter Angela with her husband Alessandro Staiano, both goldsmiths.   The silver monstrance, with precious stones and the frame around the image encased in 24-carat gold, was inspired by the original reliquary of Manoppello, with respect to which it bears religious symbolic references typical of the California metropolis, in particular with the presence of the coat of arms of the archdiocese, the medallions of St. Patrick and St. Joseph, as well as the figure of St. Francis, patron saint of the California city.

 

At the beginning of the celebration, Fr. Antonio Gentili, in front of the many present, in a highly symbolic act, placed the reliquary in contact with the Holy Face, as if to establish its continuity. During the homily, preceded by the reading of the Gospel of John (chapter 20), which recalls the burial cloths and the sudarium present in the tomb of Christ, Fr. Antonio greeted the delegation from San Francisco, emphasizing the connection of their city to the poor man of Assisi and to Manoppello, recalling that the Shrine of the Holy Face is Franciscan. He also pointed out that the reliquary destined for the American metropolis is not a simple object but is the message of the resurrection of Christ, the Veronica.

                                                                                         

During the celebration, Deacon Christoph Sandoval thanked the rector of the Shrine, to whom he presented a commemorative medal of John Paul II's visit to the Cathedral of San Francisco on September 17, 1987. He also thanked Sister Blandina Paschalis, Sister Petra-Maria Steiner, Mrs. Augustine Pham, and the Knights of Saint Francis.

Deacon Christoph Sandoval

 

A special thanks, also coming from Fr. Antonio, was addressed to Angelo Rytz, from Switzerland, who performed an excellent role as the organizational liaison between San Francisco, Manoppello and the Sicilian goldsmith's workshop. A generous commitment manifested in memory of his wife Agatha, originally from Hong Kong and very devoted to the Holy Face.

Deacon Sandoval with Angelo Rytz

 

A large number of people attended the ceremony, including many pilgrims from abroad, who participated with emotion and amazement in the event, which was interspersed by several bursts of applause.

During the lunch that followed at the Casa del Pellegrino adjoining the shrine, Fr. Carmine was asked to share his memories of the American mission of 2014, where he was able to speak  for the first time about the Holy Face in the church of St. Ignatius in San Francisco. Fr. Carmine pointed out that in that year a program had been planned, proposed by the unforgettable Daisy Neves,  a great supporter of the Holy Face, for two stops in the United States, in Las Vegas and Bellevue, Washington together with a wider itinerary in the Philippines. 

At that time, recalled Fr. Carmine, then rector of the Shrine, Mrs. Augustine Pham, an American of Vietnamese origin, arrived on pilgrimage in Manoppello, who having learned the news of an imminent trip to the USA, asked Fr. Carmine that San Francisco also be included in the program. Fr. Carmine facilitated the contacts with Daisy Neves and Raymond Frost of San Francisco, who had already been editing a blog dedicated to the Holy Face for years. So two conferences were organized, one in St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco and another in St. Francis of Assisi Church in nearby East Palo Alto (Silicon Valley). 

In January 2019, the Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, arrived in Manoppello, to participate in the rite of Omnis Terra, together with Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller and the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto Bruno Forte. Fr. Carmine recalled how Archbishop Cordileone, a guest of the Capuchins, was very impressed by the encounter with the Holy Face, asking to pray and meditate in solitude before the sacred image,  once the church was closed.

Dr. Michael Tran (at the left partially hidden), Augustine Pham, Sr. Petra-Maria Steiner,
Deacon Sandoval, Sr. Blandina Paschalis

The archbishop said on that occasion: "I encourage all those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and love for Him to cultivate devotion to this holy Image that He has left us as a gift, the image of the first moment of the Resurrection."

 

Fr. Carmine Cucinelli

Fr. Carmine concluded by stating, "this reliquary is now here. May it attract the attention of many people and arouse more faith, more devotion, greater desire for union with Jesus. May the Lord grant blessings and graces in abundance to you and your families."

I recall that in  the Archdiocese of San Francisco a copy of the Holy Face was enthroned in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in East Palo Alto on November 11, 2017.

Fr. Bonifacio (Ted) Lopez, who accompanied Fr. Carmine in the second international mission of the Holy Face, also recalled, with his customary congeniality,  a number of enthronements which were carried out in the following years in Canada and the Philippines, including one where he participated in the enthronement of the Holy Face in the church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Bacoor City, in the presence of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

On August 5 of last year, a conference was held in South San Francisco, in the Church of Mater Dolorosa, with the participation of Sister Petra-Maria Steiner, a scholar of the Holy Face, Deacon Christoph Sandoval himself and Raymond Frost. The conference was attended by several hundred people, from all over the San Francisco Bay Area, which has over seven million inhabitants. On that occasion, the archbishop expressed the hope that a copy of the Holy Face would also be in San Francisco to be venerated and carried in procession. Hence the mobilization of the devotees, starting with Mrs. Augustine Pham. She is keen to point out, in the presence of Deacon Sandoval, that the donation was anonymous, as confirmed by a plaque placed at the base of the reliquary.

Today this desire has come true. The reliquary will be donated to the archbishop on October 4, coinciding with the feast of St. Francis.

 

Deacon Sandoval, a pilgrim to Manoppello in 2006, appeared enthusiastic, also stating that he intends to encourage the establishment of an Association that promotes knowledge and devotion to the Holy Face in California, also inviting the writer to participate in a conference to be held in San Francisco. A very cordial meeting in which he declared that he has come to know my articles posted on the blog holyfaceofmanoppello.blogspot.com

 

The event was attended by a representation of the Knights of St. Francis of San Francisco, a volunteer organization that assists the poor and homeless in the Californian metropolis, also known for having created the so-called Porziuncola Nuova, which reproduces the original of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi. A remarkable work, created thanks to artists and artisans from Umbria, from which also comes most of the materials. Present among the Knights was their founder Angela Alioto, a descendant of Sicilian emigrants and daughter of the former mayor of San Francisco Joseph Alioto and being herself a former President of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco . Alioto spoke of the ceremony as incredible. She told me that she had heard about the Holy Face for some time, but that it was only a year ago that her knowledge deepened. A clear reflection of last year's conference, promoted by Deacon Sandoval, chaplain of the Knights of St. Francis. 

Some of the Knights of St. Francis including Angela Alioto (center)

Present at the event were some members of the United States Navy stationed at Naples, including the organist and two singers, together with Don Arturo Alcantara Arcos, a Mexican priest, who collaborates with the chaplain of the naval base. Fr. Arturo is also the author of an essay entitled "Saint Junipero Serra, apostle of Mexico," an opportunity to remember how San Francisco also takes its name from a Spanish Franciscan mission, founded in 1776, under the supervision of Fr. Junipero Serra, when California still belonged to Mexico, and Christianity was spreading in those territories. Fr. Junipero Serra, proclaimed a saint in 2015, promoted the establishment of numerous missions in California, including that of San Juan Capistrano, inspired by the saint from Abruzzo.

 

Fr. Anatoliy Grytskiv, Fr. Arturo Alcantara Arcos and Fr. Carmine

  (photo by Francesca Esposito)

The growing phenomenon of the enthronement of the Holy Face, which found its moment of origin in the church of Purgatory in Ruvo di Puglia (Ba), when in 1979 the devotees of the Apulian city wished to remember Fr. Domenico da Cese, a few months after his death. Enthronements of the Holy Face are now widespread in various cities around the world, presented in different ways, from the simplest reproductions on fabric, glass or pexiglass, which are now technically possible, based on the great progress of digital photography, to the most artistic and precious. Moreover, these initiatives are not always known to the Shrine.

Knights of St. Francis with Sr. Blandina, Fr. Carmine, Fr. Antonio Gentili, Angelo, Francesca Esposito, and Giuseppe (historic associate of the shrine)

It can certainly be argued that the long and not always easy path followed for the reliquary  destined for the cathedral of San Francisco is exemplary, and that it has been manifestly solemn, in the spiritual participation shared between the religious community of San Francisco and the Shrine of the Holy Face, even in the creation of the reliquary itself, respectful of the centuries-old Italian goldsmith tradition.  An enthronement that will not fail to bring with it positive effects as the Holy Year of 2025 approaches.

Sister Blandina and Angela Alioto (photo by Francesca Esposito)

Sister Blandina (Photo by Francesca Esposito)

 

Celebration at Manoppello for the Blessing of a Reliquary for the Holy Face Destined for the Archdiocese of San Francisco

 

The "Holy Face" of Christ Unites

 

History and Devotion in the Twinning Between Chiusa Sclafani (Sicily) and Manoppello (Abruzzo)

 

 by Antonio Bini

(except as noted photos by Antonio Bini)

An unprecedented twinning took place between the Holy Face kept in the church of San Nicola di Chiusa Sclafani and that of the Holy Face of Manoppello, after a journey that developed during 2024, which began with a visit to Manoppello by a group of members of the Confraternity of the Holy Face, during the rite of Omnis Terra,  celebrated on January 28. This was followed by the participation of the rector of the Shrine, Fr. Antonio Gentili, invited in connection with the feast of the Holy Face, which is celebrated annually in the Sicilian town on the first Sunday of May. On that occasion, the twinning charter was signed by Mons. Gualtiero Isacchi, archbishop of Monreale, by the archpriest of the church of San Nicola di Bari don Bernardo Giglio, by the aforementioned Fr. Antonio Gentili and by Manuele Ruvolo, president of the Confraternity of the Holy Face of Chiusa Sclafani. The act was later also signed by Mons. Bruno Forte, archbishop of the Diocese of Chieti-Vasto. 

The document summarizes the historical origins of the Holy Face venerated in the Sicilian town, which is located halfway between Palermo and Agrigento, then manifests "the desire to strengthen the root of reparation expressing the desire to look upon the Holy Face of Manoppello" or veil of Veronica.  On August 6, on the occasion of the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus, celebrated in Manoppello, numerous faithful arrived belonging to the Confraternity of the Holy Face of Chiusa Sclafani, founded in 1900 and led by the active and passionate work of President Manuele Ruvolo.

At sunset, after the celebration of the afternoon Mass, presided over by Fr. Simone Calvare, provincial minister of the Capuchins of Abruzzo, Lazio and Umbria, the short procession took place, from the Basilica to Fonte Leone, preceded by Fr. Bernardo Giglio who carried in his arms the Holy Face of Chiusa Sclafani, followed by the large banner of the Confraternity and the numerous members,  arranged in two rows, who all wore the characteristic habit (or scapular).

It was a devout and at the same time joyful participation of people who had traveled over a thousand kilometers to reach Abruzzo as well as an engaging testimony of a twinning deeply felt by the Sicilian community, which mingled among the many local faithful and those also from abroad to attend the solemn rite. Faith is certainly something personal, but at the same time communal.  Also present was Father Anatoly Grytskiv, representing the Orthodox Church.                                         

The procession is a cause for reflection, with aspects that go far beyond the religious event.

It is appropriate to briefly explain the presence of the Holy Face in the Sicilian town, which is due to the venerable friar Innocenzo Caldarera (1557-1631). The friar had received the image as a gift in 1623 from Gregory XV of whom he was a trusted advisor. The pope, out of gratitude, in the final phase of his life, proposed to Brother Innocent that he choose for himself one of the objects in his apartment. The friar turned his attention to the copy of the Holy Face, which in turn he donated to the convent of the reformed Friars Minor of the convent of San Vito in Chiusa Sclafani, his hometown, with a notarial deed dated September 21, 1623. The copy was made by Canon Pietro Strozzi in the year 1617 and bears the Latin inscription "the holiness of Our Lord Paul V pronounced anathema against those who dared, without the permission to be granted by himself or his successors, to make a copy from this image", and portrays the face of the dead Christ. The work, which corresponds to the copy made by Strozzi himself in 1616 and intended for Constance, Queen of Poland, reveals the evident transformation of the iconography of Veronica (True Icon), which previously appeared with its eyes open.

The presence of the Holy Face immediately generated local devotion and also in the neighboring villages.

Of particular historical interest is the documentation that came after the papal brief of Urban VIII of 29 May 1628 which, in reiterating the prohibition of reproduction of the image of Veronica, already ordered by Paul V, ordered the return of existing copies, under penalty of excommunication. The provision, as was explained by the pope himself, did not concern the reproduction of any image of Christ - which would have paradoxical effects for the Church - but only those that "portray the true Holy Image of the Holy Face that is beheld here in St. Peter's Basilica with stains and bruises of blood, sweat and blows."                                                                             

The collection of these documents, patiently transcribed, constitutes the appendix to the work by Antonio Giuseppe Marchese, "Christ in Chiusa Sclafani", a privately published edition of 2009, distributed by the Confraternity of the Holy Face of Chiusa Sclafani.                                                                                                                                                  

It can be seen that on July 11, 1628, Mons. Francesco Traina, bishop of Girgenti (Agrigento), in whose diocese Chiusa Sclafani was then included, ordered the guardian of the Friars Minor to deliver the copy of the Holy Face within eight days, with the threat of papal excommunication. On July 13, Lorenzo Gioeni Gardona, Marquis of Giuliana and Count of Chiusa, intervened in defense of keeping the icon in the village, pointing out that the copy was kept in the church under papal authority  and not by private individuals,  referring to the donation of Gregory XV.                             

In the meantime, Fra Innocenzo Caldarera was informed in Rome so that he could act accordingly, in support of Chiusa's reasons. The good friar evidently succeeded as evidenced by a letter sent from Rome on August 23, 1628, signed by Cardinal Mellini, addressed to the Count of Chiusa, in which he recalls his gratitude to Fr. Innocent, finally clarifying that the obligation to surrender "does not include the prohibition of those images that have been obtained with the authority of this Holy See." The copy could therefore remain in Chiusa Sclafani. But it must evidently have been an interpretation that departed from the order imposed by Urban VIII, so much so that in the same note the cardinal recommends "that the image be kept secret as much as possible, so that other use of this example would not be the cause of the enactment of some new order to cast any doubt upon the grace already obtained,  because His Holiness is very strict in this matter."   In essence, the return of the Holy Face and its destruction is avoided, but on the other hand the secrecy of the image and silence regarding it is imposed.                   

The logic of these provisions seems incomprehensible, especially since in these years the trace of the "pictores veronicarum", which since the Middle Ages had reproduced the face of Christ at the request of pilgrims, had been erased.

The Vatican attitude helps to understand the fears of the Capuchins of Manoppello to protect the Holy Face.  It is no coincidence that they had avoided any form of worship and dissemination of the sacred image, which had remained walled up for a long time. A well-preserved silence, considering that no intimation is present in the archives of the Convent.

With the death of Urban VIII, which took place on July 29, 1644, his long pontificate, which lasted 21 years, came to an end, and the grip on copies of the Veronica began to loosen, even if his provisions would not be annulled. Although during his pontificate he did not fail to grant a Sicilian nobleman, coinciding with the Jubilee of 1625, a copy of the Veronica ("true image of the Holy Sudarium"), painted on a copper plate, which is venerated in the church of San Nicolò in Venetico Superiore, in the province of Messina. The work, also executed by Strozzi, with the usual prohibition of reproduction, differs from the copy of Chiusa Sclafani, but in any case having its eyes closed.

A complex and very tangled story, with contradictory attitudes and with many mysterious aspects, in a tormented period that put Veronica itself at risk.                                                                                              

When, during the Great Jubilee of 2000, John Paul II – who knew the evolution of studies on the Holy Face of Manoppello due to his frequent interactions with Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini (president of the International Institute for Research on the Face of Christ) – asked forgiveness for the sins of the Church in a striking act, arguing: "we cannot fail to recognize the infidelity to the Gospel into which some of our brothers and sisters have fallen, especially during the second millennium" (point 4 – homily delivered in St. Peter's on 12 March 2000)*, he almost certainly also referred to the silence perpetrated by his predecessors regarding Veronica, regarding which only in 2011, during the papacy of Benedict XVI, was its disappearance during the  Sack of Rome in 1527 admitted.

It is worth mentioning that a reflection on the artistic and historical level was expounded by Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, at the invitation of then archbishop of Monreale, Mons. Cataldo Naro, to participate in a conference organized in Chiusa Sclafani on November 6, 2004, with inevitable comparisons to Veronica (a true icon), studied for many years.   

At the left, Mons. Cataldo Naro, with Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer at the right
(photo courtesy of Manuele Ruvolo)

Fr. Pfeiffer articulated at the event an in-depth analysis of the Face of Chiusa, published in the Ecclesiastical Bulletin of the Archdiocese of Monreale, July-December 2004. By extension also the person of Fr. Pfeiffer is to be considered part of the twinning process, recalling that the cardinals of Palermo, Salvatore Pappalardo and Salvatore De Giorgi in recent years, at different times, were among the first pilgrims to Manoppello, as soon as the German Jesuit's studies on Veronica were disseminated.

In the prayer written by Benedict XVI a year after his visit to Manoppello, the pope spoke of "the human face of God who entered history to reveal the horizons of eternity." And on these horizons the paths of faith move freely and spontaneously, converging on the person of Christ and his face.

 

 

 

* 12 March 2000, Day of Forgiveness | John Paul II (vatican.va)

 

 

 

A Study Conference Commemorates Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer Twenty-Five Years After the Identification of the Holy Face with the Roman Veronica

Fr. Antonio Gentili greeting the speakers and the public

Under Christ's gaze towards the Jubilee 2025.

by Antonio Bini

photos by Francesca Bini

The important study conference took place on August 3, 2024 in the Conference Room of the Pilgrim Hotel in Manoppello, with the participation of scholars who have dedicated themselves for years to in-depth studies of the "veil of Veronica".

The day's activities were introduced by the Minister Provincial of the Capuchin Friars Minor for Abruzzo, Lazio and Umbria, Father Simone Calvarese, who praised the organization of the event, which has stimulated reflection and interest towards the Passion of Jesus Christ and the Shrine entrusted to the friars. Father Antonio Gentili – rector of the shrine – greeted and thanked the speakers and all present, encouraging them to work together to move forward in the best possible way to welcome the pilgrims of the upcoming Jubilee. Councilman Roberto Cavallo of the Municipality of Manoppello greeted the conference participants, recalling that Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer was an honorary citizen of Manoppello.

From the left Antonio Bini, Lorenzo Bianchi (archaeologist CNR),
Professor Silvia Elena di Donato, Annalisa De Meis (Conference moderator)

This writer, in his talk, recalled the extraordinary figure of Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, whom he first met in 1998, as well as the idea to promote a press conference at the headquarters of the Foreign Press in Italy on May 31, 1999. This was hosted by the German scholar, by Fr. Germano Di Pietro, pro-tempore rector of the Shrine and by Prof. Donato Vittore, professor at the University of Bari, who had conducted scientific research on the veil using a very high resolution scanner.



The film "In memory of Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer", conceived by Antonio Bini and produced by Stefano Falco, was then screened, including a montage of some reports which appeared on television news broadcasts in 1999 in Italy and abroad, followed by a series of subsequent photos, including those concerning the meeting of the scholar with Pope Benedict XVI on his visit to Manoppello, which took place on September 1, 2006.



It aroused emotion among those present at the press conference to hear the courageous statements of Fr. Pfeiffer, also in response to questions posed by journalists, with which the scholar explained the unique characteristics of the Holy Face and its identification with Veronica, also making his own some previous research by Sister Blandina, on the overlapping of the Veil with the Shroud. Sister Blandina was present in the audience. The theses expressed by Fr. Pfeiffer caused a big commotion at that time, considering that knowledge of the Holy Face had until then been predominantly local.



In addition to the scheduled speakers Fr. Germano Di Pietro, rector in 1999, wished to give his impromptu testimony, admitting that everything regarding the press conference happened without him doing anything in particular. He recalled the great uproar caused by that press conference and the consequences that were immediately created, in the conflict between the hypotheses of the German scholar and the position of the Vatican, which had never admitted the disappearance of Veronica from Rome. In this regard, Fr. Germano recalled how, together with the many journalists, prelates and pilgrims, there were also Canons of St. Peter's Basilica who immediately began to flock to Manoppello, including the authoritative Cardinal Pio Laghi (1922-2009), who admonished him to deny Fr. Pfeiffer's hypotheses. Fr. Germano, with his usual frankness, recalled that he had replied that for him the Holy Face was an object of deep devotion, but that – not being a scholar – he was unable to disprove Fr. Pfeiffer. This testimony, made public for the first time after many years, makes us understand the human and professional difficulties experienced by the German scholar, professor of Christian art at the Gregorian University in Rome.



Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, Fr. Germano's successor, from 2004 to 2020, also recalled with emotion his long friendship with the German Jesuit, before moving on to read, at the writer's request, the report by the writer Paul Badde, entitled "Medium is the message. Reflections on the 25th anniversary of the identification of the Holy Face with the Roman Veronica by Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer". Badde emphasized the Vatican's wariness with respect to Heinrich Pfeiffer's studies, recalling that after the disappearance of the Veronica from St. Peter's Basilica there was a change to an even more precious reliquary, one no longer enclosed between two panes of glass.

    Antonio Bini, Fr. Germano Di Pietro, Fr. Simone Calvare and Angelo Rytz, aide to the Capuchins 

Silvia Elena Di Donato, Greek and Latin teacher and poet, presented her speech: "The Roman Veronica: semantics of a face"; Father Piero Sirianni, Capuchin Friar Minor, doctor of dogmatic theology and journalist, developed the theme: "Eucharist: fons et culmen. Popular piety and evangelizing force”.



The conference concluded with the contribution of Lorenzo Bianchi, researcher of the CNR (National Research Council), who announced the result of studies conducted for 15 years on the state of conservation of the Holy Face, providing positive results both following periodic surveys of air pollution inside the church and on the tightness of some tension points of the cloth, examined only through optical investigations. In announcing the establishment of a scientific commission (whose names have not been disclosed), he reiterated the need to avoid the use of flash photos and the prolonged exposure of the Veil outside the church.

The conference was moderated by Annalisa De Meis.

Paticipants at the Conference including Fr. Germano di Pietro (fourth from the left) and  Fr. Carmine Cucinelli (third from the right)

Last Article Authored by Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J. on the Holy Face of Manoppello

Translated from an Article published in I LUOGHI DELL’INFINITO,

2018 October/232, page 33

The magazine I LUOGHI dell'INFINITO is a monthly magazine linked to the daily newspaper Avvenire, an expression of the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI)








The Veil of Secrets:

The enigma of Manoppello

The precious cloth preserved in the Abruzzo shrine

could it be the Veronica which disappeared from Rome?*

A concrete hypothesis between history and science



text by Heinrich Pfeiffer** Translated by Angelo Rytz

Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer during the Omnis Terra Celebration at the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello

In a small town in Abruzzo lies one of the greatest treasures in the world. We are in Manoppello, not far from the ancient bishopric of Chieti, in a valley that leads south towards the slopes of the Maiella massif.

In the foothills behind the village, in 1621, the Capuchins built a convent. The treasure is here: an exceptionally fine cloth, probably Byssus. The white cloth, measuring 24 by 17 centimeters, is contained in a reliquary in the shape of a monstrance. From the fragile veil shines a face easily identifiable with the face of the Lord.

This piece of cloth contains many secrets. One of its mysteries is that the image vanishes almost completely when held against any light source. Another extraordinary fact is the color of the face, changing from gray to brown, while sometimes, depending on the observer's positIon, light red spots appear. There are also variations depending on the intensity and angle of the light on the fabric.

Other details include the many folds and a piece of chipped glass or crystal.

                                            Note the lines created by the many folds

                                                    

                                                                    

                   The piece of chipped glass or crystal is visible at the bottom right of the veil



The first document treating of the veil is a manuscript by the Capuchin friar Donato di Bomba, written before 1646. This work of fifty-four pages is entitled Vera et breve relatione historica d'una miracolosa figura over’ imagine del volto di Christo Signore nostro passionato et tormentato; which is now found in the Convent of the Capuchin Fathers of Manoppello, Terra in Abruzzo Citra Province of the Kingdom of Naples. In this writing, it is said that in 1506, an unknown person brought the veil to Manoppello and gave it to a certain Giacomo Antonio Leonelli, disappearing immediately after the delivery without leaving a trace of himself. A descendant, Martia Leonelli, would have had the veil as a dowry for her wedding to the soldier Pancrazio Petrucci. But since her brother would not give her the object, her husband violently removed the veil from his brother-in-law's house. Petrucci was finally imprisoned in Chieti, and in order to free him, his wife in 1618 or – according to another version of the manuscript – in 1620, sold the veil for four scudi to Dr. Donato Antonio de Fabritis, who delivered it into the hands of the Capuchins.

The Capuchins could not have researched the object's provenance before 1621, the year of their arrival in Manoppello, which is why the only possible source of reference could be the narration of Martia Leonelli. It is unlikely that this woman remembered a date as precisely as 1506, from a distance of more than a century later.

Moreover, beyond and prior to the historical Relatione, no trace of the presence of the precious veil has ever been found in the town of Manoppello. De Fabritis donated the relic to the Capuchin Fathers in 1638. Father Donato di Bomba wrote the Relatione which was read in public in the town hall of Manoppello on 7 April 1646, followed by a notarial deed in which the text was defined as "historia seu legenda" (“history or legend”).

The thing that makes us curious is the fact that such an object had existed in Rome:
the famous relic of Veronica. Kept at one time in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, it disappeared during the Sack of Rome in 1527. The then director of the Vatican Museums, Professor Antonio Paolucci expressed himself in these terms, in an interview in 2011 coinciding with the presentation of the exhibition "The Man, the Face, the Mystery."

Are there any reasons that prevent us from identifying the veil of Manoppello with that of Veronica?

So far, no argument has been found to contradict this thesis. On the contrary, there are many reasons that lead us to accept it. The first consists in the fact that all the ancient representations and copies of Veronica executed until the beginning of the seventeenth century correspond to the features of the Holy Face of Manoppello, but not to those made later, since 1616, which were passed off as authentic copies of the Roman Veronica.

In this context, we note some strange measures taken by the popes. As early as 1616, Paul V forbade any reproduction of the relic, and when he was asked for a copy by the imperial court of Vienna, he had it executed by a canon of St. Peter's Basilica. This "copy," of no artistic value, is still preserved in the Weltliche Schatzkammer of the Vienna Hofburg and shows for the first time the Face of Christ with his eyes closed.

Even the few versions made during the three years of Gregory XV's reign show the same features as the one in Vienna. Pope Urban VIII had all the ancient and authentic copies of the Roman relic destroyed.

Ancient Reliquary in the Treasury of St. Peter's Basilica showing two shattered panes of glass which formerly enclosed the Veronica 

All these strange measures taken by the popes find an explanation in the theft of the original Veronica: a thesis that finds its confirmation in the fact that the Vatican archivist Giacomo Grimaldi, in 1618, recorded that the glass frame of the ancient reliquary of the Veil, dated 1350, was broken. The same archivist, in the very same year (but one could also think of a falsification of the original date: MDCXVI with the manipulated addition of two strokes to obtain MDCXVIII), drew the Face of Christ together with its reliquary, portraying the identical features of the Holy Face of Manoppello. 

The Opusculum of Giacomo Grimaldi of 1618 

These unusual acts of the popes could not have remained unknown to the Capuchins of the Abruzzo town. In fact, at that time, the religious tried to protect the relic itself, which probably had been saved and then hidden in Abruzzo. The Relatione historica was written to inform the Minister General of the Order in Rome, Father Innocentio di Caltagirone, about the events in Manoppello.

Did the fathers suspect that their veil was actually the Roman Veronica? We don't know. We have only clues that can be interpreted in this sense: the fathers waited until 1686 to dedicate a chapel to the relic of the Holy Face and until 1718 to ask Pope Clement XI to grant a plenary indulgence for pilgrims visiting the sanctuary.

There is much evidence to assert that the veil of Manoppello is identifiable with the Veronica. First of all, it is certain that there is no object in the entire world that so perfectly reflects, in every trait and detail, the Roman relic and that corresponds so faithfully to everything that is known about it. Only the image of Manoppello can give us a concrete vision of how it would have appeared to pilgrims and artists, especially in the period from the beginning of the fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century.

The Veronica was a veil that was sometimes represented as transparent cloth and sometimes with the clear signs of many folds.

The recognizable Face on it had open eyes, the same wavy hair, and the beard divided into two parts of the Holy Face. It is enough to set up in parallel the innumerable images that we find in Western art to notice this.

On the other hand, the Holy Face of Manoppello cannot be a copy of a presumed lost original for two reasons. First, the image on the veil is reproduced with an unknown technique: anyone who would make copies would have had to adopt some known method to make them. Secondly, the Veil of Manoppello is the most richly detailed portrait among those renowned, whether in the East or in the West.

The rules of philology dictate that in a relationship of dependence between a model and its imitation, the object with the most considerable number of details is to be considered the original. At the same time, copies never report all the details in the progenitor image.

Other research on the Holy Face of Manoppello by a German nun, Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer, has proved to be of extreme interest. The nun compared the face of the veil and the features of the Holy Shroud of Turin using a remarkably simple but effective method: the superimposition of the two images on a 1:1 scale. As a result, with the exception of the traces of blood - or at least they seem to be, there is a perfect coincidence of all the details so that a single image is formed between the two faces without creating any disturbance or interference.

There seems to be only one explanation: the image of Manoppello could only have been formed when the two fabrics had been superimposed on each other.

If this first overlapping of the two fabrics took place in the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem, then the story of the Holy Face would begin in the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem, precisely as that of the Shroud of Turin.

If we admit, at least hypothetically, this possibility, we can try to write in broad terms the history of the veil of Manoppello. thus it seems probable to identify the relic with another Face of Christ on cloth of which we have historical information: the image Camulia, in Cappadocia. As the Byzantine historian George Cedrenus writes, in 574, the acheropita, the image of Christ not made by human hands, is said to have arrived in Constantinople from Camulia. This image in the capital made up for the disappearance of the labarum, the flag of the Roman troops created by Constantine, which had been lost since the time of the empire of Julian the Apostate. In its place, the holy image was carried before the troops during battles.

The victories were celebrated by poets who emphasized the role played by the acheropita, taking care to report some descriptions of it.

The poet Theophylact Simokatta, for example, wrote on the occasion of the battle near the Arzamon River in 586 that the image had been executed by divine hand, so it was neither woven nor painted. If one observes the veil of Manoppello attentively, together with its image, one can become perfectly aware that this Face is neither painted on the cloth nor is it a woven image. There is no trace of pigment on the cloth while the image is perfectly visible from both sides, as if were one with the threads of the cloth. Not even weaving can explain it because each thread of weft is not shown to be of a single color in its length but divided into different shades that change from one to the other almost indistinctly. The image of Camulia remained in Constantinople until about 705 when the second period of Justinian II's rule began. In the interregnum, the Acheropite image must have been lost.

It was only in 753, on the occasion of the Lombard siege of Aistulf, that there was news of an "Acheropsita"(sic): an icon of Christ in the chapel of the Sancta Santorum of the Lateran Palace in Rome. The upper part of this icon was covered by a veil with the Face of Christ depicted.

Was the first veil placed over the icon perhaps the same image of Camulia, later replaced by a second veil with a painted face when the Lateran "Acheropsita" was secretly transported to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, where it assumed the new name of Veronica? This hypothesis could bridge the gap between the loss of the image of Camulia in Constantinople in about 705 and the appearance of Veronica in St. Peter's towards the end of the twelfth century.

How is it possible to identify four different objects (the images of Camulia, the Lateran, St. Peter's, and Manoppello) as the same object? The fundamental reason lies only in the fact that we are always treating of an image on cloth, but above all in the mysterious character of the Holy Face itself.

It's difficult to accept that there might exist a number of images with the same inexplicable properties.

Finally, let us recall two events of particular importance. Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Manoppello on September 1, 2006, to whom we owe the elevation of the modest shrine to the status of a minor basilica.

And the re-enactment, during the Jubilee of Mercy, of the ancient procession of the Holy Face from St. Peter's to the nearby basilica of Santo Spirito in Sassia, established by Pope Innocent III in 1208. For the occasion, a copy of the Holy Face was brought by the Capuchins from Manoppello to Rome and was exhibited on January 16 and 17, 2016 in the Basilica of Santo Spirito.

During the solemn Eucharistic celebration, the Prefect of the Papal Household, Georg Gänswein, said: "This is a copy of that ancient original that Pope Innocent III showed to pilgrims and that for four hundred years has been kept in Abruzzo on the Adriatic, in a peripheral area of Italy, from where today for the first time it has been brought back to the place where its public worship began."

*Jesuit, art historian, (1939-2021)

**The question in the subtitle of the article was inserted by the editorial staff of the magazine I Luoghi dell'Infinito