By Pauline Masson –
If you’ve ever contemplated the story of the Shroud of Turin, and wondered if it really could be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, you need to meet Mark Antonacci – a Eureka attorney, published author, history aficionado, former agnostic, and one of the best arguers I’ve ever encountered.
The shroud, most Christians know, is a 14 ft x 4 ft strip of linen that displays an image of a man, who has the obvious scars associated with crucifixion. The cloth, which is kept in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin, Italy, was first seen by the public in the 1350s After years of debate, in 1988 a fragment of the Shroud was subjected to Carbon 14 (C14) dating and said to date to 1300 and therefore could not have been in existence when Christ was crucified.
Shroud of Turin, captures images of crucified man front and back
But Mr. Antonacci said the C14 date is not the final word. There are other ways to determine the age of ancient artifacts.
After 45 years of research, he has already written two books on the Shroud and is preparing to write a third book that he says will prove, scientifically, that the Shroud of Turin Dates to the time of Christ.
I came across Mr. Antonacci’s story because I’m writing a book on the history of Eureka for the Eureka Historical Society.
I was asked to watch a series of video interviews by Historical Society members and people in the community who have unique knowledge of community history and who make up the unique character of the city.
It turned out that one of the interview was about a different history – the history of The Shroud of Turin.
Former Eureka mayor and devout Catholic Robert “Bob” Berry interviewed Mr. Antonacci and asked him to share his findings about the date of the Shroud with the community
Mr. Antonacci says he was an agnostic (non believer) on the day he encountered the story of the shroud. He didn’t even know the shroud existed. He accidentally stumbled (his word) onto awareness that there even was such a thing as a Shroud of Turin. That was 45 years ago. That stumble led to years of research and the belief that the scientists who have examined the Shroud and declared it a mid-century creation just got it wrong.
His epiphany happened pretty fast. He has a charming story about his discovery of the Shroud. He was in a serious argument with his then girlfriend, a devout believer, who was angry with him for not being a believer. The argument became so heated that he stormed off, deciding to go to his office to cool off. On the way he stopped to buy a newspaper to read the sports page. In the paper was a headline on the Shroud of Turin. Nothing to do with the argument with his girlfriend, but as he paced back and forth the Shroud headline kept entering his eye sight.
His claim of being agnostic at that time is bit shaky. He was 32 years old, a compulsive reader on an eclectic list of topics, science, history, archeology, botany, medicine, the arts. They all came into play when he considered the Shroud. And, he had attended church with his mother as a child and was acquainted with the Bible story of Christ’s crucifixion. As he paced the floor the story of the Shroud caught hold and he stopped to contemplate it.
After examining the images all the scars associated with Jesus’ crucifixion, and some 400 specs of blood, he had an epiphany.
“Finally I asked myself, why are pacing,” he recalled. “There is nothing to fear here. If this is real, this is good news.”
The self- discovery took him on a 45-year research voyage to learn every known fact about the Shroud.
“The Shroud of Turin definitely dates to the First Century, and I believe it is the burial shroud of Jesus,” he said at the conclusion of the interview.
What does Mark Antonacci’s interest in the Shroud of Turin have to do with the History of Eureka, you might ask.
Which is what I did. I asked former Eureka Mayor Bob Berry, Eureka Historical Society vice president, one of the editors and proof readers of the book I’m writing why he included an interview with Mr. Antonacci in the history of Eureka
In the August 4, 2025 interview with the Historical Society, Mr. Antonacci, who described his 45-year investigation of the Holy Shroud as ‘an adventure,’ and why he now believes new techniques determine the age of fabric fibers.
And, a little research shows he is not alone in his belief that the C14 date of the Holy Shroud is not conclusive.
In Bari, Italy, scientist Liberato De Caro of Italy’s Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council and a team of other researchers, used a “Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering” method to examine the natural aging of cellulose that constitutes a sample of the famous linen cloth that shows the Holy Shroud of Turin to be much older than the C14 dating and does coincide with the time of Christ’s death and resurrection.
“For about 30 years, I have been using investigative techniques on the scale of atoms, in particular through X-rays, and three years ago we developed a new method for dating samples taken from linen fabrics,” Mr. DeCaro said.
There seems to be a worldwide scientific movement to test the date of the Shroud.
On the World Wide Web, nuclear scientist and atom specialist Bob Rucker, who operates a web page Shroud Research Network (SRN), also says he has used nuclear analysis computer calculations to solve the carbon dating problem.
“There are 14 indicators for the date for the Shroud, 13 of which are consistent with the time of Jesus,” SRN said. “Only the C14 date is inconsistent with the time of Jesus.”
To most of us Christians, the shroud is a captivating relic of Christianity. Many believe it is the burial shroud that would have wrapped the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.
“More people, in fact the entire world, are going to accept that the Shroud dates to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion as these new test methods are reported and understood,” Mr Antonacci said.
He has published two books on the subject, which are available on Amazon.
Mark Antonacci Books, 2001 and 2017
His third book on the Shroud is scheduled to hit book stores during Easter week 2027.
He is confident that as these new dating techniques are explored the world will accept that the Shroud as the burial cloth of Jesus.
‘Nobody should be upset by this,” Mr Antonacci said. “This is good news.”
