For four days this June, one of the most studied and debated religious artifacts in the world will make its way to Lewiston, Maine. The Basilica Heritage Center of Maine is hosting "Who is the Man of the Shroud?," a traveling exhibit and lecture series devoted to the Shroud of Turin, in the lower church of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul at 122 Ash Street. The exhibit runs from Wednesday, June 24, through Saturday, June 27, with hours from 12:30 to 8 p.m. on the first three days and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is by donation.
The exhibit, produced by Othonia — an international organization dedicated to educating the public about the Shroud — invites visitors to explore the mystery of the Man of the Shroud and what modern science, history, and faith reveal about the relic. At the center of the display stands a life-size replica of the Shroud, allowing visitors to stand beside the image that has captivated believers and scientists alike for centuries. Featured speaker Nora Creech, a Shroud expert and Othonia's liaison, will give presentations throughout the four-day run, joined by fellow expert Dave Emmith.
The Shroud itself is a length of linen bearing the faint, yellowed image of a naked, crucified man, believed by millions of Christians to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. It has resided in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, for over four centuries.
The exhibit now coming to Lewiston has its own remarkable pedigree. Othonia — from the Greek word in John's Gospel for "burial cloth" — is an apostolate of the Science and Faith Institute of the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum in Rome. Othonia partnered with the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit to produce the exhibit at the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024.
Creech, who will lead the presentations in Lewiston, has been interested in the Shroud since the 1970s.
The setting for the exhibit is as storied as the relic it presents. The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, completed on July 18, 1936, and dedicated on October 23, 1938, is said to be the largest church and the only basilica north of Boston. Built in the neo-Gothic medieval style modeled after French Gothic cathedrals, it features twin towers, vibrant stained glass, and ornate stone and woodwork throughout. Its eight spires, soaring 165 feet into the air, have dominated the Lewiston skyline for decades. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The basilica's history is inseparable from the Franco-American community that built it. In the mid-nineteenth century, French Canadians flocked to Lewiston to work in the textile mills that rose along the city's canals. The congregation grew so large that the original church had to be torn down, and the current structure was financed, planned, and built by generations of proud, hardworking immigrants. The church's two Casavant Frères pipe organs, both dedicated in 1938, include the largest church organ in Maine, with 4,622 pipes.
The exhibit is part of a broader effort by the Basilica Heritage Center of Maine, chaired by Lisa Gilbert, and the Rev. Daniel Greenleaf, pastor of Prince of Peace Parish, to promote the basilica beyond the region and raise funds to bring more Catholic events to Lewiston. The center has already hosted organ concerts, art classes, and stained-glass-making workshops, and it plans to work with art students from Bates College and Colby College. The Shroud exhibit, Greenleaf said, is one of several traveling exhibitions expected to come to the basilica.
For those who attend, the exhibit offers a rare chance to stand beside a life-size replica of a cloth that has inspired devotion, sparked scientific inquiry, and defied easy explanation for centuries. Whether one sees it as the burial cloth of Jesus or as a medieval enigma, the Shroud of Turin remains a bridge between faith and science — and for four days this June, that bridge will cross the Androscoggin into Lewiston.