***NEWS RELEASE***

For Immediate Release: February 1, 2024

Press Conference on February 8th.

CONTACT: Myra Kahn Adams - National Shroud of Turin Exhibit.org  

[email protected]  

$1 Million Challenge to Replicate Shroud of Turin-Expanded to USA

Press conference: February 8, 2024, at 10 a.m. in Salon 15 at the Marriott Marquis, 901 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., after the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

Who: David Rolfe, the well-known British award-winning Shroud of Turin film producer, and Myra Kahn Adams, Executive Director of The National Shroud of Turin Exhibit (NSTE), along with Shroud experts from the NSTE, will be present to announce a USA expansion of Rolfe’s $1 Million Challenge to replicate the Shroud of Turin. In 2022, Rolfe offered his initial $1 Million Challenge solely to the British Museum, which has yet to respond. Rolfe presented the Challenge in his 2022 film Who Can He Be? when the Challenge generated global media attention after the film’s initial release in the U.K.

What: The Shroud of Turin is a mysterious 14 ft. x 3 ft. linen burial cloth bearing an unexplained bloodstained image of a crucified man that millions believe is the biblically-mentioned linen that wrapped Jesus in the tomb. Consequently, the Shroud is the world's most analyzed and revered artifact. Based on recent exhibitions, films, podcasts, books, and articles, public interest in the Shroud is at an all-time high.

Background: David Rolfe’s $1 Million Challenge is rooted in 1988 when the British Museum supervised a carbon-14 dating of the Shroud of Turin. Then, with much fanfare, the Museum announced the Shroud as a fake produced between 1260 and 1390. Immediately, scientists criticized the methodology, which compromised the accuracy of the Museum’s conclusions. Furthermore, the Museum refused to release the raw data until 2017, when the results were reexamined and their dates found to be unreliable.

Why: The essence of Rolfe’s 2022 British Museum Challenge — now expanded to the USA — is an either-or proposition. In 1978, a highly respected examination by over 30 scientists concluded the Shroud “was not the product of an artist” and, therefore, could be authentic. Alternatively, the 1988 British Museum’s carbon-14 dating labs reported a medieval date, meaning the Shroud could not have wrapped Jesus and was therefore produced by human hands. If true, Challenge entrants should be able to replicate the Shroud’s image using only technology from the Middle Ages and win the $1 million prize.  

How: Starting February 8, any person, organization, or institution in America can apply to undertake Rolfe’s $1 Million Challenge to create the image of a crucified man that appears on the linen Shroud. The winning copy must comply with established measurable criteria based on extensive modern analysis. See full details about the USA Shroud $1 Million Challenge on the “Who Can He Be?”/Challenge site, where the 2022 film is available for streaming.

Myra Kahn Adams said, “Our team of national Shroud experts are honored to help promote David Rolfe’s $1 Million American Challenge to replicate the Shroud. This Challenge complements our forthcoming National Shroud of Turin exhibit, "World’s Greatest Mystery.” Our exhibit and David Rolfe’s Challenge ask the same questions: “Who Can He Be?” and “Who Do You Say I Am?”   

To interview David Rolfe or Myra Kahn Adams and Shroud experts from the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit team, contact Myra Kahn Adams at [email protected]    

National Shroud of Turin Exhibit’s Challenge Disclaimer:

Performco Ltd. underwrites this Challenge hosted by David Rolfe. The National Shroud of Turin Exhibit (NSTE) is not hosting, judging, funding, offering, or paying any proceeds to any person, organization, institution, or entity that enters the above Global Challenge by David Rolfe and Performco Ltd. The NSTE bears no responsibility whatsoever for any such functions and only promotes the above-expanded Challenge by Performco Ltd. in the United States. All decisions regarding the Challenge, the entrants, or their submissions are made by Performco’s independent judges and are final.