Pope to view ancient tunic believed linked to Jesus
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The Basilica Saint-Denys of Argenteuil in France will present the Holy Tunic of Argenteuil, a relic believed to be the tunic Jesus wore during his passion, to Pope Leo XIV.
For around 1,200 years, the tunic has been preserved in France, enduring wars, a robbery, and scientific studies that continue to fuel debate about its age. Priests hid the tunic to protect it from invaders and cut it into pieces during the French Revolution to prevent its confiscation or destruction.
In 1983, someone stole the tunic from the basilica, but it mysteriously reappeared months later with the circumstances and identities of those involved remaining unclear. Scientists have examined the tunic, finding traces of human blood, textiles linked to the East, and pollen from the Mediterranean and Near East, though these findings haven’t conclusively proven its age.
A 2004 carbon-14 test dated the fabric to between 530 and 650 AD, centuries after Jesus’s time, but those who care for the relic suggest its troubled history may affect test results. Pope Leo XIV will view the tunic during a prayer vigil with approximately 80,000 young people at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis as part of his trip to France from September 25 to 28.
The Church maintains the tunic is linked to the Gospel of John’s account of the soldiers dividing Jesus’s garments after the crucifixion, choosing not to tear a seamless tunic but instead to cast lots for it.
