by Katie Vasquez
As a scientist, Bill Lauto loves to do research, but the one subject that has caught his attention for decades is the Shroud of Turin, the believed burial cloth used on Jesus during his resurrection.
“It’s the most researched and studied icon in the history of humankind,” said Lauto.
It all started when he was a teenager. Bill’s family moved from Brooklyn to Long Island, and he went from a Catholic education, to public school.
“I was really questioning the existence of god because as far as i knew, the majority of scientists did not believe in god.”
He opened an encyclopedia and found this image that Italian photographer secondo pia developed in 1898, the first photograph of the shroud.
“The hair stood up on the back of my neck,” Lauto said. “I became acutely aware of how insignificant I was in this universe.”
It sent him on a journey to learn more and he dived into studies on the famous artifact.
“The day Jesus was crucified, we are pretty sure was April 3rd, 33 AD,” Lauto said. “It’s the only day that meets all the criteria.”
Now he’s an official exhibitor of the Shroud of Turin, receiving his certification from the Pontifical Atheneum Regina Apostolorum.
Recently, he was also one of the volunteers at the National Eucharistic Congress where a replica was on display.
“The path that I was put on when I was 14 years old was never clear to me,” Lauto said. “But I just follow that path faithfully.”
Bill feels it is his vocation to speak about the shroud and spread the faith.
“When I’m speaking about this, I see the facial expressions on the people I’m talking to,” Lauto said. “and that’s what tells me I have to do this.”
His next goal is to create a permanent exhibit in New York City with life-size images of the Shroud of Turin.