Doctor-Priest Claims To Have Solved 'Mystery' Of Jesus Christ's Death

Jesus died of fatal bleeding caused by a dislocated shoulder from carrying the cross, a doctor-turned-priest has claimed, Gabriella Swerling reported for The Telegraph.

Photo Insert: The hypothesis was based on analysis of the Shroud of Turin, which has been preserved since 1578 in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy.

However, for the first time, a doctor-turned-priest has written a scientific paper explaining why he believes that Jesus Christ may have ultimately been killed by complexities linked to his dislocated right shoulder.

The Rev. Prof. Patrick Pullicino, a former consultant neurologist at East Kent Universities Hospitals National Health Service (NHS) Trust who, since retirement, has become a priest, has published his theory in the latest edition of Catholic Medical Quarterly. He analyzed work on the Shroud of Turin, which has been preserved since 1578 in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy.

In the 1980s, it was subject to radiocarbon testing which concluded it was probably a medieval relic. Studies conducted in the 2010s dispute this claim and instead argue that the linen sheet dates from the time of Jesus.

Pullicino saw that the image on the shroud depicts a man with a dislocated shoulder that was pulled so far out of its socket that the right hand stretches 10 cm (four inches) lower than the left. When stretched out for crucifixion, he claimed that this would cause the subclavian artery – a pair of large arteries in the thorax that supply blood to the thorax itself, head, neck, shoulder, and arms – to rupture causing massive internal bleeding, the collapse of the circulatory system and, eventually, death.

As a result, around three pints of blood would fill the cavity between the ribcage and the lung. This explains why blood poured out of Jesus when he was pierced by the centurion.

“Because of this right arm stretching, the right subclavian ir axillary artery was also subjected to stretch, as it was one of the only remaining intact structures connecting the body and the right arm,” he said.

“Transferring of body weight to the arms in inspiration is likely to have caused further stretching of the right subclavian artery. Transferring weight to the legs in exhalation would reverse this stretch. This would cause the stretched subclavian artery to move across the rib surface with each breath and its underside would be subject to friction.”

Regarding the water, the Rev Prof Pullicino argued that it is cerebrospinal fluid, which has a translucent appearance, and that it had leaked up towards Jesus’s upper lung. Roman soldiers routinely broke the legs of those they crucified to speed up their deaths, but since Jesus had already died, his legs were left unbroken.

So when Jesus was pierced by a soldier, as per tradition, the Rev Prof Pullicino claimed that the spear tip must have released the build-up of pressure caused by the blood. Pullicino’s analysis also has echoes of Christian visions. St. Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century claimed that he spoke with Jesus and asked him what was the greatest unknown suffering of his Passion.

Jesus replied: “I had on my shoulder, while I bore my cross on the way of sorrows, a grievous wound that was more painful than the others and which is not recorded by men.”

Pope John Paul II, when he was still a young priest, asked Padre Pio, the 20th-century Italian mystic famous for suffering the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, in his own body. He asked Padre Pio which of his injuries were the most painful. “It is my shoulder wound, which no one knows about and has never been cured or treated,” came the reply.

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