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Holy Face of Jesus

title for specific images which some Catholics believe to be miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ116926
Source-derived summary

The Holy Face of Jesus is a title for specific images which some Catholics believe to be miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ. The image obtained from the Shroud of Turin is associated with a specific medal worn by some Roman Catholics and is also one of the Catholic devotions to Christ.

Various acheiropoieta (literally "not-handmade") items relating to Christ have been reported throughout the centuries, and devotions to the face of Jesus have been practiced. Devotions to the Holy Face were approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1895 and Pope Pius XII in 1958.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Holy Face of Jesus is used in conjunction with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ with specific institutions whose focus is such reparations, e.g. the Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face. In his address to this Congregation, Pope John Paul II referred to such acts of reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".

The Veronica

Belief in the existence of authentic images of Christ is connected with the old legend of Abgar of Edessa regarding the "Mandylion". It is also seen in some apocryphal writings including the Mors Pilati that describe a "veil of Veronica" imprinted with Christ's face. The oldest and best known of these images was called the vera icon ('true image'), which in the popular imagination developed a story of a person "Veronica".

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Holy Face of Jesus” as title for specific images which some Catholics believe to be miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1895, 1958—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Holy, Face and Jesus can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as title for specific images which some Catholics believe to be miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q116926. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1895 and 1958.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Holy Face of Jesus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.