Complete the given passage.

The earliest sighting of this linen cloth ………………….. (is / was / were) in the 14th century in France. The shroud was ……………….. (believing / believed) to have been the cloth wrapped around Jesus when he …………………. (placed / was placed / had placed) in his tomb; when the cloth …………………. (is / was / had) removed, it ………………….. (bear / bore / borne) the image of Christ on it. When a bishop …………………. (proclaims / proclaimed / has proclaimed) it to be a scam, an artist confessed to painting the image on it, and Pope Clement VII officially ………………… (declares / declared / has declared) the shroud a mere representation of Christ. All these proclamations were soon ……………………. (forgetting / forgotten), however. Since then about 40 other such cloths …………………. (claimed / have claimed / are claiming) to be this holy shroud, but the Turin linen is the only one with supposed bloodstains (suspiciously redder than dried blood) and the markings of a crucified man.

Solution

The earliest sighting of this linen cloth was in the 14th century in France. The shroud was believed to have been the cloth wrapped around Jesus when he was placed in his tomb; when the cloth was removed, it bore the image of Christ on it. When a bishop proclaimed it to be a scam, an artist confessed to painting the image on it, and Pope Clement VII officially declared the shroud a mere representation of Christ. All these proclamations were soon forgotten, however. Since then about 40 other such cloths have claimed to be this holy shroud, but the Turin linen is the only one with supposed bloodstains (suspiciously redder than dried blood) and the markings of a crucified man.