Painful Pilgrimage
PILGRIMAGE TO THE SHROUD. By Group Captain G. L. Cheshire, VC, DSO, DFC. (Hutchinson, 7s. 6d.) THIS is the story of a very ill little girl who conceived the idea that she would be cured if she was blessed by the Holy Shroud and who was chivalrously taken to Turin by the author, Group Captain Cheshire, himself stilt a sick man. In his introduction, the Archbishop of Birmingham expresses the fear that the book may be misunderstood, and it is certainly rather difficult to see the point of it. The little girl was allowed to touch the wrapping of the Holy Shroud at Turin but she was not cured. Most of the people concerned in the matter seem to have been a little naive. It was not until two days before their projected departure that 'we received a message from Rome saying that the King of Italy was not in Turin but in Europe.' Less authoritative but equally accurate guidance on this point could perhaps have been obtained in England. It was not until they met ex-King Umberto in Lisbon that they discovered that it was not he but the Cardinal in Turin who could give access to the Holy Shroud. Since the Archbishop says in his introduction that 'the journey was undertaken only after advice from the type of authority that a Catholic ought to consult on such a matter' (the type of authority consulted turns out to have been the Archbishop himself), it is surprising that this point too was not cleared up in England. Still, the visit to Lisbon was not entirely wasted. They got a letter of introduction from Umberto and on their arrival at Turin railway station they were welcomed by five priests 'in the name of the King.' Gro.up Captain Cheshire is relentless in giving us a full itinerary of the journey—`the potatoes were very dry'—and betweten meals he gives a child's guide to the Roman Catholic Church. The book is Rinfully reminiscent of Hollywood religious film, starring Mr. Bing Crosby, and the photographs in it do nothing to dispel
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