Feb 12
4
Finding St. Peter’s Tomb
St. Peter’s Basilica in the heart of Vatican City is not only the largest of all the Christian Churches, it is also considered to be the “greatest of all churches of Christendom”. It is regarded among Catholics to be the spot where St. Peter himself was entombed. He was given this honor because he was one of Christ’s apostles and the first Bishop of Rome, making him the first in a long line of papacy.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter was one of the key figures in the foundation of the Christian Church. After acting as leader of the newly formed Church for 30 years, Peter moved to Rome. This was in 64 AD. Not long after that Peter was crucified for his affiliation with the Church. Many other followers were martyred as well. While Peter died on the cross, it was not in the same manner as Christ’s crucifixion. He was hung with his head at the bottom of the cross rather than the top at his own request. Peter felt that he was not worthy of dying as Jesus did.
After his death, Peter was buried in a grave marked by one red rock on Vatican Hill near to where he was crucified. After some years, a shrine to honor him was constructed on the spot of his burial. This shrine was included inside of the first St. Peter’s Basilica, which was built in the 4th century. The tomb of St. Peter was just beneath the altar. This started a tradition of entombing other popes in the same area and the tradition continued even when the current version of the basilica was constructed in the 16th century.
Efforts to locate St. Peter’s tomb and other relics with significance to the church were begun in 1939 when Vatican officials engaged teams of archeologists to search beneath the basilica. Among their discoveries were a number of graves as well as a vast configuration of pagan mausoleums. They also came across something thought to be the original shrine used to mark the grave of St. Peter. During this time the bones believed to be of four different men were unearthed. One of them was determined to be a man approximately 60 to 70 years of age. This particular set of bones was spirited away to be kept somewhere safe until such time as they could be subjected to further study.
Pope Pious XII wanted to let the world know of the discoveries that have been made beneath the basilica. In 1950 he did so, by announcing that Saint Peter’s tomb had indeed been located. But he was cautious with his words and stated that while the tomb had been discovered, there was at that point no proof that the bones in it belonged to Saint Peter.
When Pope Paul VI was elected in 1963, as an old friend of the family of the archeologist studying the bones that were thought to be Peter’s, he have permission for further study on the remains. In 1965 the archeologist wrote a book called The Remains of Saint Peter. This book was is what led the pope to announce from St. Peter’s Basilica on June 25, 1968 that the remains of Peter had been discovered directly below the church from which he was speaking.
Robert Mann is a prolific writer centering on subjects related to teaching, religion and Christianity. For more faith-based information, follow these links for Christian news and ministry jobs.. This article, Finding St. Peter’s Tomb is available for free reprint.
