There is a legend that says that Peter asked to be crucified upside down, as he felt unworthy to die as Jesus did. Most historical sources only say he was crucified. Roman Catholics believe that the Pope is Peter's successor. For this reason, he is the rightful head of all other bishops.
Eastern and Oriental Orthodox also recognise the Bishop of Rome as the successor to Saint Peter and the Ecumenical Patriarch sends a delegation each year to Rome to participate in the celebration of his feast. In the Ravenna doumernt of 13 October the representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church agreed that "Rome, as the Church that 'presides in love' according to the phrase of St Ignatius of Antioch To the Romans, Prologue , occupied the first place in the taxis order , and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos first among the patriarchs.
They disagree, however, on the interpretation of historical evidence from this era regarding the rights of the bishop of Rome as protos , a matter that was already understood in different ways in the first millennium. In art, he is often shown holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven interpreted by Roman Catholics as the sign of his primacy over the Church , a reference to Matthew Christian tradition says Saint Peter was the first leader of an early apostolic community for at least 34 years.
At that time there was only one Christian Church. Tradition also locates his burial place where St. Peter's Basilica was later built, in Vatican City. The following people were the twelve apostles of Jesus :. Ruins of ancient Capernaum on north side of the Sea of Galilee.
Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the Sea of Galilee. This opened of its own accord; they went through it and had walked the whole length of one street when suddenly the angel left him.
It was only then that Peter came to himself. And he said, 'Now I know it is all true. The Lord really did send his angel and save me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. Following his escape, Peter resumed his apostolate in Jerusalem and his missionary efforts included travels to such cities of the pagan world as Antioch, Corinth, and eventually Rome.
He made reference to the Eternal City in his first Epistle by noting that he writes from Babylon. Through a variety of works, it is certain that Peter died in Rome and that his martyrdom came during the reign of Emperor Nero, believed to be in 64 AD.
Testimony of his martyrdom is extensive, including Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Clement I of Rome, St. Ignatius, and St. According to rich tradition, Peter was crucified on the Vatican Hill upside down because he declared himself unworthy to die in the same manner as the Lord. He was then buried in Rome near the Vatican on Vatican Hill. In the early 4th century, Emporor Constantine I honored Peter with a large basilica over the site of his burial despite the slope of Vatican Hill, which first needed to be excavated.
According to a letter, Pope Vitalian sent a cross with filings said to be from Peter's chains to the queen of Oswy, Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria in along with unspecified relics of Peter. In human bones were discovered beneath the alter of St. Peter's Basilica and many claimed they belonged to Peter.
In an excavation found St. Peter's tomb in Jerusalem bearing his previous name Simon, as well as the tombs of the other apostles, Mary, and Jesus.
In the s, discarded debris from the excavation beneath St. Peter's Basilica were re-examined and were identified as the bones of a male human. On November 24, , Pope Francis revealed the relics of nine bone fragments for the first time in public during a Mass celebrated at St.
Peter's Square. While Peter's chief feast day is June 29, he is also honored on February 22 and November In liturgical art, he is depicted as an elderly man holding a key and a book.
His symbols include an inverted cross, a boat, and the cock. Copyright Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.
Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited. Federal Tax Identification Number: Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. Toggle navigation. Search Catholic Online.
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. Thank you. The Bible chronicles when the brothers met Jesus in Luke chapter 5, which reads: "Now it happened that he was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats at the water's edge.
Geffcken, Leipzig , , From Bishop Papias of Hierapolis and Clement of Alexandria , who both appeal to the testimony of the old presbyters i. In connection with this information concerning the Gospel of St. Mark , Eusebius , relying perhaps on an earlier source, says that Peter described Rome figuratively as Babylon in his First Epistle.
Another testimony concerning the martyrdom of Peter and Paul is supplied by Clement of Rome in his Epistle to the Corinthians written about A. Let us place before our eyes the good Apostles — St. Peter, who in consequence of unjust zeal , suffered not one or two, but numerous miseries, and, having thus given testimony martyresas , has entered the merited place of glory ". He then mentions Paul and a number of elect , who were assembled with the others and suffered martyrdom "among us" en hemin , i.
He is speaking undoubtedly, as the whole passage proves , of the Neronian persecution , and thus refers the martyrdom of Peter and Paul to that epoch. In his letter written at the beginning of the second century before , while being brought to Rome for martyrdom , the venerable Bishop Ignatius of Antioch endeavours by every means to restrain the Roman Christians from striving for his pardon, remarking: "I issue you no commands, like Peter and Paul : they were Apostles , while I am but a captive" Epistle to the Romans 4.
The meaning of this remark must be that the two Apostles laboured personally in Rome , and with Apostolic authority preached the Gospel there. Bishop Dionysius of Corinth, in his letter to the Roman Church in the time of Pope Soter , says: "You have therefore by your urgent exhortation bound close together the sowing of Peter and Paul at Rome and Corinth.
For both planted the seed of the Gospel also in Corinth , and together instructed us, just as they likewise taught in the same place in Italy and at the same time suffered martyrdom " in Eusebius, Church History II. John , passed a considerable time in Rome shortly after the middle of the second century, and then proceeded to Lyons , where he became bishop in ; he described the Roman Church as the most prominent and chief preserver of the Apostolic tradition , as "the greatest and most ancient church , known by all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles , Peter and Paul " Against Heresies 3.
He thus makes use of the universally known and recognized fact of the Apostolic activity of Peter and Paul in Rome , to find therein a proof from tradition against the heretics. Like Irenaeus , Tertullian appeals, in his writings against heretics , to the proof afforded by the Apostolic labours of Peter and Paul in Rome of the truth of ecclesiastical tradition.
How fortunate is this Church for which the Apostles have poured out their whole teaching with their blood, where Peter has emulated the Passion of the Lord, where Paul was crowned with the death of John ". In Scorpiace 15 , he also speaks of Peter's crucifixion. There Peter was girded by another, since he was bound to the cross".
As an illustration that it was immaterial with what water baptism is administered, he states in his book On Baptism 5 that there is "no difference between that with which John baptized in the Jordan and that with which Peter baptized in the Tiber"; and against Marcion he appeals to the testimony of the Roman Christians , "to whom Peter and Paul have bequeathed the Gospel sealed with their blood" Against Marcion 4.
If you care to go to the Vatican or to the road to Ostia , thou shalt find the trophies of those who have founded this Church ". By the trophies tropaia Eusebius understands the graves of the Apostles , but his view is opposed by modern investigators who believe that the place of execution is meant.
For our purpose it is immaterial which opinion is correct, as the testimony retains its full value in either case. At any rate the place of execution and burial of both were close together; St. Peter, who was executed on the Vatican , received also his burial there.
Eusebius also refers to "the inscription of the names of Peter and Paul , which have been preserved to the present day on the burial-places there" i. There thus existed in Rome an ancient epigraphic memorial commemorating the death of the Apostles. The obscure notice in the Muratorian Fragment "Lucas optime theofile conprindit quia sub praesentia eius singula gerebantur sicuti et semote passionem petri evidenter declarat", ed.
The apocryphal Acts of St. Peter and the Acts of Sts. Peter and Paul likewise belong to the series of testimonies of the death of the two Apostles in Rome.
In opposition to this distinct and unanimous testimony of early Christendom , some few Protestant historians have attempted in recent times to set aside the residence and death of Peter at Rome as legendary. These attempts have resulted in complete failure. It was asserted that the tradition concerning Peter's residence in Rome first originated in Ebionite circles, and formed part of the Legend of Simon the Magician , in which Paul is opposed by Peter as a false Apostle under Simon ; just as this fight was transplanted to Rome , so also sprang up at an early date the legend of Peter's activity in that capital thus in Baur, "Paulus", 2nd ed.
But this hypothesis is proved fundamentally untenable by the whole character and purely local importance of Ebionitism , and is directly refuted by the above genuine and entirely independent testimonies, which are at least as ancient.
It has moreover been now entirely abandoned by serious Protestant historians cf. Literatur", II, i, , n. A more recent attempt was made by Erbes Zeitschr. Peter was martyred at Jerusalem.
He appeals to the apocryphal Acts of St. Peter, in which two Romans, Albinus and Agrippa, are mentioned as persecutors of the Apostles. These he identifies with the Albinus, Procurator of Judaea , and successor of Festus and Agrippa II , Prince of Galilee , and thence conciudes that Peter was condemned to death and sacrificed by this procurator at Jerusalem. The untenableness of this hypothesis becomes immediately apparent from the mere fact that our earliest definite testimony concerning Peter's death in Rome far antedates the apocryphal Acts; besides, never throughout the whole range of Christian antiquity has any city other than Rome been designated the place of martyrdom of Sts.
Peter and Paul. Although the fact of St. Peter's activity and death in Rome is so clearly established, we possess no precise information regarding the details of his Roman sojourn. The narratives contained in the apocryphal literature of the second century concerning the supposed strife between Peter and Simon Magus belong to the domain of legend.
From the already mentioned statements regarding the origin of the Gospel of St. Mark we may conclude that Peter laboured for a long period in Rome. This conclusion is confirmed by the unanimous voice of tradition which, as early as the second half of the second century, designates the Prince of the Apostles the founder of the Roman Church.
It is widely held that Peter paid a first visit to Rome after he had been miraculously liberated from the prison in Jerusalem ; that, by "another place", Luke meant Rome , but omitted the name for special reasons. It is not impossible that Peter made a missionary journey to Rome about this time after 42 A. At any rate, we cannot appeal in support of this theory to the chronological notices in Eusebius and Jerome , since, although these notices extend back to the chronicles of the third century, they are not old traditions , but the result of calculations on the basis of episcopal lists.
Into the Roman list of bishops dating from the second century, there was introduced in the third century as we learn from Eusebius and the "Chronograph of " the notice of a twenty-five years' pontificate for St. Peter, but we are unable to trace its origin. This entry consequently affords no ground for the hypothesis of a first visit by St. Peter to Rome after his liberation from prison about We can therefore admit only the possibility of such an early visit to the capital.
The task of determining the year of St. Peter's death is attended with similar difficulties. In the fourth century, and even in the chronicles of the third, we find two different entries. In the "Chronicle" of Eusebius the thirteenth or fourteenth year of Nero is given as that of the death of Peter and Paul ; this date , accepted by Jerome , is that generally held.
The year 67 is also supported by the statement, also accepted by Eusebius and Jerome , that Peter came to Rome under the Emperor Claudius according to Jerome , in 42 , and by the above-mentioned tradition of the twenty-five years' episcopate of Peter cf.
Bartolini, "Sopra l'anno 67 se fosse quello del martirio dei gloriosi Apostoli", Rome, A different statement is furnished by the "Chronograph of " ed. Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis" , I, 1 sqq. This refers St. Peter's arrival in Rome to the year 30, and his death and that of St.
Paul to Duchesne has shown that the dates in the "Chronograph" were inserted in a list of the popes which contains only their names and the duration of their pontificates, and then, on the chronological supposition that the year of Christ's death was 29, the year 30 was inserted as the beginning of Peter's pontificate, and his death referred to 55, on the basis of the twenty-five years' pontificate op.
This date has however been recently defended by Kellner "Jesus von Nazareth u. Bearbeitung u. Legende in der Chronologie des apostol. Zeitalters", Bonn, Other historians have accepted the year 65 e. Foggini, "De romani b. Petri itinere et episcopatu", Florence, ; also Tillemont.
Harnack endeavoured to establish the year 64 i. II, "Die Chronologie", I, sqq. This date , which had been already supported by Cave, du Pin, and Wieseler, has been accepted by Duchesne Hist. Erbes refers St. Peter's death to 22 Feb.
Paul's to 64 "Texte u. Paulus u. The date of Peter's death is thus not yet decided; the period between July, 64 outbreak of the Neronian persecution , and the beginning of 68 on 9 July Nero fled from Rome and committed suicide must be left open for the date of his death. The day of his martyrdom is also unknown; 29 June, the accepted day of his feast since the fourth century, cannot be proved to be the day of his death see below.
Concerning the manner of Peter's death, we possess a tradition — attested to by Tertullian at the end of the second century see above and by Origen in Eusebius, Church History II. Origen says: "Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downwards, as he himself had desired to suffer". As the place of execution may be accepted with great probability the Neronian Gardens on the Vatican , since there, according to Tacitus, were enacted in general the gruesome scenes of the Neronian persecution ; and in this district, in the vicinity of the Via Cornelia and at the foot of the Vatican Hills, the Prince of the Apostles found his burial place.
Of this grave since the word tropaion was, as already remarked, rightly understood of the tomb Caius already speaks in the third century. For a time the remains of Peter lay with those of Paul in a vault on the Appian Way at the place ad Catacumbas , where the Church of St.
Sebastian which on its erection in the fourth century was dedicated to the two Apostles now stands. The remains had probably been brought thither at the beginning of the Valerian persecution in , to protect them from the threatened desecration when the Christian burial-places were confiscated. They were later restored to their former resting-place, and Constantine the Great had a magnificent basilica erected over the grave of St.
Peter at the foot of the Vatican Hill. This basilica was replaced by the present St. Peter's in the sixteenth century. The vault with the altar built above it confessio has been since the fourth century the most highly venerated martyr's shrine in the West. In the substructure of the altar , over the vault which contained the sarcophagus with the remains of St.
Peter, a cavity was made. This was closed by a small door in front of the altar. By opening this door the pilgrim could enjoy the great privilege of kneeling directly over the sarcophagus of the Apostle. Keys of this door were given as previous souvenirs cf. Gregory of Tours , "De gloria martyrum", I, xxviii. The memory of St. Peter is also closely associated with the Catacomb of St.
Priscilla on the Via Salaria. According to a tradition , current in later Christian antiquity, St. Peter here instructed the faithful and administered baptism.
This tradition seems to have been based on still earlier monumental testimonies. The catacomb is situated under the garden of a villa of the ancient Christian and senatorial family , the Acilii Glabriones, and its foundation extends back to the end of the first century; and since Acilius Glabrio , consul in 91, was condemned to death under Domitian as a Christian , it is quite possible that the Christian faith of the family extended back to Apostolic times, and that the Prince of the Apostles had been given hospitable reception in their house during his residence at Rome.
The relations between Peter and Pudens whose house stood on the site of the present titular church of Pudens now Santa Pudentiana seem to rest rather on a legend. Concerning the Epistles of St. The apocryphal sermon of Peter kerygma , dating from the second half of the second century, was probably a collection of supposed sermons by the Apostle ; several fragments are preserved by Clement of Alexandria cf.
Dobschuts, "Das Kerygma Petri kritisch untersucht" in "Texte u. Untersuchungen", XI, i, Leipzig, Feasts of St. Peter As early as the fourth century a feast was celebrated in memory of Sts. Peter and Paul on the same day, although the day was not the same in the East as in Rome. The Syrian Martyrology of the end of the fourth century, which is an excerpt from a Greek catalogue of saints from Asia Minor , gives the following feasts in connexion with Christmas 25 Dec.
Stephen ; 27 Dec.
0コメント