St. Peter

St. Peter was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and was mentioned in all of The Four Gospels as one of the Founders of the Early Christian Church.
He is considered by the Roman Catholic Church to have been the first Pope or Bishop of Rome and is venerated as a Saint in all the Christian Churches.

St. Peter is mentioned in each of The Four Gospels of the New Testament.
The Gospels consider Peter to have been the Leader and Spokesperson for all Twelve Apostles.
The Gospels cite Peter as being the first to see a Resurrected appearance of Jesus after he had been buried.
All four Gospels relate how at the Last Supper, Jesus foretold that Peter would deny knowing him three times before cockcrow.
In the Gospels, St. Peter is described as the Rock on which the Church will be built.

After the Ascension, St. Peter is referred to as becoming the first Leader of the Early Church.
St. Peter is described as going to Antioch and later of being imprisoned in Jerusalem by Agrippa I, but subsequently being released. After this he departed to another place that is not mentioned.

Although not stated in the Gospels and Acts, subsequent authors have referred to his presence in Rome.
These are Ignatius of Antioch (c.35-c.107 CE), Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-c.202 CE), Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215 CE), Origen (184-253 CE) and Lactantius (c.240-c.320 CE).
The Roman Catholic Church believes Jesus granted St. Peter the authority to become the first Leader of the Christian Church, and that this authority is conferred on his successors.
The Protestant Church agrees that Peter was preaching in Rome, but disagrees that he was the Bishop of Rome.

The phrase Quo Vadis? comes from the Christian tradition relating to St. Peter, as written in the Apocrypha Acts of St. Peter.
Quo Vadis? was St. Peter’s question to Jesus, as he himself fled crucifixion in Rome, followed by Jesus’ reply, which caused St. Peter to turn back and become a martyr.

- St. Peter: ‘Quo Vadis?’ (‘Whither goest Thou?’)
- Jesus: ‘Romam vado iterum crucifigi’ (‘I am going to Rome to be crucified again’)

Jerome (347-420 CE) states that St. Peter was martyred by being crucified upside down in Rome.
This is traditionally thought to have occurred in 67 CE under the Emperor Nero (54-68 CE), soon after the Great Fire of Rome (64 CE) CE, in the Circus of Nero.
Tacitus describes the crucifixion of Christians in the circus of Nero in Annals’ XV.44. The Vaticano Obelisk stood on the spina until it was moved to St Peter’s Square in 1586 CE.

The Roman Catholic Church considers St. Peter to have been the first Head of the Church on Earth, a duty conferred on him by Jesus, who is the Head of the Church in Heaven.
All Popes are considered to be the successors to St. Peter.

The Basilica is the largest Church in the world and is a site of Pilgrimage and Liturgical functions. It is regarded as the holiest of all shrines in the Catholic Church because of its location above the original Tomb of St. Peter.
The Old St. Peter’s Basilica was completed by Constantine I in 333 CE and was built on the Circus of Nero, over the Tomb of St. Peter. The Tomb, however, was destroyed in a Raid in 846 CE.
The new St. Peter’s Basilica was started by Pope Julius II in 1505 CE who demolished the Old St. Peter’s Basilica and using material from the Colosseum began a new construction on the same site.
Michelangelo was responsible for the Dome and it was completed by successive Popes by 1655 CE.
The Vaticano Obelisk was moved to St. Peter’s Square in 1586 CE.
The adjacent Apostolic Palace holds the Papal Apartments where the Popes reside, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Library.

Known as the Archbasilica, it has been the actual mother church of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the cathedral of Rome since it was consecrated by Constantine I in 324 CE.
The Lateran Palace is located adjacent to the Archbasilica, and was the residence of the Popes from the same period.
The Lateran Obelisk was placed nearby in 1566 CE.

St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City