It’s a question that reaches to the very foundation of our faith: why is Saint Peter, the Apostle chosen by Christ, buried in the Vatican? The answer takes us back to the earliest days of Christianity—when faith was young, courage was costly, and Rome was the heart of both empire and persecution.
According to ancient tradition, Saint Peter came to Rome in the final years of his life to shepherd the growing Christian community there. As Jesus had foretold, Peter would one day “stretch out his hands” (John 21:18)—a prophecy that Christians understood as a sign of his martyrdom. Around the year 64 AD, under Emperor Nero, Peter was executed by crucifixion. Out of humility, he asked to be crucified upside down, feeling unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ.
After his death, Peter’s followers took his body and buried it quietly in a simple grave on the Vatican Hill, just outside Nero’s Circus—an area where many Christians were martyred. Over time, that humble grave became a place of veneration. Early believers would come there to pray, celebrating the Eucharist near the tomb of the Apostle who had once denied Jesus but was forgiven and made the rock of the Church.
Centuries later, Emperor Constantine—the first Christian emperor—built a grand basilica directly above Peter’s tomb, carefully preserving the site beneath the main altar. That ancient basilica was replaced in the 16th century by the magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica we know today. Beneath its soaring dome, in the crypts below the altar, lies what tradition and archaeology both affirm: the resting place of Saint Peter, the first Pope.
What this means for us is deeply symbolic. Saint Peter’s tomb anchors the Vatican not merely as a geographic center, but as a spiritual one. The Pope, as Peter’s successor, continues the mission Christ entrusted to him: to “feed my sheep.” The Church, in every generation, stands upon that same rock of faith and forgiveness.
When pilgrims come to St. Peter’s Basilica and stand before his tomb, they are not just visiting a relic of history. They are touching the living story of the Church—a story that began with a fisherman from Galilee who said yes to Christ and followed Him even unto death.
May Saint Peter remind us that faith is built not on perfection, but on trust in the mercy of God. Beneath the stones of the Vatican rests a witness who still calls us to follow Christ with courage and love.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
