St. Peter Unit

  FEAST DAY: 29th June

In Roman Catholic tradition, Peter is considered the first bishop ofAntioch, and later bishop of Rome and therefore the first Pope. The firstEpistle ends with “The church that is in Babylon, chosen together withyou, salutes you, and so does my son, Mark.”(1 Peter 5:13), but Babylonhas sometimes been taken figuratively to mean Rome.The Roman Catholic Church makes use of his position as first bishopof Rome and Jesus’ statement that Peter was the rock upon which Hewould build his community as the case for papal primacy. The popesare thus the successors of Peter and as a result, retain his privileges,given by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt. 16:18-19)(Protestantsargue against this.) In honour of Peter’s occupation before becoming anApostle, the popes wear the Fisherman’s Ring, which bears the imageof the Saint casting his nets from a fishing boat.St. Peter’s Basilica is built at the site of Peter’s alleged crucifixion, andbeneath the main altar there is an altar dedicated to St. Peter. Recentexcavations have discovered a burial chamber even deeper beneaththis altar, where one skeleton, which was misssing its feet, was interredwith special honour. Some archaeologists propose that these are theactuial remains of St. Peter, supposing that after dying by crucifixion(upside down, according to tradition), his feet were cut off to removehim from the cross. Pope John Paul II would always visit the altar of St.Peter before leaving Rome on an apostolic journey.