02x02 - The Search for St. Peter

[bunniefuu]

What does it all mean?

This is where the archeology has been found.

Hi, how are you?

Look at that.

I need a planter.

A shrine to a bellybutton.

[theme music]

Look at that!

No one gets into this place?

Whoa! Don't take me too far.

Now that's naked archeology.

[theme music]

[match striking]

[SIMCHA] St. Peter is famous as the bearded bouncer

who controls the Pearly Gates of heaven.

But how did he get there?

Where and how can we trace the footsteps of a saint?

He started out as a simple fisherman who followed Jesus,

but he ended up holding the keys to the Kingdom.

Where did Peter the man spend the last of his days?

And is there any archaeological evidence

that supports what tradition tells us about this Saint?

This is the most iconic Christian church in the world.

St. Peter's Basilica.

It stands here at the Vatican in Rome where,

according to Christian tradition,

Peter labored the last of his days as the first Pope.

Jesus gave the apostle Peter his name,

changing it from Simon to Peter,

in Aramaic, Cephus, which means Rock.

And he said to Peter:

"Upon this rock I will build my church.

To you I will give the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven."

And so after Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem,

tradition tells us that Peter came to Rome.

And this is the place to which

millions and millions of tourists flock.

That's because the majority of Christians believe St. Peter,

the founder of the Christian church,

was buried right inside here,

after he was crucified here,

by this guy here!

Nero, emperor from -.

It is written that Nero crucified St. Peter,

blaming the Christians for the great fire

that nearly destroyed Rome in .

And according to tradition, before his death,

Peter was jailed here along with the apostle Paul.

The two most famous apostles shared a cell

at the edge of the Roman Forum in Mamertine Prison.

This is the Mamertine prison.

From the th century onward

there's a written tradition that Peter was incarcerated here.

The tradition says that he was a prisoner here along with Paul,

and that is why you have the upside down cross

on the alter here, which represents the tradition

that Peter was crucified in Rome upside down.

There is also a well here that supposedly sprung water,

and Peter and Paul used that water to baptize their guards

to convert them to Christianity.

There's also a tradition that the hole in the wall here

was caused when Peter's head

was bashed against the wall by his guards.

I guess before they converted to Christianity.

This isn't exactly archaeology. It's tradition.

[SIMCHA] And Rome is covered by the footprints

of Peter's traditions.

But maybe we can find some archaeology

if we follow the footsteps here.

According to tradition,

Nero' s soldiers chased Peter down this very road.

I asked Roman historian Mino Carbone

what's so special about this road.

We are on the most important Roman road, the Appian Way.

Built in the year before Christ

So if Saint Peter was in Rome this is the road that he walked.

Yes he approached the city through this road,

and it is important because it linked Rome

to the main port in the south, Brundusio, today Brindisi.

These are the first highways really.

This is really the first highway in the world.

miles long, very fast road,

they had to move thousand soldiers,

they had to move a lot of goods

between Rome and the rest of the eastern province.

So two thousand years ago

we would see legionnaires marching on the sides, chariots.

Yes chariots.

You can see the tracks.

Yes just if you look you can see the tracks.

Thousand million people traveled on this road

which was very important and according to legend,

even Saint Peter came to Rome and used this road.

[SIMCHA] So Peter's footprints

could be somewhere on these cobbles.

Not only that, Mino tells me that this is the famous road

described in the Acts of Peter,

on which Peter fled from Rome and had a vision of Jesus.

If St. Peter fled Rome, he would have fled on this road.

He would have had this apparition of Jesus on this road.

And Peter said oh, you remember the story.

Domine Quo Vadis, which means

oh lord, where are you going?

[SIMCHA] We're going to the very spot

where Peter asked "where are you going?"

to the church of Domine Quo Vadis

because inside the church,

on the stones of the ancient Via Appia,

Mino tells me he's seen footprints.

Why is there a church here and what are these footprints?

Because this footprint belongs to Jesus according to legend.

Because Peter in the year was leaving Rome

because they started to persecute Christians

because of the fire in the city of Rome.

Saint Peter at this point of the Appian Way

had the vision of Christ, of Jesus Christ.

A vision, a vision right here.

Appeared just here and he said:

"Oh lord, where are you going?"

and Jesus answered,

"Peter I'm going to Rome to be crucified again."

So Peter understood,

"maybe I have to go to Rome to be crucified".

He turned back, went to Rome

and just in that moment was captured

by the Nero soldiers and crucified.

Crucified upside down.

Upside down because he said

I'm not going to die the same as Christ.

I want to die in a different way.

And these are the footprints of the vision?

These are the authentic?

No, the authentic actually is in the church of Saint Sebastian

next door.

[SIMCHA] Mino takes me further along the Via Appia,

because legend has it that in the middle of nd century,

Rome was persecuting Christians with abandon

and so early followers moved the remains of St Peter and St Paul

and temporarily stored them in secret catacombs

underneath this church.

And the real Quo Vadis footprints are here

because this church has a strong tradition

associated with the first apostle.

That's the footsteps?

Those are the original Jesus foot imprint.

I can barely see the footsteps. They seem different.

Different because we can see the foot imprint

that go down into the rock.

It's deeper.

Deeper because that is the evidence of the presence,

the divine presence of Jesus Christ on the Appian Way.

That is the reason why here are deeper.

You can see, I can see the shape of the foot.

And they're big feet if I may say so.

Pretty big because Jesus was supposed to be a very tall man.

What size shoe would you say that is?

I think is in Italian it could be forty-three,

forty-four which is an eight, nine.

I think it's more like eleven.

Eleven maybe. Okay.

So we now have footsteps of Jesus after his death

appearing in Rome but we don't have any footsteps for Peter.

No footsteps of Peter, I'm sorry.

Peter was not like Jesus.

Jesus is the Messiah, is the god's son.

Peter became a saint after he was crucified.

Peter was the one chosen by Jesus to be his vicar,

the first apostle, the first pope.

So it's very important for the church

that he would have come to Rome.

Of course.

Peter originated the centre

of the Christian church in the World, which is Rome.

Saint Peter's Basilica. -Saint Peter's Basilica.

The Vatican. -The Vatican, ci.

[SIMCHA] St. Peter's Basilica.

Although I've followed the sacred footprints

I've not yet seen the archaeological evidence

proving St. Peter was ever here in Rome.

But underneath this basilica,

one of the holiest sites in Christendom,

they did find something extraordinary.

What some would call Peter-perfect.

[SIMCHA] This is St. Peter's Basilica, the latest version.

Vatican Archaeologist Olof Brandt

tells me it's been built overtop the original basilica,

built by Constantine as a symbol

of Rome's acceptance of Christianity.

What you see now is the Basilica

which was erected from the beginning of the th century

but Constantine built his first huge St. Peter's Basilica

around .

Because there had been this tradition that Peter was buried here?

Because there was a place venerated

as the tomb of the Apostle Peter.

[SIMCHA] It's for this reason that hundreds of Popes

have been laid to rest here.

They were buried here on faith.

Faith that this is where St. Peter rests.

But faith and archaeology got a little mixed up.

Well what happened was when Paul Pious the eleventh d*ed

in , he wanted to be buried in the crypts

beneath St. Peter's

and they were in a very bad state

and they wanted to reconstruct them.

So they removed the floor in the crypt

and they discovered ancient remains.

Remains of a Roman cemetery.

[SIMCHA] The construction crew had stumbled

upon an ancient necropolis: a city of the dead.

Archaeologists were called in and within months

they had unearthed a long underground street

of both pagan, and what seemed to be early Christian

tombs and mausoleums.

Are the excavations conclusive, non-conclusive?

What's the result from an archeological point of view?

Well you know.

The Vatican has no official position

on archeological questions.

Most experienced scholars agree that Peter was buried there.

Ok so what is that based on?

That's based on the fact that we have clearly a monument

commemorating Peter, built around .

[SIMCHA] Below the floors of the modern basilica

they found s memorial to Peter.

On the floor was a trap door that opened

onto what was believed to be Peter's tomb.

Here it is, we found it!

The tomb!

[SIMCHA] A brick drain was discovered close by

marked with a Roman factory stamp,

dating it to as early as AD.

At that time there would have been no basilica above.

Rome was smaller and this area was outside city limits.

In catacomb country,

known to be frequented by early Christians.

Beside the tomb on a wall the archaeologists discovered

a surprising amount of what looked to be Christian graffiti.

There is especially one graffiti

which is particularly famous in Greek,

which actually is on a piece of plaster

which fell down from the walls, where it was found separate.

The most famous reading of the graffiti is "Peter is here."

But there's another possible reading which is "Rest in Peace"

and it may not be Peter at all.

It may be another name because it's broken.

But these graffiti show people went there for

a very important reason,

and probably that important reason

had something to do with Peter,

because he is mentioned by the graffiti.

So let me see if I understand the evidence.

You have basically a mixed cemetery down there

and a monument to Peter is found in that area?

Yes.

Leading archeologists to say 'ok there's a tradition here,

there's a monument here.

There's no tradition anywhere else.

It must be Peter's tomb. '

Yes.

[SIMCHA] On December ,

after yrs of excavations, Pope Pius XII announced

that a team of archaeologists had found the tomb of St. Peter.

[ANNOUNCER] Pope Pious presides the ceremony

surrounded by thousands of people.

[SIMCHA] But it wasn't just the evidence

of Christian graffiti on a wall

that made the world take notice.

Underneath an old monument,

they uncovered something human. Well mostly human.

St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City

is elaboratly decorated for the Roman Catholic Church's

most solomn ceremonies.

[SIMCHA] In December ,

the papacy announced the discovery of St. Peter's tomb

deep below St. Peters basilica in the Vatican.

And underneath an ancient monument,

Professor Ken Bartlett tells me

they had found something, well, mostly human.

Well, bones were found in there,

and the bones were very, very unsatisfactory,

because in fact they weren't the bones

of either one person or even one species.

There were bones of men and women,

here were not complete skeletons, there were animal bones.

All put together in this one place.

[SIMCHA] What was being held up as

positive proof of Peter was tested

and shown to be a veritable bone-bouillabaisse of man,

woman, cow, horse, and chicken.

It was a big disappointment for the papacy.

But then, interestingly enough,

very close to this site,

one of the members of the pontifical team

found an almost complete skeleton of an adult

middle-aged male between and of robust physique,

missing the foot bones.

And it was reasonable to assume

that if Peter had been crucified upside down,

and the body was to be taken quickly,

especially by Christians,

who wanted to ensure the body would not be b*rned

or disposed of.

They'd have done this very quickly,

which would have been simply cutting the feet off,

because the feet would have been nailed to the cross.

And then this footless body

could then have been buried beneath that space

in the necropolis in order to protect it

from the from the Romans.

Is there any tradition that he was buried footless?

Uh, no.

So what happened to this body?

Pius XII announced that these bones could be identified

as those of the apostle Peter, and they were put in a casket.

And that now rests beneath the high altar of St. Peter's.

But meanwhile atll this time, didn't christian traditions say

that Peters' skull is sitting in another church?

St. John Lateran.

[SIMCHA] St. John Lateran in Rome

was actually the first official Christian Cathedral of Rome

and home for the first popes.

It was commissioned by Constantine

at the same time as Peter's Basilica.

There is a skull that has been housed and guarded here

for over years.

And Hundreds of popes and millions of Catholics

have accepted and venerated this skull as St. Peter's.

So we've got a skull there.

Yeah, you've got a skull there.

Peter couldn't have had two skulls.

No. I think that the body

underneath St. Peter's Basillica.

did in fact lack a skull as well.

The body lacked a skull?

I think it lacked a skull.

And feet? -And feet.

Any other body parts?

Not to my knowledge.

The reality is, though,

that there was anthropological work done,

and I don't think that the skull-

You could try DNA to see if it matches.

If the skull matches the body.

It doesn't really match.

That doesn't really match the body.

But, then again, it becomes tradition.

One of them has to definitely not be Peter.

It's quite possible that neither are Peter.

♪The shin bone's connected to the ♪

[SIMCHA] Cow bones, chicken bones,

girl bones, guy bones.

Head bones, body bones and heads without bodies.

The fact is, churches all over the world

claim to be guardians of various Peter parts.

There are potential Peter pieces in Italy,

all over England, Spain, France, Germany,

Israel, the U.S. of A, and of course on eBay.

And some say that's because if you've got the relics,

you've got the clout,

your church gathers a bigger congregation

and you gain more respect.

When the papacy switched from St John Lateran

to the Vatican palace in the th century,

it's reasonable to assume that St. John

would've wanted to gather and house some sacred relics,

if it meant keeping up with the Jones',

or the Peters in this case.

And so for centuries,

St John Lateran has claimed the heads

of both the Apostles Peter and Paul.

If you want to be the head of the Church,

you need a couple of heads.

It's convenient.

But, again, we go back to this question

of does it really matter?

What we're looking at is we're looking at things that

build faith for those who choose to believe.

And to have that faith strengthened

by proximity to actual objects with which they can identify.

Does it really matter

whether this really is the body of Peter?

Does it really matter if it's the skull of Peter?

And there is that Italian saying I mentioned before

[in Italian]

it doesn't matter whether something is true

if it makes a good story,

that in fact you can have the force of truth

built upon the general acceptance

of something to be true,

whether the evidence supports it or not.

So whether or not the body of Peter

is under St. Peter's Basilica,

you're saying the important thing

is people believed it to be,

and therefore it-

He may as well be.

[SIMCHA] It is a beautiful power,

the strength of belief.

For many, a mis-matching of bones

doesn't weaken the belief in the least

that Saint Peter spent his last days in these two churches.

But what if his coffin was found miles away

in Jerusalem.

We're in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives

and right over there is Dominus Flevit.

And Dominus Flevit in Latin means 'the Lord wept,'

because according to Christian tradition

Jesus saw the Temple Mount which is right behind me

where the Dome of the Rock now stands.

And there he foresaw

the destruction of the Jewish temple, and he wept.

In on the spot where he wept, according to tradition,

the Franciscans built Dominus Flevit, a church.

And in they decided to renovate the church

and they found something amazing.

They found a year old Necropolis.

[SIMCHA] And in this necropolis,

the archaeologist Belarmino Bagatti

discovered these tombs.

[SIMCHA] Along with hundreds of these stone coffins,

many of them inscribed with what he believed

were early Christian symbols and names.

The evidence seemed to suggest

that this necropolis was a long standing

early Christian burial site

for some of the Jesus movement's most venerated dead.

[SIMCHA] And amongst these remains they found an ossuary,

a stone coffin, inscribed in Aramaic:

"Simon son of Jonah"

the original name of St. Peter.

Only a piece of the ossuary remains, housed in this church.

The reading of the inscription is indisputable.

However, it is difficult to get anyone to comment on it.

After our appointment was cancelled

with the head father and curator

of the Church of Flagellation,

we thought we'd call back a few days later

We have some people here.

They are downstairs Father.

I'm sorry. Ok, thank you very much.

Ok Father.

You have to bring a permission

We have all the permissions.

We had an appointment.

We came, but then he got very busy.

We just need five minutes.

We just want to speak about the Simon,

son of Jonah, ossuary.

You know, the Vatican is built

over what is supposed to be St. Peter's grave.

That's right.

That's right.

And at the same time, right here,

right in this museum, over here,

there is a bone box that says Simon, son of Jonah.

At that is Peter's real name.

So if he's here, he can't be in Rome.

He's busy. That's it. I'm sorry.

Can we wait a bit?

I don't know when he will be finished.

Just one question, about the box, the St. Peter's box.

That's the only question. One minute, just right here.

I don't know. It's up to you.

I'll just wait right here. We'll be very quiet.

Oh, maybe that's Father Ciccarillo.

They told me that he left.

So please- Yes, he left.

They have a state secret here, the bone box of St. Peter.

He snuck out the back.

When you want to come back.

And if you want I can give him the message.

That's the second time.

You know we had an appointment.

We came all the way.

So, please. He left, yes.

Oh, well.

[SIMCHA] And so for now,

it seems this is where my search must end.

With baited curiosity.

And although I'm split between the strong traditions

that Peter spent his last days in Rome

and the compelling evidence behind these walls

that suggest Peter's post-mortem presence in Jerusalem,

I'm reminded of Professor Bartlett's words,

"Does it really matter?"

The remains of the man simply reference the spirit

and power of the Saint,

and whether or not they're here or there,

the Saint is everywhere.

Leaving his footprints for those who choose to follow.

Yeah, no cars. They're gone.

It would cost a lot of money to move the Vatican here.