The Hidden City

OldMan SG

in dan brown’s book angels and demons, it stated that there’s a underground cemetery beneath Vatican City. is it true that St Peter was buried there?

laurence82 SG

Catholic News
Pope's burial site near that of St. Peter

Vatican, Apr. 05, 2005 (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II (bio - news) will be buried in one of the spots closest to the tomb of St. Peter in the grottos of the Vatican basilica.

At a media briefing on April 5, Joaquin Navarro-Valls confirmed that the body of John Paul II would be buried in the site once occupied by the remains of Pope John XXIII. After his beatification in 2000, the body of Blessed John XXIII was transferred to a new location in the St. Jerome chapel of the basilica.

Many Polish Catholics had hoped that the first Polish Pontiff would be buried in his native land. But since John Paul II evidently left no specific instructions to that end, his burial will follow the usual Vatican protocol.

After the funeral Mass on Friday, April 8-- a solemn ceremony that is expected to take nearly 3 hours-- the Pope's coffin will be brought to the grottos for burial. Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, the camerlengo, will preside at the burial service. After the coffin is sealed, and the burial duly recorded, the prelates present will sing the Salve Regina, and the coffin will be lowered into the ground. The site of the tomb will be marked by a simple marble slab, bearing the name of the deceased Pope.

The Vatican grottos mark the intersection where the current basilica connects with the ancient church built by the Emperor Constantine. Located underneath the main floor of the basilica, they can be reached by a stairway on the left-hand side of the nave.

The grottos are divided into two sections. The "new" grottos, which were restored to their current form between 1534 and 1546, during the pontificate of Paul III, are arranged in a semi-circle around the tomb where St. Peter is buried. The "old" grottos were created in 1606 by Pope Paul V; they were restored in the 1940s on the initiative of Pope Pius XII.

The Popes buried in the Vatican crypt have included Boniface VIII (1235-1303), Nicholas V (1397-1455), Paul II (1417-1471), Julian III (1443-1513), Innocent IX (1519-1591), Pius VI (1717-1799), Benedict XV (1854-1922), Pius XI (1857-1939), Pius XII (1876-195 Cool , John XXIII (1881-1963), Paul VI (1897-197 Cool and John Paul I (1912-197 Cool .

On several occasions during his pontificate-- most recently on November 6, 2001-- Pope John Paul II visited the Vatican grottos to pray at the tombs of his predecessors.

Honeybunz SG

Evidently, yes, St Peter was buried there. Archaeologists managed to retrieve the body. Let me go find the report on this and paste here.

Wah, Ah Lau, not a christian, yet so informed one. heheheh... I so paiseh liao.

laurence82 SG

No lar, i remember watching the funeral of John Paul when CNN mentioned that he will be buried in the Vatican where St Peter is also buried

And just have to google abit to find the news can liao

Kuali Baba SG

He'd originally wanted to be buried in his native Poland...the next best thing (which was done) was to bury him with imported soil.

The altar of the Basilica is built over the tomb of St Peter.

Honeybunz SG

WAS ST. PETER IN ROME?
The archeological proof of the existence of St. Peters tomb under St. Peters basilica in Rome.

OldMan SG

vatican is on a hill with many caves?

Kuali Baba SG

Caves? Didn't read about caves in the article, but tombs.

laurence82 SG

Cant find it on the official Vatican website, so from Wiki

"The placename is ancient and predates Christianity, coming from the Latin Mons Vaticanus, Vatican Hill. It is part of the Mons Vaticanus, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields upon which St. Peter's Basilica, the residence of the popes called the Apostolic Palace, with its Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings"

and

"The Vatican City, one of the European microstates, is situated on the Vatican Hill in the north-western part of Rome, several hundred metres west of the Tiber river, on the latter's right bank. Its borders (3.2 km or 2 miles in total, all with Italy) closely follow the city wall constructed to protect the Pope from outside attack. The situation is more complex at the famous St. Peter's Square in front of the St. Peter's Basilica, where the correct border is just outside the ellipse formed by Bernini's colonnade. It is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (108.7 acres).

Its climate is clearly mostly the same as Rome's; a temperate, Mediterranean climate with mild, rainy winters from September to mid-May and hot, dry summers from May to August. There are some local features, principally mists and dews, caused by the anomalous bulk of St Peter's Basilica, the elevation, the fountains and the size of the large paved square."

But i dont see any mention of caves...