In the Vatican today, a surreal scene: {the Vimeo link shows]… Pope Francis, the 266th Bishop of Rome, holding what the church believes are the bone fragments of St. Peter, the apostle and the first Bishop of Rome.
Pope Francis cradled the relics during a mass at St. Peter’s Square, which marked the end of the global church’s Year of Faith. It was also the first time the Catholic Church has displayed the relics in public.
No peace for the saintly
I’ve never understood Rome’s preoccupation with body parts.
Than include the Eastern Orthodox’ preoccupation as well…
Then include…sorry
Not just Rome, but the Early Church.
“No Pope had ever permitted an exhaustive study, partly because a 1,000-year-old curse attested by secret and apocalyptic documents, threatened anyone who disturbed the peace of Peter’s tomb with the worst possible misfortune,” Bartoloni wrote.
That’s just silly.
It should probably be remembered, too, that there are bone relics of Peter elsewhere in Rome besides St. Peter’s. For example, St. John Lateran is said to have the heads of Peter and Paul in reliquaries.