The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-07-03
IS THE SAINTS TOMB IN ROME STILL |N1ACT1
Possibility of New Exploration Suggested by Plan
Which the Present Pope is Said to Have
on His Desk.

to the catacombs Of st. Sebastian, OH
the Appian Way, under the Valerian
prosecutions. After a short time tho
body of ST. Peter was taken back and
again laid in the old tomb at the
Vatican, while that Of st. Paul was
buried close to the place where he was
beheaded and where his church, San
Paolo fuori lie Mura, now stands.
There Is evidence of second or
previous translation of st. Peters re-
mains. 1t seems certain that the tomb
was on the point Of being destroyed
or desecrated on several occasions,
notably during the third century under
the Emperor Heliogabalus, who en-
larged the Circus of Nero. Evidence
that it was spared is found in the fact
that for two centuries the successors
of st. Peter in the papacy were buried
near his tomb, which from very early
times was known as st. Peters Cen {
fession ana wssr'resesas 4s.a'e Very
heart Of the church. ,,.so--..t,, y:
1t is. saadsi,1 the ''Liber Pontifcalis"
(Chronicle Of the Popes) that the En-
peror Constantine after his conversion
caused, about the year 1923, the body
of the Apostle to be exhumed in the
presence Of Pope Sylvester and placa
tn 1< ell, 41@
sarcophagus of. brass. Over, this lie
placed large cross of pure gold
weighing. $50 pounds and an inscription
recording his name and that of his
mother, Helena Augusta.
The body was then restored to the
original tomb, over which he erected
an altar and vaulted chamber faced
inside with plates of gold. He further
decorated the tomb with candelabra,
silver lamps and plates Of gold and
silver studded with jewels. The. erec-
tion OF the great basilica, commonly
known now as Old st. Peters, was
begun by the Emperor and two years
later 1t was consecrated by st. Sylves-
ter.
The great crisis in the history Of st.
Peters tomb was during the invasion
by the Saracens in the year SAT. They
carried off all the ornaments and
treasures, together with the actual
altar raised above the tomb, but the
body Of the apostle does not seem to
have been interfered with.
In 1927 the imperial troops under
the Constable of Bourbon sacked Rome
and pillaged the basilica of st. Peter.
A letter written June II, 1927, says:
"The urn or tomb in which the bones
Of the holy Peter and Paul were la.d,
they ,(the imperial troops) broke and
profaned the very relics" The testi-
mony of this letter is unsupported; !;
hence the old historians. and archaeo-
logists refused to accept it.
1t is known on the evidence of GER
tain priest named Torrigo that in 1894,
when the old basilica was being de-
molished and the present basilica built,
the architect, Della Porta, opened a
hole in the pavement Of confession
through. which the tomb Of st. Peter
became visible. Pope Clement VIII.
is said to have seen by torchlight the
urn in which the apostles body WAS
placed by Constantine and on it the
gold cross.
This would constitute positive proof
that the tomb was still intact. were il
not that by some persons the conduct
of Clement VIII. is considered suspic-
ious. He ordered the hole to be closed
at once and he made Della Porta All
the opening with rubbish and caused
the whole matter to be kept secret. Is
| 1T not likely, say those who doubt that
the tomb is still intact that Clement
VIII. saw that the urn was empty and
horrifed, had the hole closed and tht
matter hushed up?
In 1892 Father Grisar, with tn.
IPops's permission. :: 4 Investigated tn.
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