Saint Peter (, "rock") also called Simon (Kephas) Peter is one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. He is often talked about in the New Testament. Most of what we know about Peter comes from the Bible. In the Gospel it is written that Jesus Christ would make Peter the "rock" (foundation) of the Church (Gospel of Matthew 16:18, "you are Peter (rock), and upon this rock I will build my church").
It is not known when Peter was born. But the date of his death is said to be about the year 64 AD. He died by being nailed to a cross in Rome. This type of death is called crucifixion. According to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, Peter asked to be crucified upside down, as he felt unworthy to die as Jesus did. Most historical sources only say he was crucified this way.
The historical accuracy of the accounts of Peter's role in Rome is a matter of ongoing debate.
In art, he is often shown holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven (interpreted by Roman Catholics as the sign of his primacy over the Church), a reference to Matthew .
Peter was married according to the gospel of Mark. The name of his wife is unknown.
The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran Churches, as well as the Anglican Communion, consider Simon Peter a saint. Roman Catholics believe that the Pope is Peter's successor. For this reason, he is the rightful head of all other bishops. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox also recognise the Bishop of Rome as the successor to Saint Peter and the Ecumenical Patriarch sends a delegation each year to Rome to participate in the celebration of his feast.
In the "Ravenna document" of 13 October 2007 representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church agreed that "Rome, as the Church that 'presides in love' according to the phrase of St. Ignatius of Antioch (To the Romans, Prologue), occupied the first place in the "taxis" (order), and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the "protos" (first) among the patriarchs. They disagree, however, on the interpretation of historical evidence from this era regarding the rights of the bishop of Rome as "protos", a matter that was already understood in different ways in the first millennium."
Christian tradition says Saint Peter was the first leader of an early apostolic community for at least 34 years. At that time the word Pope or "Papa" was not used to name the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. At that time there was only one Christian Church. Later, the Roman Catholic Church would say that Peter was their first Pope.
Tradition also locates his burial place where St. Peter's Basilica was later built, in Vatican City.
Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is a large chapel in the Vatican Palace, the place in Italy where the Pope lives. The Chapel was built between 1473 and 1481 by Giovanni dei Dolci for Pope Sixtus IV.
The Sistine Chapel is the Pope's own chapel. It is used for important Masses and ceremonies. When a pope dies, the College of Cardinals meet in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.
The Sistine Chapel is famous for its fresco paintings by the Renaissance painter Michelangelo.
The Sistine Chapel is a brick building shaped like a rectangle. The outside is plain, with no decoration and no big door. It has a walk-way near the top, for soldiers.
It has six arched windows on its two side walls and a curved ceiling called a barrel vault.
The inside of the chapel is richly decorated. The floor is of coloured marble. The lower parts of the walls are painted to look like gold and silver cloth.
The other decorations in the chapel are paintings which tell stories to help people understand about Jesus Christ and about the Roman Catholic Church.
The middle part of the walls has 12 large paintings called frescoes, done by famous artists in 1481. The artists' names were Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Perugino, Cosimo Rosselli, Pinturicchio, Benedetto Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli and Bartolomeo della Gatta.
The frescoes show stories from the Bible. On the north side, the stories are about the life of Moses. On the south side, they are about the life of Jesus.
Above the stories, near the windows, are painted pictures of Popes.
The ceiling is the most famous part of the Sistine Chapel, and many thousands of visitors go to see it.
In 1505 Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling. Michelangelo was a famous sculptor. He did not want to be a painter. Three years later, he agreed to paint the ceiling. He worked from 1508 to 1511, standing on a high platform with his arms stretched above his head.
(Although some people think that he lay down to paint, this is not true.) Because he painted onto wet plaster, the smell and the heat was terrible. He wrote a poem about how sick he was.
Along the center of the ceiling are painted nine pictures that tell stories from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible. The stories start with three pictures of God making light, making the Earth, the Sun and the Moon, and making the Sea and Sky.
The next three pictures tell the story of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. In the first scene, God has just made Adam. He reaches out his hand and touches his finger to give him Life.
In the next picture, Adam is asleep and God makes Eve from one of Adam's ribs.
In the third picture there are two scenes. Adam and Eve are tricked by the Devil to eat fruit from the tree that they have been told not to touch. In the other scene, an angel chases them out of God's Garden of Eden. This story tells how sin came into the world.
The last three pictures are about Noah's Ark. They tell about a sad and sinful world. Because of human sin and unkindness, God sends a flood. Only Noah and his family escape in the large boat that they build. When the flood has ended, they make an altar and kill a sheep as a sacrifice to God. But then Noah grows grape vines, makes wine and gets drunk. One of his sons sees Noah lying naked and laughs at his father. Noah is ashamed and curses his son. These stories show how people keep acting the wrong way, even when they get a second chance.
All around the wall, Michelangelo painted twelve big figures of wise men and women. These were the prophets and sibyls who told people that God would send Jesus Christ to save them from sin.
Also painted on the ceiling are 20 beautiful young men called the "ignudi". No-one knows what they are for sure, but perhaps they are angels.
When the ceiling was finally uncovered, everyone was amazed. Giorgio Vasari, who wrote Michelangelo's life story, says that hundreds of people came every day to stare and stare.
Michelangelo was happy to get back to his sculpture. But in 1537 Pope Paul III ordered him to paint another large fresco. This time it was on the wall above the altar. It was finished in 1541.
Michelangelo painted "The Last Judgement" which shows Jesus judging the people of the Earth and sending some to Hell while others are welcomed into Heaven by Saints. He painted most of the figures naked. This made some of the priests in the church very angry. They paid another artist to paint clothes onto the Blessed Virgin Mary and many of the other figures.
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III (; February 29, 1468 – November 10, 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 221st Pope from 1534 to 1549.
Alessandro Farnese was born in an ancient Roman family. His grandfather was commander-in-chief of the papal troops under Pope Eugenius IV.
In 1493, Pope Alexander VI made Farnese a cardinal.
Cardinal Farnese was elected Pope in 1534; and he chose to be called Paul III.
Pope Paul was involved in Italian and European political disputes.
He convened the Council of Trent in 1545.
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV (; 21 July 1414 - 12 August 1484), originally "Francesco della Rovere", was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 213th Pope from 1471 until his death in 1484.
He is known for beginning construction of the Sistine Chapel.