St. Peter in Rome

According to tradition, Peter went to Rome around AD 42, and, in a wonderful example of how Scripture and tradition fit together beautifully, Luke may have given us a clue as to how he went there. Peter knew Cornelius, the Roman centurion, who was from the unit called the Italian Cohort. When Peter went to Caesarea, he was in danger of death, and so it is reasonable to believe that Cornelius helped him to escape from Herod Agrippa’s territory. As mentioned before, Cornelius was from Rome and probably was already a God-fearer before he came to Caesarea. If so, he would have known other God-fearers in Rome who were sympathetic to Judaism, so he could have arranged for Peter to stay with family or friends in Rome.

Tradition tells us that when Peter went to Rome he was hosted by Pudens, who was one of the four hundred Roman senators. Although tradition doesn’t tell us how Peter came to know Pudens, we can speculate that Pudens was a friend of Cornelius. Both were Roman aristocrats, and both were God-fearers. Cornelius could have written a letter of introduction to Senator Pudens. 

There is a church in Rome named after St. Pudenziana, the daughter of Senator Pudens. Pudenziana and her sister Prassede are known for their heroism in burying Christian martyrs who were killed during the persecution of Caesar Nero. If you go underneath the church to the cavity below, you can see the ruins of Senator Pudens’s home, and archaeologists have discovered a brick dated to the first century that is stamped with his name. Even more curiously, the Church of St. Pudenziana has an ancient Roman bath that was converted into a baptistery. It also has a mosaic that dates to AD 390, which makes it the oldest mosaic found in any church in Rome. The mosaic depicts the Twelve Apostles with Jesus, and another depiction shows Pudens being baptized by Peter. It’s curious that the Apostles are wearing Roman senatorial togas, and, in the background, there are buildings in the Holy Land that were built by Emperor Constantine’s mother, St. Helena, earlier that century. The Christian who made this mosaic probably had visited the Holy Land. Thus the church serves as a bridge between Jerusalem and Rome—a connection that must have its origin in the fact that Peter was hosted here. 

Interestingly, there is another church further up the same hill named after Pudens’s other daughter, St. Prassede, which was built over the site of her home; and it is here that both sisters are buried. Both of these churches are located in the neighborhood of the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

There are many fascinating aspects of the Church of St. Prassede. Behind its main altar is a statue of Peter receiving the keys from Jesus, and another altar has a reliquary containing half a table. It is believed that this is a table that Peter used as an altar to celebrate Mass. Why only half a table? When the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran was constructed after Constantine legalized Christianity in 313, the Church naturally wished to relocate the Petrine relic to this new cathedral in Rome. However, the parishioners of the Church of St. Prassede were not eager to relinquish the relic, so they decided to divide it in half. Now, half of Peter’s table is at the Church of St. Prassede, and the other half is at St. John Lateran. 

Most pilgrims to Rome will visit St. Peter’s Basilica to pray at the tomb of Peter or tour St. John Lateran, the pope’s cathedral, which also served as the papal residence for nearly a thousand years. However, most pilgrims visiting Rome don’t realize that there are churches built over the homes where Peter actually lived, worked, and worshipped. In a certain regard, the humble churches of Sts. Pudenziana and Prassede more fittingly represent the simple fisherman from Galilee. 

I mention these early Church traditions to reinforce how valuable they are to the Christian story—our story—and how they fit so well with Scripture. As Catholics, it is important to know the origin of our story—a story that is based not only in Scripture and Sacred Tradition but also in the Church’s tradition. As a Church, we find ourselves at another critical moment in history. All of the recent popes have urgently called us to the New Evangelization, which will lead to a new springtime for the Church. This New Evangelization is also an invitation to return to our origins. Only when we understand our own story and see how it comes together will we be able to share that story with others. This witness to which we are called is indispensable to renewing the Church.