VATICAN CITY, April
02, 2013 (Zenit.org)
- After St. Peter's Basilica closed this evening, Francis
visited the tomb of Blessed Pope John Paul II, on the eighth
anniversary of his death. The Pope was accompanied by
Cardinal Comastri, archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, and
by his personal secretary, Monsignor Alfred Xuereb.
The Pope stayed
kneeling a long time in silent prayer before the tomb of
Blessed John Paul II in the Saint Sebastian Chapel, and he
also paused briefly in recollection before the tombs of
Blessed John XXIII and Saint Pius X.
On Monday, the Holy
Father Francis made a private visit to the Vatican
necropolis, located beneath Saint Peter’s Basilica, and he
paused to pray before the tomb of Saint Peter.
The Pope was
accompanied then as well by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, among
others.
Francis is the first
Pope to go down to the recent excavations of the Vatican
necropolis. He walked through the whole central path of the
necropolis, which is under the Basilica and the Vatican
Grottoes, listening to the explanations of Cardinal Comastri
and Doctor Pietro Zander, one of those in charge of the
site. He then approached the tomb of Saint Peter, exactly
under the main altar and cupola of the Basilica.
In the Clementine
Chapel, the closest place to the tomb of the first Bishop of
Rome, Pope Francis paused in silent prayer.
The visit ended in
the Vatican Grottoes, where he paid homage at the tombs of
Popes of the past century: Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII,
Paul VI and John Paul I.
Leaving the Grottoes,
the Pontiff greeted the staff that was present and then
walked back to St. Martha’s, just as earlier he had walked
to the entrance of the excavation on the left side of the
Basilica. The visit began at 5:00 pm and ended at 5:45 pm.
Cardinal Comastri
shared this reflection with L'Osservatore Romano: Pope
Francis had a great desire: to visit the Vatican Necropolis.
He mentioned it a little before Easter. He especially wished
to see the tomb of the Apostle Peter, the place in which the
Christians of Rome laid the crucified body of the first Pope
to rest after his martyrdom in the Circus of Nero in the
year 67 after Christ.
The Pope thus wished
to go to the origin of the Roman Pontificate, a succession
into which Providence today has ordained to add his person.
Monday afternoon, 1
April, we had the joy and the honour of accompanying Pope
Francis along this unique path. From the level of the
Vatican Grottos we descended to the necropolis: a jump back
1,800 years. Up until 1939-40, this site was buried because
the architects working for Constantine, in 320, in order to
fashion a level floor of the first basilica, filled in the
sloping land of the Vatican Hill. Today, after excavations,
everything has prodigiously re-emerged.
His first stop was
before the Egyptian Mausoleum (which dates back to the 2nd
century). In this mausoleum amid many pagan tombs there is
also a Christian tomb. Christianity in fact, like yeast, was
penetrating the pagan world. The Pope exclaimed in
admiration: “It's like this today, too!”.
We then made a second
stop before the funerary stele of a man called Istatilio. He
was certainly Christian: on his grave is the monogram xp of
Christ. On the stele is inscribed: “He was at peace with
everyone and never caused strife”. The Pope, after reading
the phrase, looked at us and said: “that is a beautiful
programme of life”. When we had reached at the place of the
tomb of the Apostle Peter I saw the Holy Father transfixed,
visibly moved, before the white wall covered with graffiti,
testimonies to us even today of devotion to the Apostle
Peter.
Climbing back up the
stairs and having reached the Clementine Chapel, Pope
Francis became absorbed in prayer and repeated with a loud
voice the three professions of Peter: “Lord, You are the
Christ, Son of the Living God”; “Lord, to whom do we go? You
have the words of eternal life”; “Lord, You know all things!
You know that I love you!”. At that moment, we had the
distinct impression that the life of Peter rose out of
centuries past and became present and living in the current
Successor of the Apostle Peter.
With me were: Bishop
Vittorio Lanzani, delegate of the Fabric of St Peter's,
Mons. Alfred Xuereb and those responsible for the
necropolis, Pietro Zander and Mario Bosco. When we took our
leave of the Holy Father we thought that he returned to his
residence comforted by the echo of Jesus' words: “You are
Peter, the rock on whom I will build my Church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it”.
(from
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