St. Gregory the Great carried out extensive alterations
between 594 and 604, placing an altar over the tomb, but
leaving a shaft through which objects might be lowered
to touch the tomb for the veneration of pilgrims. During a
Saracen raid in 846 much of the basilica and tomb were
plundered, although the actual grave was not penetrated.
It was soon after, probably, that the skull was removed
and placed, together with that of St. Paul, in the Lateran,
where they still remain. To prevent further vandalism the
tomb shaft was filled up and the crypt sealed.
In 1503, work was begun to construct the modern
basilica which was built over the tomb without disturbing
it. During construction some attempts were made to
reach the tomb, but were abandoned, it is now clear,
before reaching the actual grave. The discoveries of
1940-51, however, successively penetrated the various
layers and reached the actual site of the original grave of
St. Peter. Here were found bones, all belonging to the
same person, "an elderly and vigorous man," with the
skull missing.
The cautious archeologists will affirm no more than
that these bones were believed to have been those of St.
Peter by those who detached the skull for preservation
during Valerian's persecution in the third century. In view
of the continuous record up to that time of Christian
devotion to the tomb, we believe that this ought to be
enough to satisfy any reasonable man.
We may conclude, then, that not only St. Peter's
authority and spirit, but even the relics of his body, have
remained in Rome. Nature and grace have conspired to
justify the Latin inscription on the dome of St. Peter's
Basilica, towering some 400 feet above the once simple
earthen grave: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church, and I will give you the keys of heaven."
As Greek declined in the Mediterranean world and
Latin became the common tongue, the first translations
of the Bible were in the Latin language. Hence, it is
natural for us to consider also the way in which this
critical passage was translated into Latin by Jerome
(Rome, 383/384 AD).
et ego dico tibi quia tu es Petrus et
and I say to you because you are Peter and
super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam
Upon this rock I will build my church.
Mt 16:19-20
I will give you (singular) the keys to the
kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven; and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven.
The Roman Catholic Church has infallibly defined the
interpretation of Matthew 16
.
The Council of Ephesus, 431 AD
No one doubts, in fact, it is obvious to all ages that the
holy and most Blessed Peter, head and Prince of the
Apostles, the pillar of faith, and the foundation of the
Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from
our Lord Jesus Christ, the savior and redeemer of the
human race.
First Vatican Council, 1870, the First Dogmatic
Constitution of the Church of Christ, Chapter 2
Therefore if anyone says that the blessed Apostle
Peter was not constituted by Christ the Lord as the
Prince of all the Apostles and the visible head of the
whole Church militant, or that he received immediately
and directly from Jesus Christ our Lord only a primacy of
honor and not a true and proper primacy of jurisdiction:
anathema sit.
Christ continues with the conferral of the "keys" which
appears to be a clear statement of a position of
leadership authority.