In this second dispatch from the Jubilee Pilgrimage, led by Father Dave, Brett, Lino Rulli, and Tyler Veghte of “The Catholic Guy Show,” we hear more about their experiences in Rome. They traveled through the holy doors of all four papal basilicas in Rome and Vatican City: Saint Peter, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Saint John Lateran, and Saint Mary Major.
While visiting Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Father Dave discusses the connection between Saints Peter and Paul and the eternal city. “They were martyred here around the same time. I learned from one of the guides that we know the precise date of Paul’s martyrdom because he was a Roman citizen, so it would have been recorded,” he says. “They wouldn’t have bothered with other Christians that they martyred, but they did record his actual date of death, which is June 29th.”
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Lino shares how a pilgrim asked how we can know that the actual bones of Saint Paul or Saint Peter are buried in these churches. “I said, ‘Have you ever been to a parent’s tomb or a grandparents tomb? Let’s say you will one day tell your kids or grandkids their great-grandpa was buried there,’” Lino says. “The story of Christianity is a story of family. It’s a story of family and friends who would pass on the stories of the Gospel before the Gospels were even written, but they also passed along things like, this is where Peter was killed, and this is where Paul was [buried.] There was no motivation for going to a cemetery and saying, let’s make it up. They weren’t selling tours or tickets.”
“Then archeology has actually proven it just within the last couple decades. Under the pontificate of Benedict XIV, they actually put some little cameras in the tomb itself, and found the bones from a first century man,” Lino continues.
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Later, they travel to Saint John Lateran to walk through the final Holy Door of the pilgrimage. They note that this was the first of the four churches to be declared a papal basilica. “Saint John Lateran is not a saint or person,” Lino clarifies. “It’s dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Beloved Disciple, and Lateran just happened to be the name of this area.”
They note that this was the original cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the original place where the pope lived. Lino says, “Pope Leo was just here not so long ago, because he is, among many other things, the Bishop of Rome. So he claimed his cathedral, just like any bishop has a cathedral in every diocese in the world.”
“He came here to Saint John Lateran, sat in the big marble chair, which is called the cathedra, the spot for his teaching authority. He was pope from the second he accepted it in the Sistine Chapel, but as the Bishop of Rome, he has claimed it. So we end our pilgrimage at the spot where he began his ministry as bishop of Rome.”
