Vatican City - The presumed remains of the founder of the Catholic Church, Saint Peter, were shown in public for the first time on Sunday, as Pope Francis celebrated mass for the closing of the Year of Faith.
Francis knelt before a bronze box with the Latin inscription “Ex ossibus quae in Arcibasilicae Vaticanae hypogeo inventa Beati Petri Apostoli esse putantur” (“From the bones found in the hypogeum of the Vatican Basilica, which are considered of Blessed Peter the Apostle.”
The box, containing eight bone fragments measuring 2-3 centimetres each, has been stored in the chapel of the papal apartment since 1971.
Towards the end of the open-air service in Saint Peter's Square, which was attended by 60 000 faithful and 1 200 high-ranking prelates, the pontiff held the relics in his hands, and remained in deep prayer for a few moments.
The bones were found during wartime excavations under Saint Peter's Basilica, which revealed his tomb. In 1968, Pope Paul VI said there was “convincing” proof that the remains belonged to Saint Peter, even if that finding is still disputed by some experts.
In his homily, Francis called for “peace and concord” in the Holy Land, Syria and “in the entire East.” Later he recited his Sunday Angelus, during which he recalled the 80th anniversary of Holomodor, the Soviet-era famine which killed millions in Ukraine. - Sapa-dpa