Pope Francis visits tomb of St Peter

April 02, 2013: In the afternoon of Easter Monday, Pope Francis visited the scavi – the excavations of the Vatican necropolis beneath the Basilica, which include the tomb of St Peter. Accompanied by the archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, and the heads of the archaeological projects, Drs. Pietro Zander and Mario Bosco, the Holy Father proceeded through the excavated spaces, listening to the archaeologists’ explanations, all the way to the tomb of St Peter, situated precisely beneath the central altar and the cupola.

Pope Francis then paused for prayer in the Clementine Chapel, before making his way to the Vatican Grottoes, where he paid respects to the tombs of the Popes of the 20th century, which are located there: Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, Paul VI and John Paul I. The whole visit took about three quarters of an hour, beginning at 5 in the afternoon Rome Time. On his way out, Pope Francis greeted the personnel on duty, and returned to the Domus Sanctae Marthae the same way he had come: by foot.