A general view shows the main altar with the sarcophagus of the 1st century apostle St. Paul in Rome's Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls December 11, 2006. REUTERS/Max Rossi
Posted on 12/11/2006 12:44:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv
The Vatican said on Monday it was studying the possibility of opening a thick marble sarcophagus believed to contain the remains of the 1st century apostle St Paul to study its contents. The prospect was raised at a news conference at which Vatican officials unveiled the results of an archaeological dig which has made part of the sarcophagus in Rome's Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls visible to pilgrims... Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the basilica on Rome's outskirts... belittled some media reports that the apostle's tomb had only now been discovered. "There has been no doubt for the past 20 centuries that the tomb is there. It was variously visible and not visible in times past and then it was covered up. We made an opening (in the basilica floor) to make it visible at least in part," he said. According to Catholic tradition, St Paul was killed for his faith in the 1st century and buried on Rome's Via Ostiense... A small church was built at a burial site near the Tiber River at the start of the 4th century and a basilica was constructed at the end of the same century. The basilica was changed over the centuries and nearly destroyed by a fire in 1823. With each change, enlargement or rebuilding, the sarcophagus became less accessible and ended up about 1.3 metres below the surface of the current floor.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.scotsman.com ...
A general view shows the main altar with the sarcophagus of the 1st century apostle St. Paul in Rome's Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls December 11, 2006. REUTERS/Max Rossi
Archeologists discover St. Paul's tomb
Catholic World News | Feb 17, 2005 | unknown
Posted on 02/17/2005 3:58:57 PM EST by Mike Fieschko
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1345449/posts
Vatican to announce St. Paul's tomb found
WorldNetDaily.com
Posted on 02/19/2005 12:09:38 AM EST by wolfman
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1346519/posts
Vatican archaeologists unearth St. Paul's tomb
Pravda | December 6, 2006
Posted on 12/06/2006 9:18:21 AM EST by NYer
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1749237/posts
Remains of Apostle Paul May Have Been Found
Associated Press (excerpt) | December 6, 2006
Posted on 12/06/2006 7:29:58 PM EST by HAL9000
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1749580/posts
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They ought to let Geraldo do the honors on the broadcast to drive up interest.
Give the Muslims and chance and they'll turn the place into a mosque...
Okay, sarcasm is bad - but it has been a bad day.
Oh, they MUST open it!
Because then we will be able to analyze how Paul really died.
Tradition says beheading. That will be obvious, and will confirm tradition, if the sarcophagus is opened.
The fact that it is to be opened suggests there's some small question that anything at all is inside.
Of course there's a question! That's why we must open it!
In Egypt, a medieval domed Coptic church was in need of conservation work (the frescoes), and after years of practically begging the officials, some gov't workers showed up and sandblasted off every trace of the paint and plaster. I figure it's only a matter of time before the same fate befalls Italy.
I think he's busy investigating some German waterways.
Okay, that's a little obscure, I'll admit it...
What if Paul's body is incorrupt? That would be so great.
If Paul's body were incorrupt, it would be another one of those visible, tangible things, like the Shroud of Turin and Oviedo Cloth, or the documented cures at Lourdes, or the recalculated star charts of 3 BC and 33 AD, which are obvious physical traces of divine power, but which many will look straight past.
Incorrupt, that's what I was going to suggest. Wouldn't that be something?
Amen......many saints' bodies are incorrupt...St Vincent DePaul for one.....but Paul would be earthshaking!!
Even if it isn't, it will be interesting to see what they find.
That altar is so beautiful! Thanks for posting the picture. When the Pope visitied Turkey a cou;ple of weeks ago he gave one of the Patriarchs a piece of the chain that was said to have bound St. Paul when he was imprisoned before he was martyred. So, if they know where the chain is, they know where the body is.
An empty tomb could mean that Paul was never buried there... or it could mean that grave robbers have struck... or it could mean that he has been resurrected. I believe that's good Catholic doctrine; it's certainly good Mormon doctrine!
My pleasure.
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