[OLD REGGIE]

I believe Thomas wanted to probe these very marks in order to prove to himself that the Lord has risen. They are, in this way in Scripture, distinctive signifying marks of Jesus.

But you are right that it is impossible to know exactly what is meant just from this passage. We require a tradition in order to understand. It could mean stigmata or not.

Paul was accepted as an Apostle based on what? Is there any hint, any place, that he "proved" anything by showing his stigmata?

No, this is a big stretch. Are you aware of any RCC teaching which shows Paul with stigmata? It certainly is the first time I have heard of it.

[SoothingDave]

Is there any hint, any place, that he "proved" anything by showing his stigmata?

Nobody hinted that he had to "prove" anything by his stigmata, if he indeed had them. If anything, the near absence of accounts of them are evidence that he regarded them as a personal thing and not as a sign of his own holiness or fitness for leadership.

SD