Pope Francis visits St. Peter’s tomb

He became the first pontiff to visit the necropolis.

(Photo courtesy: catholicnews.com)

Vatican City:  Pope Francis made an emotional visit to the tomb of St. Peter, the Church's first pontiff buried beneath St Peter's Basilica.

By doing so, he became the first pontiff to visit the necropolis, where pagans and early Christians were buried, since extensive archaeological excavations were conducted at the ancient site decades ago, the Vatican said.

The 45-minute 'visit of devotion to the tomb of St Peter' was private, the Vatican said, but it later released a video of it.

The basilica was built over the location where early Christians would gather in secret, at a time of persecution in ancient Rome, to pray at an unmarked tomb believed to be that of Peter, the apostle Jesus chose to lead his church.

During the tour of the necropolis conducted by its director and an Italian cardinal, the Pope 'climbed up a bit, got closer to the place where the tomb of St Peter lies, exactly under the central altar and the dome of the basilica', the Vatican said.

Francis walked down the entire main street of the ancient city of the dead. The streets of the necropolis are similar to those of ancient Rome, only they are flanked by tombs instead of shops and apartments.

The Vatican said Francis walked to the necropolis entrance from the hotel on the Vatican grounds where he lives, took the tour and later - after paying homage at the tombs of several popes in another underground level known as the grottoes, including Pius XII, Paul XVI and John Paul I - walked home.

The underground excursion was a sharp departure from how popes in past years often spent the day after Easter, known in Italy as 'little Easter'.

Those pontiffs would head to Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican palace in the Alban Hills, a short drive from Rome.

Source: skynews