Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Peter, a fisherman from Galilee, was the leader of the Twelve; Paul, a Pharisee from Tarsus who had persecuted the Church, became after his conversion the great missionary to the nations, and his letters make up much of the New Testament. Both came to Rome, and both, by tradition, died there in the persecution under Nero in the 60s.

Tradition holds that Peter was crucified, head downward at his own request, and buried on the Vatican Hill, where Saint Peter’s Basilica now stands; Paul, a Roman citizen, was beheaded on the road to Ostia and buried where the basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls stands. Already about 200 a Roman priest named Gaius spoke of their tombs, and their joint feast has been kept on 29 June since at least 258.