The Vatican• Constantine had a church built to honor Peter

• Vatican: means hill side (where Peter was buried)

• 1939 workers discover an underground burial site painted red

• The bones discovered were declared St. Peter’s in 1968

• When there is an ordination the candidates lay prostrate above the site of Peter’s burial

• prostrate: symbolizes unworthiness for the office to be assumed, dependence on God, humility

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St. Peter’s Altar

Facts about the Vatican• Smallest sovereign nation• 190 acres• Population 900• Currency: Euro• Life expectancy 78 yrs.• Language: Italian, Latin, French• Literacy rate: 100%

Art Treasures

• Pieta, sorrowful Mother• Michelangelo• Prior to this work unknown• Was in his early 20’s• 1498 commissioned to sculpt life size statue• Carved from one single slab• When it was unveiled became angry, overheard his work

being attributed to another artist• Only work he signed, sash on Mary

Art work• Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo• Took four years 1508-1512• Named after Pope Sixtus IV• Pictures of: creation, apostles, Noah, Abraham • Old Testament and New Testament• Damaged his vision

Sistine Chapel

The Last Supper

• Leonardo da Vinci• Started in 1495, took 2 years

Pope Election

• Con clave• In Sistine Chapel• After elected go into the “Room Of Tears”• Introduced on Balcony

Swiss Army Guard• Swiss, Catholic• 5’8’’• High school graduate• Attended Swiss Military • Good moral standing• 100 men• Longest standing army• Uniform 154 pieces• Weighs 8 lbs.• Vow to give life for Pope

Archives

• 30 miles of archives• Petition of Henry the VII• Letters from:• Michelangelo• Mary Queen of Scots• Abraham Lincoln• 3 Restoration Labs

Flag of The Vatican

• the papal tiara and crossed keys of Saint Peter. • Also has own national anthem

Saints around St. Peter’s Square140 Saints

• The Pope, a.k.a Papa, Vicar of Christ, Vicar of Peter, Holy Father, Bishop of Rome, Servant of the servants of God, Supreme Pastor, His Holiness, The Rock, Supreme Pontiff, Father of Kings, Successor of St. Peter, Shepherd of the Universal Church, etc

• Holy See and Apostolic See refer to the Pope’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

• And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’” (Matt. 16:18-19).