Grave beneath Rome church believed to be St. Paul's

VATICAN CITY -- Vatican officials Dec. 11 identified a marble sarcophagus embedded in the foundations of a Rome basilica as the coffin believed to contain the remains of the Apostle Paul.

The announcement was the latest chapter of an excavation campaign that has been under way since 2002, when Vatican archaeologists set out to locate the sarcophagus.

The actual contents of the coffin, however, remain unknown, because it has not been fully unearthed.

Instead, it remains buried beneath the main altar of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, the archpriest of the basilica, said he had no reason to doubt the sarcophagus contained the apostle's remains, because the coffin appeared to have gone untouched since the fourth century, when an early Christian temple was erected over it.

"No one has any doubts," he told a Vatican press conference. The sarcophagus was also discovered directly beneath a marble slab with the engraving "St. Paul apostle" in Latin.

Archaeologists burrowed through more than 3 feet of plaster, mortar and brick to reach the fourth-century foundations of the basilica. That hole is now covered with glass, providing visitors with a tunnel view of the sarcophagus' marble surface.

The goal of the project, Vatican archaeologist Giorgio Filippi said, was to bring the sarcophagus to light for Christian pilgrims rather than probe the contents for proof of the apostle. But he said his research team was "studying the possibility" of exploring the interior of the coffin.

One of the more important archaeological finds, Filippi said, was that the sarcophagus had a funnel-shaped hole in the top--later closed with mortar--through which the faithful could stick pieces of cloth to create secondary relics.

He said that was a significant sign that the tomb was revered from the beginning as that of St. Paul of Tarsus.

According to tradition, Paul was taken to Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero and beheaded. The apostle was then buried with St. Peter in the Christian catacombs. His remains were later moved to a site outside the city's ancient walls, where a church was erected in the fourth century to honor the martyr.

--Religion News Service and Catholic News Service

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