While the world was at war above, a different kind of mission was unfolding beneath Vatican Hill.

George Strake came from humble beginnings, but made his fortune in Texas searching for buried treasure beneath the earth…..oil. This time, however, he would use his expansive wealth to search for a different kind of treasure buried beneath the Vatican. The planned excavation, led by archaeologists, uncovered a hidden world, a vast necropolis, a city of the dead dating back to the earliest centuries of Christianity, tombs layered upon tombs, stories buried beneath history. As the work progressed, anticipation grew, until at the center of it all they found something striking in its simplicity, a modest grave, set apart, honored, and protected, not grand, not adorned, but surrounded by signs of deep and ancient veneration, as if generations of Christians had come to this exact place knowing something the world had not forgotten. Nearby, on a rough plaster wall, an early pilgrim had left behind a message:

“Petros eni,” “Peter is here.”

Long before emperors legalized Christianity, before basilicas rose and choirs sang, believers came here quietly, risking everything, to honor the fisherman who became the rock. And the grave beneath St. Peter’s is not just a relic of the past, it is a witness, a thread unbroken, tying the Church to today.

Peter was not a scholar. He was not a prince. He was not powerful. He was a fisherman from Galilee. And yet one day, Jesus looked at him and said something extraordinary:

“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.”

-Matthew 16-

Jesus did not simply invite Peter to follow Him. He gave him a role. He gave him the keys of the kingdom. In ancient times, the keys belonged to the chief steward of a king’s household, a symbol of authority and trust. Jesus was establishing leadership in His Church. Peter would guide the early Christians. Strengthen the other apostles. Help keep the Church united in truth.

The Gospels show us Peter was far from perfect. He spoke too quickly. He sometimes misunderstood Jesus. And on the night Jesus was arrested, he denied Him three times. Yet after the Resurrection, Jesus did something remarkable. Three times He asked Peter: “Do you love me?” And each time Peter answered yes, Jesus replied: “Feed my sheep.” As theologians would later decipher, this was in a way an atonement for the three denials of Peter previously.

Jesus entrusted His people to Peter’s care, not because Peter was flawless, but because God often works through ordinary, imperfect people to accomplish extraordinary things. History tells us Peter eventually came to Rome, the capital of the greatest empire the world had ever known. There he preached the Gospel. There he led the Christian community. And there, under Nero’s persecution, Peter was executed for his faith. Tradition says he asked to be crucified upside down, because he did not feel worthy to die in the same way as Jesus.

The small community Peter led continued to grow. The Church spread across the empire and beyond. And eventually, a great basilica was built directly above the place where he was buried. Not where he was born. But where he died. The glorious church today is built on top of his sacrifice. His Faithfulness. The church did not end with Peter’s death. The mission Jesus gave him continued. So, when Peter died, another bishop took his place. Then another. And another. This unbroken line of men for over two thousand years and still alive today became the successors of Peter. Today, the Pope is the bishop of Rome, the successor of the fisherman. Just as Peter strengthened and guided the early Christians, the Pope continues that mission today, serving as a visible sign of unity for the Church throughout the world. For nearly two thousand years, through wars, empires, discoveries, revolutions, this line has continued all from this fisherman in Galilee…and ultimately Jesus Christ. Peter once lived in a small fishing village that few in the world had ever heard of. He probably never imagined that billions of people would one day know his name. But Peter’s story reminds us of something crucial: God often chooses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. What mattered most about Peter was not his talent or his status. It was that when Jesus called him…he said yes. And through that simple yes, his life touched the entire world.