Chapter Twenty-One

The Great Persecution and Helena

Who moved Peter’s bones from their resting place under the Trophy of Gaius to the niche in the Graffiti Wall where they resided until 1942? How were they moved? When? As to time, it is clear from the forensic evidence that Peter’s bones rested under or near the Trophy from the time of its construction before 150 until sometime between 250 and 337 — as dated by Guarducci. She believed they were most likely moved by Constantine’s workers to the marble-lined niche in the Graffiti Wall during the construction of St. Peter’s to protect them, given particularly the purple and gold cloth in which they had been wrapped — a cloth used exclusively by the imperial family.

Guarducci may be right, but a much more likely possibility is suggested by the history surrounding the years 250–337. This was a period of horrific persecution of Christians under Emperors Valerian and Diocletian. The persecution by Diocletian is commonly called the Great Persecution because of the cruel and widespread slaughter of Christians. Prior to this period, it was an unthinkable crime for any Roman to disturb a grave — even the grave of a criminal, enemy, or Christian. By edict of Valerian and Diocletian, however, Christian graves lost their immunity. The emperors made war on the dead, desecrating Christian graves, ironically in the same way their own tombs would later be destroyed by the barbarians. Faced with this danger, it seems quite likely that brave unnamed Christians moved Peter to the Graffiti Wall niche during this period, leaving the hidden inscription, “Peter is here.” This is one plausible hypothesis for how the bones were moved.

By this period, Christianity was no longer a small cult. Christians had inexplicably survived ten separate waves of Roman persecution.223 The Romans still regarded the Christians’ faith in an alleged criminal executed by Rome as a direct assault on the dignitas of Rome itself. Their persecutions of Christians had been thorough, systematic, and cruel. But the net result of more than two hundred years of Roman assault had been the growth of the small cult into a major underground religion with an estimated five million followers, possibly more — about 5 percent of the population.

By the time Constantine came to power, Christians were a significant minority in the Empire. The Imperial household itself was riddled with Christian believers, even before Constantine. For example, Diocletian, in order to remove Christians, required all members of the army to worship him. His own bodyguard, Sebastian, refused and was apparently executed by a firing squad with arrows and left for dead. After being revived by Christians, instead of fleeing, he sought out Diocletian, publicly condemned him for his cruelty, and was killed. Tradition has it that Pope Caius, who headed the Church during the reign of Diocletian, was a relative of the emperor, but the relationship did not save him. According to unverified legend, he was hunted down, seized in the Roman catacombs, and brutally executed, along with his young niece, Susanna.

Indeed, in the highest ranks of Diocletian’s government lived an extraordinarily brave and determined woman who would eventually become a Christian, and her faith would change the course of the Roman Empire forever. Helena, mother of the future emperor Constantine, would be responsible for encouraging her son’s faith, eventually leading to the construction of the first St. Peter’s Basilica. Born an innkeeper’s daughter, an extraordinary beauty, Helena married a young Roman officer named Constantius around 272. He called her his soulmate. She gave birth to his son, Constantine. But as Constantius rose through the ranks, eventually becoming Caesar of the Western Empire, Helena, as a woman of humble birth, became a serious inconvenience. He divorced her around 292, a few years before Diocletian’s persecution of Christians began, in order to marry an emperor’s daughter. Like Guarducci, Helena was abandoned in a male-dominated world and, except for Constantine, friendless. But like Guarducci, brave Helena had an extraordinary comeback. In 306 her son brought her to his court. Constantine was now Augustus, emperor of the West and soon to be the sole ruler of the whole Roman Empire. Helena was installed as Augusta — the most powerful woman in the world. It is not known when she became a Christian, whether before or after Constantine brought her to court, but she was baptized and became a devout Christian. Later, following the Edict of Milan, she enjoyed unlimited access to the Imperial treasury to pursue her passion for Christian archeology.

She is recognized by the Church as the patron saint of archeologists. Indeed, she was the first Christian archeologist, preserving numerous ancient relics. In 326, at age eighty, she made an epic journey to Jerusalem to preserve ancient Christian relics, establishing churches that are still in existence today. She was deeply involved in the preservation of graves of the apostles, inspiring the construction of St. Peter’s in Rome, as well as the construction of a now destroyed basilica over the grave of John the Evangelist outside of Ephesus.

All three of the primary factors employed by a good investigator to prove involvement — motive, opportunity, and a history of similar methods and acts — strongly point to Helena’s involvement in the transfer of Peter’s bones to the Graffiti Wall. Possibly the move occurred during the horrible persecution of Diocletian, but perhaps it took place during the construction of the basilica, when Guarducci believes they were moved. Helena died in 330, well before the completion of St. Peter’s, and Constantine followed not long after. Following their deaths, their families fought over the crown, and the Empire began its slow, century-long death spiral. Very likely, they intended to build the great bronze sarcophagus and 150-pound gold cross that fifth-century accounts said should mark the site of Peter’s bones. But mortality and circumstances apparently intervened, and the monument was forgotten.

In a nave on the main floor of the Vatican, there is a shrine to Helena with a wonderful statue of her. Ironically, her statue looks and gestures down, as if pointing for centuries to the unknown Necropolis below. We will likely never know the extent of Helena’s involvement in the movement of Peter’s bones. There is symmetry, however, in the idea of brave Helena, consumed with a passion for Christian archeology, preserving Saint Peter’s relics until their discovery 1,600 years later by another strong and brave woman archeologist.

To many believers, including Blessed Pope Paul VI, it is fitting that the apostle was buried first in the simple earth and then preserved in a simple wall — no gold cross, no great bronze sarcophagus.