St. Peter's Bones: How the Relics of the First Pope Were Lost and Found . . . and Then Lost and Found Again

An exceedingly interesting book revealing facts I never knew. For a believer it sustains your faith. If we had known this info last time we in Rome we would’ve made an attempt to visit the catacombs.

In 1960, Prof. Margherita Guarducci published the definitive summary of her team's efforts to find and verify the bones of the first Pope, the rock upon which Christ built his church, according to Scripture. For most of the almost two millenia they have laid undisturbed, they were believed by all to be interred under the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. In the early 1950s, exploration in the Vatican catacombs revealed startling discoveries that heightened the fever to find the ultimate tomb. The Church, however, in order to protect the sanctity of the remains, had forbidden any excavation or exploration anywhere near the area under the high altar. Paul VI changed all that, and so the story progresses.This is an excellent book. Craughwell is a field expert in his own right and was part of the original attempt to find St. Peter's tomb. His writing, however, is by no means overly-scientific. The book has the pace of a thriller. You are drawn through the story by one interesting find or turn of fate after another, until at last, along with the exultant team led by Prof. Guarducci, the prize is attained; the bones were found.And then they were lost ... and found again.St. Peter's bones is a fun, fast-paced, and thoroughly fascinating read. You finish this book on a three-hour flight, and you will be very glad you did. Happy Reading.NB: Prof. Guarducci's 1960 opus, The Bones of St. Peter, is available only by import from Italy, and when I last checked Amazon, only two were known to be available. Before running to make an offer on this tome, however, read Craughwell's comments about the book put forth in his book. Craughwell, not Guarducci, is the place to start if you wish to dive deeper into this fascinating archeological find. acd

Craughwell's "St. Peter's Bones" is terrific. Not only is it well written, but it's simply a cracking good tale. What did happen to St. Peter's bones? After two thousand years, who can tell?It turns out there was a way to unravel the mystery. And the breakthrough began, of all times, in the middle of World War II, when Pope Pius XII ordered a renovation of the Vatican Grottoes.Now, during the Roman empire, the area of the Vatican has been a rocky hill that lay outside of the city walls. It became a cemetery. We know that "Sometime around 325, Constantine planned the construction of a grand basilica that he would build over the humble tomb of St. Peter": (p 30).Archaeologists stumble upon a wall covered in graffiti. Dr. Guarducci, an expert on graffiti from the Roman era, began to study the wall. On it she found prayers to Christ, and the "Latin phrase ad Petrum ('near Peter') almost always linked to the name of a deceased relative or friend" (p 72).At last, a white marble box was found. With the skeleton of a man who was 5' 7", with the bones revealing he had lived a hard, physical life, and that he was between sixty and seventy when he died.

Superb. Held my interest from beginning to end. Reads more like a detective story rather than a book about religious relics, etc. I was distressed to see it end!

Short, succinct description of the excavation in the World War II years under Saint Peter's Basilica and the discovery of Saint Peter's bones. Professor Marguerite Guarducci's investigation of where the bones were stored would make a wonderful movie if the movie respected the complete story of everything going on during World War II in the Vatican. Prof. Guarducci was a wonderful, talented and holy person whose sainthood cause should be investigated.

Old story about Peters bone being lost and found again. A good Biblical Archeo read, will keep your attention but no barn burner and the story has been out there for years!

Terrific book, a quick read but highly informative and well researched. I visited the Scavi without knowing anything about the story behind it. Really wish I had read this book first. There are so many details that I would have looked for while I was there.

I enjoyed the book..An easy read with some interesting 'facts' throughout. I had been on a trip to Rome recently and was able to do the tour to see the bones and heard the story from our tour guide. I was interested in learning more.

Great

Eexellent buy

This very short book has only 121 pages, including two appendices, and is printed with large characters.It sets out to present the unlikely quest for the tomb of St. Peter that started in the 1940’s and ended in the 1960’s.It is poorly structured jumping, within single chapters, from the narrative of the 20th century quest back to the life of St. Peter, the Middle Ages or the Renaissance. This obscures the main story, which in itself is already convoluted enough.The lay-out is also underwhelming, as if the book were a novel, and no map, sketch or photograph is provided.No reason can be found to recommend this muddled work to anyone.