St. Peter Relics to be put on display at Vatican
St. Peter Relics: Archbishop Rino Fisichella said that that 'tradition recognizes' the relics are those of the martyred Peter.
Pope Francis celebrates a Mass for cardinals and bishops who died in the past year, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, November 4.
Remo Casilli/Reuters
VATICAN CITY
The Vatican says that relics believed to be those of St. Peter, the first pope, will be put on public display in a ceremony later this month.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella said Wednesday that the ceremony on Nov. 24 will mark the end of the church's "Year of the Faith" activities and be the first time the relics have been shown to the public. Fisichella, a Vatican official, said Pope Francis will celebrate Mass that day at the Vatican.
Fisichella said in the official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that "tradition recognizes" the relics are those of the martyred Peter.
Details about the display are expected to be given at a Vatican news conference on Monday. The relics were found in a necropolis excavated in the mid-20th century under St. Peter's Basilica.