Apostle Paul's Tomb Discovered in St Paul's Outside-the-Walls

Today (11 December) morning in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was held to present recent archaeological excavations in the Roman basilica of St Paul's Outside-the-Walls that brought to light the sarcophagus of St Paul.Full text of the news in Czech: HERE.

Vatican: Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of St Paul's Outside-the-Walls, said in his speech that the four great Rome basilicas, so-far referred to as 'patriarchal', are to be called 'papal' since now. He also mentioned a plan of total reorganization of the basilica of St Paul's Outside-the-Walls.

Archaeologist Giorgio Filippi said that 'although it is an incontrovertible historical fact that the basilica of St Paul was built over the tomb of the Apostle, the location of the original tomb remains an open question.' He also mentioned the chronicles of the monastery that 'speaks of a great marble sarcophagus found during reconstruction work on the basilica following the great fire of 1823, in the area of the Confession, under the two stones with the inscription 'Paulo apostolo mart[yri]'.' Filippi then said, that 'archeological investigations… which began in 2002 and came to an end on 22 November 2006, brought to light an important area of stratification, formed by the apse of the Constantinian basilica enclosed within the transept of the building of the Three Emperors. On the floor of this building, under the papal altar, we found that great sarcophagus of which all trace had been lost, considered since the time of Theodosius to be the tomb of St Paul.'