Pope Francis was finally able to see this Wednesday a relic of the Chair of Saint Peter, the ancient wooden throne that symbolizes the primacy of the first Pope, within the framework of the restoration works being carried out in Saint Peter’s Basilica.
“This morning in the Ottoboni sacristy in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the end of the Holy Mass, Pope Francis was able to see the Cathedra Saint Peter the Apostle“, indicates a brief statement from the Press Office of the Holy See.
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The chair, the note specifies, is “the ancient wooden throne, symbol of the primacy of Peter, extracted during the restoration work of Bernini’s monument in the apse of the Basilica dedicated to the see.”
Father Enzo Fortunato, communications director of St. Peter’s Basilica, told ACI Prensa that “the restorations have begun and since (the Pope) was in the Basilica he wanted to see it. “He has seen the various jobs, including the professorship.”
The relic was brought by the St. Peter’s Factory, which is directed by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, and was presented to the Holy Father within the framework of the inauguration Mass of the second session of the Synod of Synodality.
He website of the St. Peter’s Factory specifies that, in the process of restoring Bernini’s Baldachin, “the Scientific Research Office of the Vatican Museums will be in charge of the scientific studies, which will be carried out in several stages.”
“At the beginning, studies on the state of conservation and deterioration phenomena will have priority; during the work, the typology of the interventions to be carried out will be examined; at the end, information on the execution techniques and the constituent materials will be collected. “he adds.
The Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter on February 22, which honors the primacy of Peter and his successors.
This celebration remembers the power conferred by Christ to the one who is his representative on earth, head of the Church and Supreme Pontiff, as the Gospels point out: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of hell will not prevail over her” (cf. Mt 16, 18-19).
The word ‘cathedra’ comes from Latin chair. Originally it meant ‘seat’ or ‘throne’, a meaning that is still maintained today in Spanish, but with less use.
In the first centuries of Christianity, the “cathedra” stopped being linked to secular teachers and began to be recognized in the bishops, who announced Christ and taught his doctrine.
From this word cathedral is derived, to refer to the church or temple from where a bishop guides, governs or teaches the faithful who have been entrusted to him by Christ.
Walter Sanchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.