Scholar discounts new claim St. Peter's remains may be in forgotten tomb
Nine shards of bone believed to belong to St. Peter lie inside a reliquary as it is venerated by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in this June 30, 2019, file photo taken the day after Pope Francis bequeathed the reliquary to the patriarch. A debate has ignited after three Italian researchers published a paper asserting that St. Peterâs remains may have been -- and continue to be -- buried in catacombs under the Mausoleum of St. Helena rather than under St. Peter's Basilica. (CNS photo/courtesy Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople)