Sarcophagus of St. Paul exhumed

The tomb of St. Paul the Apostle has been unearthed under one of Rome's largest churches and the stone coffin was raised to the surface to allow pilgrims to see it, Vatican officials have announced.

The tomb dates back to at least A.D. 390 and was found in a crypt under a basilica in Rome.

The remains of St. Paul, one of the most prominent leaders of the Church and the author of much of the New Testament, was reportedly hidden under an altar at St. Paul Outside–the–Walls for almost 200 years.

The present St. Paul Outside–the–Walls was built in 1823 on the remains of earlier churches. The first was erected by the Emperor Constantine. "I have no doubt that this is the tomb of St. Paul, as revered by Christians in the fourth century," said Dr. Giorgio Filippi, the Vatican archaeologist who made the discovery.

Dr. Filippi submitted the results of his scientific tests on the remains of the saint, December 11, at the Vatican. St. Paul's sarcophagus was found after five years of extensive excavations at the church, which is second only in size to St. Peter's in Rome. Dr. Filippi began looking for the tomb at the request of Archbishop Francesco Gioia, within whose jurisdiction the church falls.

In 2000, the Archbishop was inundated with queries from pilgrims about the whereabouts of the saint. The same requests have persuaded the Vatican that there is enough demand from tourists to warrant raising the sarcophagus to the surface so that it could be viewed properly.

"We wanted to bring it to the light for devotional reasons so it can be venerated," said Dr. Filippi.

St. Paul Outside–the–Walls was rebuilt several times ever since the Roman Emperor Constantine first erected it, most recently in 1823 following a fire.

According to Vatican sources, the archaeologists had to descend into a series of tunnels and chambers that dated to the fourth century. There they found a marble plaque inscribed with Paolo Apostolo Martyr – Latin for "Paul the Apostle, Martyr."

Archeologists have claimed that St. Paul's remains lay underneath a stone slab, in which three holes were originally punched to allow visitors to push pieces of material through and touch the saint's remains. The cloth would then be imbued with the sanctity within.

"What we can see at the moment through a grating, a new grating that's been put there, is the side of the sarcophagus of Paul which seems to be white marble–like material," said Fr. Edmund Power, the abbot of the Benedictine Monastery.

The sarcophagus is thought to date from A.D. 390, when the Emperor Theodosius "saved" the remains and moved them to the site, near the Appian Way.

St. Paul, was born in Tarsus, a city that used to stand in the Mersin province of Turkey, shortly after Jesus.

Originally named Saul, St. Paul was a Jewish Pharisee before he converted to Christianity on the way to Damascus.

St. Paul travelled widely through Asia Minor, Greece and Rome in the 1st Century.

His letters to the early churches, found in the Bible's New Testament, are arguably some of the most influential on Christian thinking.

He was arrested in Jerusalem for being Christian and subsequently exercised his right as a Roman citizen to a trial in Rome.

According to the Bible, St. Paul was imprisoned in Rome.

St. Paul is believed to have been beheaded in A.D. 65 by the Roman Emperor Nero. The head is not thought to be with the rest of the remains.

Instead, it is supposed to be located inside a silver bust at the St. John Lateran Church on the Celian hill. St. Peter's head is also thought to be there.

His sarcophagus would be on public view for the foreseeable future but the church is yet to rule out the possibility that one day the interior itself will be opened and examined.