St Peter and Paul

By Ana C.

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Before this course, I had heard of Saints Peter and Paul, but I did not know much about their lives or their importance to the Church. During this class, I have had the opportunity to learn more about Peter and Paul and their central roles in the Church. Although Paul was originally a zealous Jew who wanted to persecute the Christians, he had a conversion on the way to Damascus and he became an evangelist. I was surprised to learn that Paul was originally very focused on Judaism, but that he later became open-minded and became known as the Apostle of the Gentiles. Since he spoke several languages, Paul could communicate with people in different countries and he traveled around the world to proclaim Christ’s message. Meanwhile, Simon was the only apostle who recognized that Jesus was the Son of God, so Simon was renamed Peter and received the keys to the kingdom. According to our tour guide Christian, Peter became the first bishop of Rome, and he was supposed to take Jesus’s place on Earth. All of the subsequent Popes have been called Peter’s successors and are supposed to fill that role. The Popes are also called Pontifex Maximus because they are supposed to be the bridge between heaven and earth. I was fascinated by this history because I had often heard the Pope’s various titles, but I had not understood what they meant or what their origin was. Finally, I learned why Paul and Peter were called the twin founders of Rome: because tradition declares that they died on the same day, Paul and Peter would be reborn on the same day like twins. I had noticed that their deaths were usually portrayed side by side and that they were called twins, but I had not understood the official reason for this. Therefore, I have loved this experience because I have had the chance to understand the characteristics and stories of these saints!