Saint Peter

Saint Peter, originally known as Simon, was born in a small fishing village called Capernaum sometime near the year 1 BC. Of Jesus of Nazareth’s twelve disciples, he was the first. Jesus named him “Cephas,” which meant “rock.” This was symbolic of Simon becoming the first of Jesus Christ’s followers. The name was Anglicized to “Peter” later. Peter traveled around the Roman Empire, eventually coming to end up in Rome, but unfortunately, very little is known of the time he spent there. Eusebius recorded that Peter was crucified in the year 67 AD. In a last act of defiance to the Roman Empire and loyalty to Jesus Christ, he refused to die the same way his Messiah did, and requested to instead be crucified upside down. According to tradition of the Christian church, Peter was the man who established the line of popes in Rome.