The Catacombs of Rome

We are truly fortunate. Today, we can freely gather as a community to show our faith, but that was not the case of long, long time ago.

Pope John Paul II addressed the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology as follows:

"By visiting these monuments, one comes into contact with the evocative traces of the early Christianity and one can, so to speak, tangibly sense the faith that motivated those ancient Christian communities.


Walking through the underground passages of the catacombs, one frequently glimpses many signs of the iconography of faith: the fish, a symbol of Christ; the anchor, an image of hope; the dove, which represents the believing soul and, next to the names on the tombs, often one sees the
greeting: In Christo.

The catacombs also preserve the tombs of the first martyrs, witnesses of a clear and most steadfast faith, which led them as "athletes of God" to triumph over the supreme trial."