Do you know what happened to the Apostles?
In this episode of "The Catholic Talk Show," Ryan Scheel and Ryan Dellacrosse discuss what happened to the 12 Apostles after the Resurrection.
They uncover the often-shocking truths of how these heroic witnesses of Jesus lived and died!
1) Why Saint Peter Was Crucified Upside Down
Peter was the Rock upon which Christ built His Church. But did you know he was crucified upside down in Nero’s circus, just steps from what is now Saint Peter’s Basilica?
Scheel explains that Jesus “even tells him, ‘one day when you’re an old man, other people will dress you and lead you where you do not want to be led,’ foreshadowing the type of execution and martyrdom that he would have.”
After bravely turning back toward Rome, Peter was nailed to a cross inverted by his own request. Out of humility, he believed “he’s not worthy to die in the same way that Christ was crucified.”
Today, you can visit his tomb in the Vatican directly beneath the main altar.
2) Saint Thomas’ Finger Still Exists!
Known for doubting Christ’s Resurrection, Saint Thomas later journeyed to India, then considered “the end of the world.”
There, he converted countless souls and was eventually martyred by a spear. One amazing relic of his still exists today: the finger he placed into the wounds of the Risen Lord!
Scheel shares “that finger had been housed in an ancient Christian church in Mosul” where Thomas once stayed, and now is at the Mor Mattai Monastery in Northern Iraq.
3) Saint James the Greater in Spain?
James, the brother of John, was the first Apostle to be martyred. His beheading in Jerusalem by Herod Agrippa is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
How could his bodily relics end up in Spain then?
Scheel explains that pious tradition says, “Angels came and transported him on a boat, they were found in the field in Compostela, Spain.”
Today, pilgrims walk the famed Camino de Santiago to venerate his relics housed in the Cathedral of Santiago.
“To be that close to somebody who was with Jesus is an incredible experience,” Dellacrosse says.