It all goes back to a man – Peter. In Matthew 16, we see that Peter is given a mission by Christ: He is to lead Christ’s Church. In Matthew 28, we see that Church is given a mission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20)
We see from the very beginning that the Church exists in order to evangelize. The Apostles realized this Gospel was not intended for the Jews alone. In the first days of the Church, Peter baptizes the first Gentile, Cornelius.
In the first century, where do you go if you want to spread the word about anything? You don’t remain in Jerusalem. You go to the center of the world.
You go to Rome.
The Roman Empire built over 400,000 kilometers of roads, spanning from Egypt to Britain. By around 200 A.D., there were twenty-nine major highways going in and out of Rome. The roads, the common language, and the law that comes with a united empire gave the ability for both people and messages to travel quickly.
If you had been given the mission to convert the world: you were going to go convert Rome. It just made sense.
Peter vanishes from the pages of Acts of the Apostles after the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, but historical details tell us that he eventually ends up in Rome (if he hadn’t been there already before the Council, which is also possible). We know his first epistle was written from Rome, which he refers to in the letter as “Babylon.”
So Peter the fisherman, a humble man from Galilee, entered the glorious city of Rome — with her temples and law courts, with her decadence and her riches — ready to spread the Gospel. He likely walked down Via Sacra, the main road through the Roman Forum, which you can still walk on today. He would have settled with his Jewish brothers and sisters who had converted, possibly with Pudens and his family near the Esquiline Hill. We know from Paul’s Letter to the Romans that there were several house churches established very early on in Rome, congregations that met in people’s homes to celebrate Mass.
And you know what? Despite persecutions and martyrdom, the Church spread. By the end of the second century, Christian apologist Tertullian told Roman magistrates, “We are but of yesterday and we fill your town, your islands, even your camps and your palaces, the senate and the forum; we have left you only your temples.” By 300 AD, there were over 6 million Christians in the empire.
So why Rome? Because the Church exists to evangelize.
It reminds us that our mission is to go out, no matter how uncomfortable that might be. Even something as depraved as the Roman empire can be converted! And it reminds us that God can use the strangest means to spread the Gospel. Even the Roman empire can be an instrument of the Gospel.
The 265th successor to St. Peter still lives in Rome. A 2000-year-old uninterrupted line. The Church has seen darkness and light. But we can rest in the hope of Christ that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Interested in going on pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee? Join us! You can find more information here.
