Archaeologists may have discovered St Paul's tomb

Vatican archaeologists believe they have identified St Paul's tomb in Rome's St Paul Outside the Walls basilica, following the discovery of a stone coffin during excavations carried out over the past three years.

Catholic World News reports that a sarcophagus - or stone coffin - which may contain the remains of St Paul has been identified in the basilica, according to Giorgio Filippi, an archaeology specialist with the Vatican Museums.

"The tomb that we discovered is the one that the Popes and the Emperor Theodosius (379- 395) saved and presented to the whole world as being the tomb of the apostle," Mr Filippi reports.

The discovery was made by a team composed exclusively of experts from the Vatican Museum. They had undertaken their exploration in response to a request from the administrator of St Paul's basilica, Archbishop Francesco Gioia. During the Jubilee Year 2000, the archbishop noticed that thousands of pilgrims were inquiring about the location of St Paul's tomb. The excavation effort was guided by 19th century plans for the basilica, which was largely rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1823.

An initial survey enabled archaeologists to reconstruct the shape of the original basilica, built early in the fourth century. A second excavation, under the main altar of the basilica, brought the Vatican team to the sarcophagus, which was located on what would have been ground level for the original fourth century building.

The Vatican archaeologist said that church officials would now have to decide whether to undertake further explorations around the tomb, to make the sarcophagus more visible.

In St Peter's Basilica, excavations that were begun in June 1939 finally uncovered the tomb of the first Pope in 1941. But 35 more years passed before the Church officially attested to the authenticity of those remains, in a statement released by Pope Paul VI in June 1976. A similar span of years could elapse before the Church confirms that the tomb discovered at St Paul's basilica is truly that of the apostle.