Peter’s Good Friday betrayal transformed him
Horrified at his own cowardice, Peter wept bitter tears and repented. He was forgiven and went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in history and preached the first altar call – in such a powerful sermon on the Day of Pentecost that 3,000 people responded and were baptized. He then became one of the great leaders of the early church and, according to the Catholic church, was martyred in Rome. When the Romans began to nail him to a cross, Peter told them he was unworthy to die in the same way as Jesus. So, the soldiers mockingly crucified him upside down. For hundreds of years, persecuted Christians quietly tended his gravesite and when Christianity was finally legalized during the reign of Emperor Constantine, Peter’s bones were disinterred and the great cathedral, St. Peter’s Basilica, was built over them. Today, the Vatican has what they believe are his remains, found several years ago in a simple crypt deep below the great cathedral’s altar.