Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter & Paul

On November 18 the Church remembers together the consecration of the two great Roman basilicas built over the tombs of Peter (on the Vatican Hill) and Paul (Outside the Walls). St. Peter's in its present form was dedicated in 1626; St. Paul Outside the Walls, after a fire, in 1854. The two churches stand as visible signs of the apostolic foundation of the Roman Church.

The original Constantinian basilica of St. Peter was erected around 326 over the apostle's tomb, and for more than a millennium it was the spiritual center of Western Christendom. St. Paul's, likewise Constantinian in origin, was nearly destroyed by fire in 1823 and rebuilt with contributions from the entire Catholic world. Their shared memorial reminds the faithful that the Church rests on the witness of those who gave their lives for the Gospel.