stimulated by New York Post story About Pope Francis opening the “Five Holy Gates” this Christmas, the goofiest corners of the social media world are sharing warnings that the Pope is planning to open the “Tomb of Lucifer” or “Lucifer’s Tomb.” Satan’s grave This holiday season.
TikTok video below, from grace x digital, It has been viewed over 2 million times and explains the entire conspiracy theory. Grace asks the Pope important questions, such as “Why are you doing this this year, in this economy?”
While the Pope He is After opening five gates to seal the year 2024, I’m sorry to report that His Holiness has no plans to open Lucifer’s tomb – nothing remarkable has ever happened. there He is Lucifer’s tomb is under the Vatican, but it’s not as impressive as you’d hope. There is nothing in this story that is not as wonderful as you would hope.
What are these gates that the Pope opens?
In fact, the Pope will open five Holy Gates as part of this year’s ritual, but “gate” just means “door,” and four of the five doors lead to the famous churches. Despite what some internet cranks say, This isn’t the first time this has happened either: this ritual occurs every 25 years, and is intended to usher in a year “renewed with hope” for Catholics. So, basically, it’s the Pope who does unwanted things.
The only part of the story that has never been done before is that Pope Francis put his own twist on the ritual by opening a fifth door inside the Roman prison of Rebibbia on December 26. This was meant to provide a signal to the prisoners to “look to the future with ‘hope and a renewed sense of confidence.’” The opening of the door is symbolic, so the prisoners will not be released to spread out in Rome.
Lucifer’s Tomb and Vatican Cemetery
The slightly cool part of the story: there is a city of the dead under the Vatican that contains the tomb of Lucifer, and You can visit it. The Vatican Cemetery is located 15 to 24 feet below St. Peter’s Basilica, near the site Circus Caligula. Originally an open-air cemetery, this tomb dates back to the Roman Empire and supposedly contains the remains of the Apostle Peter along with the skeletons of various popes and other prominent early Catholics. Also located here: Lucifer’s tomb.
But it is not the Lucifer, the morning star, the fallen angel who became the head of the demons. Lucifer’s ultimate fate is ambiguous. Maybe he’s still alive, subtly convincing people to cheat at a game of Monopoly, or maybe he’s in heaven because he’s found redemption, or maybe he’s in Newark. (According to Dante, Lucifer is in the deepest circle of Hades, frozen in ice and forced to beat his wings forever to run Hell, so I’ll go with that.) Anyway, angelic Lucifer is not human. A person does not have a grave.
according to Map of the Vatican’s private cemetery, The grave of Yu Named “Lucifer”. “The entrance to the tomb has been made smaller due to an error in the architrave,” the Vatican says. “However, it is possible to glimpse some niches with a distinctive red background and several arcosoli.” Red backgrounds? It must be the devil. But no: the construction of this tomb predates the association of the name “Lucifer” with Satan. We don’t actually know why it is called Lucifer’s Tomb. It may be so A reference to some of the graffiti found thereOr a reference to an important Catholic by that name. However, it does not refer to Satan.
Why are there so many Catholic conspiracy theories anyway?
Why the Pope opening some doors in Vatican City became a conspiracy theory on TikTok is a complex question. Anti-Catholicism in America dates back to 1930 Before the United States was a thing. While these deep cultural and historical biases are probably part of it, I think the main reason people trade in this kind of conspiratorial thinking is more innocent: the Catholic Church is really old and really weird, and people like a little spice in their eggnog at Christmas. .
People also like to put together puzzles, and the Catholic Church gives you a chance a lot Pieces to play with. The Vatican is an ancient city filled with tunnels, crumbling Roman ruins, and a cemetery beneath a cathedral. The Pope controls a city-state, can speak with the voice of God, and wears some of it very Impressive hats. It’s the kind of setting where it seems like anything could happen at any time, including the Pope digging up the devil’s grave, perhaps so they can fight.
Like many conspiracy theorists, author Dan Brown is a conspiracy theory developer Assassin’s Creed Video games, I want cool things to be real too. I want a flashy showdown in Vatican City between angels and demons (And foreigners). But good and evil don’t work that way in real life. Even if you dress the “good guys” in elaborate headdresses, they are still fallible old men – 51% good on a good day.
Evil does not dwell in the grave and will come against you with flaming swords. It would be nice if a pope could call on the power of his great friend God to smite those who need smacking, but despite the hats, wands and symbolic authority, the best a pope can do is open some old doors in the papacy. Palace and perhaps we are trying to get people to think about the plight of prisoners.
