For the first time in over a century, the historic Chair of St Peter, a wooden throne symbolising the pope’s magisterial authority, has been removed from its gilded bronze reliquary in St Peter’s Basilica to be displayed for public veneration.
Pilgrims and visitors can now behold this storied relic directly in front of the basilica’s main altar, just above the tomb of St Peter, where it will remain on display until Dec 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
The last major public viewing of the chair occurred in 1867, when Pope Pius IX exposed the Chair of Peter for the veneration of the faithful for 12 days on the 1,800th anniversary of the martyrdoms of St Peter and St Paul.