biography
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Peter, St
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originally Simon or Simeon bar Jona (‘son of Jona’)
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| biography:
| One of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, at first a fisherman living in Capernaum. He was renamed by Jesus as Cephas (Peter, meaning ‘rock’) in view of his leadership amongst the disciples. In the Gospels he is often the spokesman for the other disciples, and leader of the inner group which accompanied Jesus at the Transfiguration and Gethsemane. Immediately after Jesus's resurrection and ascension, Peter appears also as the leader of the Christian community in Jerusalem. Later he may have engaged in missionary work outside Palestine, certainly visiting Antioch, but little is directly known of these activities. Tradition says that he was executed with his head downward in Rome (c.64). His presence in Rome is uncertain, but he is regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as the first Bishop of Rome. Two New Testament letters bear his name, but the authenticity of both is often disputed. Other apocryphal writings also exist in his name, such as the Acts of Peter and the Apocalypse of Peter. Feast day 29 June. |
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