What People Get Wrong This Week: the Pope Opens Lucifer’s Tomb
Inspired by a New York Post article that Pope Francis will open “five sacred portals” this Christmas, the silliest corners of the social media world are breathlessly sharing warnings that the Pope plans to open the “Tomb of Lucifer,” or the Tomb of the Devil . this holiday season.
The TikTok video below from GraceXDigital has been viewed over 2 million times and explains the whole conspiracy theory. Grace asks Dad important questions like, “Why are you doing this this year, in this economy?”
Although the Pope is opening five portals to close 2024, I regret to inform you that His Holiness has no plans to open the Tomb of Lucifer – nothing that amazing ever happens. There is a tomb of Lucifer under the Vatican, but it is not as cool as we would like. Everything in this story is not as cool as we would like.
What are these portals that the Pope opens?
In fact, this year the Pope is going to open five sacred portals as part of a ritual, but “portal” just means “door”, and four of the five doors lead to well-known basilicas. Despite what some internet weirdos say, this isn’t the first time this has happened: the ritual takes place every 25 years and is meant to mark the coming of a year of “renewed hope” for Catholics. Basically, it’s the Pope who does all sorts of crap.
The only part of this story that has never happened before is that Pope Francis made his own contribution to the ritual by opening the fifth door in Rome’s Rebibbia prison on December 26th. hope and a new sense of confidence.” The opening of the door is symbolic, so prisoners will not be allowed to riot in Rome.
Tomb of Lucifer and Vatican Necropolis
One slightly cool part of the story: there is a city of the dead underneath the Vatican that contains Lucifer’s tomb, and you can visit it . The Vatican Necropolis lies 15 to 24 feet below St. Peter’s Basilica, near the site of Caligula’s Circus . Originally an open-air cemetery, the necropolis dates back to the Roman Empire and is believed to contain the remains of the Apostle Peter, as well as the skeletons of various popes and other prominent early Catholics. Also here you can find: Lucifer’s Tomb.
But this is not Lucifer , the Morning Star, the fallen angel who became the head of the demons. Lucifer’s ultimate fate is unclear. Maybe he’s still alive and subtly convincing people to cheat at 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 the abyss, frozen in ice and forced to flap his wings forever to power Hell, so I’ll go with that.) Anyway, the angelic Lucifer is not human, so he has no tomb .
According to the Vatican Necropolis map , Tomb U is labeled “Lucifer”. The Vatican says: “The entrance to the tomb was reduced due to a faulty architrave. However, you can see some niches with a characteristic red background and several arcosols.” Red background? This must be Satan. But no: the construction of this tomb preceded the association of the name “Lucifer” with the devil. We actually don’t know why it is called Lucifer’s tomb. This could be a reference to some graffiti found somewhere nearby , or a reference to an important Catholic of that name. However, this does not apply to the devil.
Why are there so many Catholic conspiracy theories anyway?
Why the Pope’s opening of some doors in the Vatican became a conspiracy theory on TikTok is a complex question. The history of American anti-Catholicism began before the United States even existed . While these deep cultural and historical biases are probably part of it, I think the main reason people engage in this kind of conspiracy thinking is more innocent: the Catholic Church is really old and really weird, and people like a little spice in their Christmas eggnog. .
People also enjoy doing puzzles, and the Catholic Church gives you plenty of pieces to play with. The Vatican is an ancient city full of tunnels, crumbling Roman ruins and a necropolis beneath the basilica. The Pope rules a city-state, can speak with the voice of God, and wears some pretty impressive hats. It’s the kind of situation where it seems like anything could happen at any moment, including the Pope digging up Satan’s grave, possibly so they can fight.
Like many conspiracy theorists, author Dan Brown and the developers of the Assassin’s Creed video games, I wish amazing things were real too. I want a flashy showdown in the Vatican between angels and demons ( and aliens ). But good and evil don’t work that way in real life. Even if you dress the “good guys” in fancy hats, they’re still fallible old men: 51% of the good guys on a good day.
Evil does not dwell in the tomb and does not attack you with flaming swords. It would be great if the Pope could call upon the power of his great friend God to smite those who need punishment, but despite the hats, scepters and symbolic power, the best the Pope can do is throw open a few old doors in the papal home. palace and perhaps try to make people think about the plight of the prisoners.