Inspired by a New York Post story over Pope Francis’ opening of “five holy portals” at Christmas, the crazier corners of the social media world are breathlessly spreading warnings that the pope is planning to open the “tomb of Lucifer.” Devil’s grave this holiday season.
The TikTok video below from GraceXDigital, has been viewed more than 2 million times and explains the entire conspiracy theory. Grace asks the Pope important questions, such as: “Why are you doing this this year?” The Business?”
While the Pope Is I regret to inform you that His Holiness has no plans to open Lucifer’s tomb – such a great thing never happens. There Is a tomb of Lucifer under the Vatican, but it’s not as cool as you’d hope. Nothing in this story isn’t as cool as you’d hope.
Which portals does the Pope open?
In fact, the pope will open five sacred portals as part of a ritual this year, but “portal” just means “door” and four of the five doors lead to well-known basilicas. Despite what some internet geeks say, It’s not the first time this has happened either: the ritual takes place every 25 years and is intended to herald a year of “renewed hope” for Catholics. So basically it’s the Pope doing papal trash.
The only unprecedented part of the story is that Pope Francis is putting his own twist on the ritual by opening a fifth door in the Roman prison of Rebibbia on December 26th. It is intended to give prisoners a sign with which they can “look into the future” with hope and a new feeling of confidence. The opening of the door is symbolic so that the prisoners will not be released to walk around Rome.
The Tomb of Lucifer and the Vatican Necropolis
The only slightly cool part of the story: There is a city of the dead under the Vatican that has a tomb of Lucifer, and You can visit it. The Vatican Necropolis lies 15 to 24 feet below St. Peter’s Basilica, near the site Caligula’s Circus. Originally an open-air cemetery, the necropolis dates back to the Roman Empire and is said to contain the remains of the Apostle Peter as well as the skeletons of various popes and other prominent early Catholics. Also found here: the grave of Lucifer.
But that’s not it The 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 to fuel Hell for all eternity, so I’ll stick with that.) In any case, the angelic Lucifer isn’t a person, so he has no grave.
Accordingly the map of the Vatican necropolis, Grave U bears the inscription “Lucifer”. The Vatican says: “The entrance to the tomb was reduced in size due to an error in the architrave. However, it is possible to recognize some of the niches with their characteristic red background and several arcosoli.” Red backgrounds? It must be Satan. But no: the construction of this tomb dates back to the time when the name “Lucifer” was associated with the devil. We actually don’t know why it’s called the Tomb of Lucifer. It could be a reference to some graffiti found thereor a reference to an important Catholic by that name. However, it does not refer to the devil.
Why are there so many Catholic conspiracy theories?
Why the Pope opening some doors in Vatican City became a conspiracy theory on TikTok is a complex question. America’s history of anti-Catholicism stretches back 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 rather harmless: the Catholic Church is really old and really weird, and people like a little spice in their Christmas eggnog.
People also like to put together puzzles, and the Catholic Church gives you one much of pieces to play. The Vatican is an ancient city filled with tunnels, crumbling Roman ruins, and a necropolis beneath a basilica. The Pope controls a city-state, can speak with and carries the voice of God very impressive hats. It’s the kind of situation where it seems like anything could happen at any time, including the Pope digging up Satan’s grave, perhaps so they can fight.
Like many conspiracy theorists, author Dan Brown and the developers of the Assassin’s Creed When it comes to video games, I want the great things to be real. I want a flashy showdown between angels and demons in Vatican City (and aliens). But in real life, good and evil don’t work that way. Even if you put the “good guys” in elaborate headgear, they’re still fallible old men – on a good day, they’re 51% good.
Evil does not live in a grave or attack you with flaming swords. It would be cool if the Pope could draw on the power of his great friend God to strike those who need to be struck, but despite the hats, scepters and symbolic authority, the best the Pope can do is open some old doors in the Papacy Palace and perhaps try to get people to think about the plight of the prisoners.
