St Peter weeping

St Peter is an apostle and the first Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He is a former fisherman called Simon. For a long time he fished together with his brother Andrew. Peter met Jesus at the River Jordan, where he came to listen to St John the Baptist’s preaching. It is here that Jesus called him a rock (Petros in Greek) and invited him to become his disciple. The symbolic meaning of the name is revealed by the words of Jesus that Peter would be the rock upon which Jesus would build his church. All the Gospels state that Peter betrayed Jesus three times. During the time of persecution of Christians, Peter decided to escape from Rome, but after meeting Jesus, he returned. He died as a martyr. He was crucified upside down, because due to his betrayal of Jesus he saw himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus.