John O’Neill - The Fisherman’s Tomb: The True Story of the Vatican’s Secret Search

As a student and professor of the Bible, I have come to love the study of archaeology. The Fishermans Tomb tells the story of the discovery of the tomb and bones of St. Peter under St. Peters Basilica, combining risky excavations, oil discoveries and cataclysmic explosions in Texas, the intrigues and adventures of World War II, petty jealousy among Vatican apparatchiks, scholarly diligence and carelessness, amazing heroism plus, above all, confirmation of the truth that Jesus made Peter the rock upon which he built his Church. What a cool book!

Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J., founder and president of Ignatius Productions, EWTN host, biblical scholar, author, and speaker

The Fishermans Tomb is a gripping archeological detective story stretching back two thousand years, a true tale of religious veneration, papal risk-taking, and scholarly feuds. Its all told in fascinating and well-documented detail by John ONeill, who reveals a behind-the-scenes American connection to the excavations that brought Saint Peters bones to light.

John Thavis, New York Times best-selling author of The Vatican Diaries and The Vatican Prophecies

This is one of Christianitys many great stories of faith, hope, and trust. Its drama and adventure and Providence, and John ONeill here gives it the kind of loving treatment it deserves, one clearly born of his own dramatic encounter with faith, hope, and trust. Inspired by the witness illuminated in The Fishermans Tomb, may every reader grow in these virtues, through Saint Peters intercession.

Kathryn Jean Lopez, senior fellow at the National Review Institute and editor-at-large, National Review, coauthor of How to Defend the Faith without Raising Your Voice

The Fishermans Tomb

The Fishermans Tomb

The True Story of the Vaticans Secret Search

John ONeill
with Sarah Wynne and Katie Clark

www.osv.com

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

Huntington, Indiana 46750

Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.

Copyright 2018 by John ONeill. Published 2018.

23 22 21 20 19 18 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

200 Noll Plaza

Huntington, IN 46750

1-800-348-2440

ISBN: 978-1-68192-140-2 (Inventory No. T1863)

eISBN: 978-1-68192-141-9

LCCN: 2017964399

Cover design: Lindsey Riesen

Cover art: Shutterstock

P RINTED IN THE U NITED S TATES OF A MERICA

About the Author

John ONeill is a lawyer and a #1 New York Times best-selling author. He has spent much of his life visiting and researching early Christian sites. He is a 1967 graduate of the Naval Academy, a former law clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and senior partner at a large international law firm.

Dedication

To Diane ONeill, without whom I could never have written this book, and to my brother Peter, whom I also found after long separation.

I wonder what sort of a tale weve fallen into.

J. R. R. TOLKIEN, The Two Towers

Contents

Foreword

Sometimes a story finds an author rather than the reverse. After writing the #1 New York Times Best Seller, Unfit for Command, in 2004, I resolved not to write again, despite numerous offers, requests, and even suggested stories.

I came to Houston in 1975 after graduating from the Naval Academy and the University of Texas School of Law, followed by a clerkship at the United States Supreme Court. For years I was deeply involved as a lawyer in representing many oil companies and pipelines, and sometimes suing them. From this I knew, of course, the near legendary stories circulating in the oil industry of the great George Strake and his unlikely discovery of the immense Conroe field near my home in Houston. I only learned the story of this secretive man, however, when his son and grandchildren became my friends. Through them and much independent research, I came to know of his largely undisclosed but immense financial support of the Catholic Church and, in particular, the special projects of Popes Pius XII and Paul VI, including the search for the grave of the Apostle Peter.

Since early childhood, I have been a student of Roman and early Christian history and archeology. My love of these subjects and a restless soul have taken me to many major archeological sites, from Christian catacombs south of Istanbul, to Crete and sites in North Africa. When I began to look into the search for Peters grave, financed by George Strake, I immediately ran into the amazing story of the great pioneer woman, archeologist Margherita Guarducci, and her epic battle over many years with a Vatican priest and archeologist, Father Antonio Ferrua. I have spent a lifetime researching massive international legal cases involving subjects as diverse as a 1988 oilfield case with the Peoples Republic of China and cases in places like Colombia, Ecuador, and Kazakhstan. Because of those experiences, I was able to track the numerous technical works written in Italian, Spanish, German, and even Latin and Greek, tied to the search for Saint Peters tomb.

Stemming from this background, I felt compelled to write a book telling the great, true story of the seventy-five-year search for Peters grave. It was only the serendipitous coincidence of my home in Houston, friendship with the Strakes, familiarity with oil exploration, love of and familiarity with Roman and Christian archeology, and a lifetime of research in complex international matters that made it possible to gather and record (with the assistance of many others, including my coauthors) the facts of this extraordinary story. I felt that, after seventy-five years, this was a story the world needed to hear.

Understanding both the facts of this story and the need to record it, I nonetheless dithered, doing little writing. Several years ago, I was suddenly diagnosed with four distinct types of cancer throat, head, back, and legs. In the course of treatment, I contracted the dreaded MRSA bacterial infection. My chances of survival were less than 5 percent. I was and am not afraid of dying, having stared death in the face many times in Vietnam and elsewhere. However, I was afraid of dying with this story untold.

My prayer and my promise was that I would survive at least long enough to record the facts of this great story that it would not die unrecorded with me. I thank my great coauthors, my wonderful friend and agent, Jeff Carneal, and many others who made this book possible. Most of all, I thank God for the time and breath to write it.