Island Notes - Peter Barratt
Absentis - St Peter, the disputed site of his burial place and the apostolic succession
By Peter Barratt
Apr 17, 2014 - 2:02:16 PM


Absentis (a Latin word for ‘not there’) is a newly published book that explores the subject of where St Peter died and was buried. It is commonly believed by Catholics and most Protestants that the saint was martyred and buried in Rome.  This enquiry takes a contrarian view and asserts that is highly doubtful St Peter was ever in Rome despite the insistent traditional belief that he died and was buried there. Despite this contention the author points out (on the back cover blurb) that the book is not an attempt to take the ‘Rome’ out of Roman Catholicism. ‘Catholic’ means world-wide and the universal Church certainly does not need to take its name from an Italian city to maintain its pre-eminence in the Christian world.  What is very important however is to research the facts of the matter and see where they lead.

Contrary to popular belief a substantial body of evidence supports the view that St Peter was never in Rome. It is no exaggeration to say that through the ages many millions of people – pilgrims mostly – have visited Rome because of its association with St Peter. The consequences of misleading so many people is immense and will almost certainly be denied outright or nuanced to the point where the proposition is declared in serious error. However it should be made clear, it is not the intention of Absentis to disillusion anybody…just to correct a serious misconception and a major historical error. 

The book is available at Amazon and local bookstores

Peter Barratt is an architect/town planner who was formerly in charge of the development of Freeport. He writes with first-hand knowledge of the Bahamas having first visited the country in 1960. Because of his long experience in the islands he has been able to record many interesting insights, observations and historic moments that readers should find intriguing. He has published several books about the island nation: Grand Bahama, Freeport Notebook and Bahama Saga, (the latter a historical novel about the islands). He has also written a full colour work entitled: Angelic Verses and two other works are near publication: The Port at War and St Peter Was Never There .

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of TheBahamasWeekly.com