Hollywood Spectacle Masquerades as Sacred Archaeology in Vatican’s St. Peter Documentary
VaticanNews portal (December 5, 2025) announces a documentary produced by Vatican Media, the Fabric of St. Peter, and AF Films, featuring actor Chris Pratt as guide to the Vatican Necropolis. The film claims to reveal the tomb and relics of St. Peter, citing the 1950 declaration of Pius XII and 1968 statement of Paul VI as authentication. Framed as a “journey through faith, history, and archaeology,” it will release in 2026 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the current St. Peter’s Basilica (1626). Pratt calls it an “extraordinary honor” to collaborate with “Pope Leo” and the Vatican.
Desacralizing the Apostolic Deposit Through Archaeological Showmanship
The documentary reduces the Petrine primacy (Tu es Petrus, Matthew 16:18) to a theatrical spectacle curated by Hollywood entertainers. The article’s claim that “St. Peter’s story is foundational to the Christian faith” is rendered incoherent by its methodology: substituting divine revelation with forensic archaeology. Pope Pius XII’s 1950 announcement about the tomb’s discovery was immediately contested by archaeologists like Margherita Guarducci, who demonstrated that the bone fragments labeled as Peter’s were suspiciously deposited in a graffiti-covered wall centuries after his martyrdom. As the Syllabus of Errors condemns those who “place the decrees of the Apostolic See… in opposition to the progress of science” (Prop. 12), this documentary exemplifies the conciliar sect’s obsession with subjecting sacred mysteries to empirical verification.
“The relics of Peter have been identified in a way that we can consider convincing…”
Paul VI’s 1968 statement – quoted reverentially – ignores the irresolvable scientific disputes surrounding the bones. The Vatican’s own 1968 publication Esame delle Ossa admitted the remains couldn’t be conclusively verified. Yet the documentary presents this as settled fact, demonstrating the neo-church’s modus operandi: replace fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding) with scientismum quaerens spectaculum (scientism seeking spectacle).
Sacrilegious Syncretism of Hollywood and Vatican Media
Chris Pratt – an actor promoting evolutionary naturalism in films like Jurassic World – embodies the conciliar church’s embrace of antichristian culture. His statement about partnering with “Pope Leo” (the antipope Robert Prevost) confirms the project’s spiritual bankruptcy. The Syllabus condemns the idea that “the Roman Pontiff can reconcile himself with progress, liberalism, and modern civilization” (Prop. 80). By enlisting Pratt, the Vatican Media apparatus commits three mortal errors:
- Equating sanctity with celebrity: Pratt’s involvement trivializes the Apostle’s martyrdom into entertainment, violating St. Paul’s warning against “the wisdom of this world” (1 Corinthians 1:20).
- Sacramental sabotage: The necropolis – where early Christians venerated Peter’s grave as an altare sub terra (altar beneath the earth) – is reduced to a film set. This desecrates the lex orandi by treating holy sites as props for a commercial production.
- Doctrinal indifferentism: Pratt’s Mormon upbringing is conspicuously unmentioned, implying all religious traditions equally valid guides to “faith.” This fulfills Pius IX’s condemnation of those claiming “men may find the way of eternal salvation in any religion” (Syllabus, Prop. 16).
Theological Atrophy Beneath Archaeological Pageantry
The documentary’s fixation on Peter’s bones exposes the conciliar sect’s eucharistic amnesia. While lavishing attention on disputed relics, it ignores the true Corpus Christi present in every valid Mass. As Pius XI taught in Quas Primas, Christ’s kingship demands “the entire human race” to submit to His authority – not scatter devotion to archaeological fragments. The film’s promotional language (“fascinating journey through faith, history, archaeology”) prioritizes intellectual curiosity over the sensus fidei, contradicting Pius X’s condemnation of modernists who treat doctrine as “symbolic representations of religious experience” (Lamentabili Sane, Prop. 22).
Moreover, the 2026 release date – commemorating the Basilica’s 1626 dedication – masks a grim irony: the current structure overseen by antipopes houses a Novus Ordo altar where Bergoglio performed Pachamama rituals. To speak of Peter’s legacy while permitting idolatry in his basilica fulfills Christ’s warning about “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27).
Subverting Eschatology With Historical Positivism
By framing Peter’s primacy as an archaeological puzzle, the documentary attacks the Church’s divine constitution. Christ didn’t say “upon this bone I will build my Church,” but “upon this rock” (super hanc petram) – the petra being Peter’s faith and office. The film’s director, Paula Ortiz, brings her secular filmography (including adaptations of pagan myths) to a project that should require pietas and doctrinal rigor. This aligns with the modernist heresy condemned in Lamentabili Sane: that “truth changes with man, because it develops with him” (Prop. 58).
Ultimately, the documentary continues the conciliar sect’s war against Romanitas. It distracts from the Vatican’s occupation by antipopes by creating a pseudo-historical narrative where the Church’s authority derives from bone fragments rather than divine mandate. As true Catholics recognize, the gates of hell have prevailed against the Vatican bureaucrats – but not against the Ecclesia Dei preserved in catacombs of fidelity.
Source:
Chris Pratt to present new documentary about St Peter's tomb (vaticannews.va)
Date: 05.12.2025