From early in the Middle Ages, the martyrdom of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was marked on June 29. In 1772, when the days of the Apostles were eliminated from the calendar of the Kingdom of Sweden (which at the time included present-day Finland), the Church stopped marking a separate feast day for the Saints Peter and Paul.
According to the New Testament, St Peter was the leader of the Apostles. Christ himself had said to him, ‘You are Peter (the rock) and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ Peter was the first Bishop of the Congregation in Rome. Saints Peter and Paul, also called Princes of the Apostles, are thought to have been killed in 67 AD during the persecutions of the Emperor Nero in Rome. St Peter was crucified head down and Paul was beheaded by sword. They are buried in Rome’s biggest churches.
The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul is one of the 24 most important liturgical feasts in the Catholic Church.
In the Evangelical-Lutheran Church Peter and Paul are remembered on the Day of the Apostles (the sixth Sunday after Pentecost), when all Apostles are celebrated.
