St. Peter

    Keys and an upside-down cross symbolize St. Peter, the first disciple to confess that Jesus was the Christ, the One anointed by God to save his people.  When Peter said, “You are the Christ,” Jesus told him that his church would be built on the rock of his confession (he name Peter — petros — means “rock” in Greek).  Peter was the first leader of the Christian community, so he was said to hold the keys to the kingdom of God.  Many years later, he was arrested and sentenced to death.  Tradition holds that he asked to be executed upside-down because he didn’t deserve to die the same way Jesus did.