According to an ancient Christian tradition, St Peter met the risen Christ on the Appian Way while fleeing persecution. Peter asked, “Domine, quo vadis?”—“Lord, where are you going?” A marble slab associated with Christ’s footprints is preserved at the Basilica of St Sebastian Outside the Walls.
What does “Quo Vadis” mean?
Quo vadis? is Latin for “Where are you going?” The phrase comes from the traditional encounter between Christ and St Peter outside Rome.
Peter, fearing martyrdom, was leaving the city. When he saw Christ, he asked where the Lord was going. Christ’s answer indicated that He was going to Rome to be crucified again. Peter understood this as a call to return and remain faithful to his own vocation.
Did the Quo Vadis meeting appear in the Bible?
The episode is not narrated in the canonical books of the New Testament. It belongs to early Christian tradition and is associated with the apocryphal Acts of Peter.
Catholics can value the spiritual meaning of such a tradition without confusing it with Scripture or treating every narrative detail as historically proven. Its message is thoroughly consonant with the apostolic witness: discipleship requires fidelity to Christ, even at the cost of one’s life.
Where are the footprints of Christ?
A small church called Santa Maria in Palmis—better known as Domine Quo Vadis—stands near the traditional site of the meeting. It displays a copy of the footprint slab.
The original marble slab associated with the tradition is preserved farther along the Appian Way at the Basilica of St Sebastian Outside the Walls. The basilica consequently connects the Quo Vadis story with the martyrs, the apostles and one of Rome’s most ancient pilgrimage routes.
What do the footprints mean?
The footprints are not important merely because they are unusual. They express the direction of Christian discipleship. Peter was walking away from danger; the encounter turned him back towards his duty and, ultimately, martyrdom.
The question “Where are you going?” is therefore addressed to every pilgrim. A pilgrimage involves physical movement, but its deeper purpose is conversion: deciding whether one’s life is moving towards Christ or away from Him.
St Peter, martyrdom and the Appian Way
The Appian Way carried travellers, soldiers and merchants into Rome. Christian memory transformed it into a landscape of witness, burial and pilgrimage.
St Sebastian’s basilica and catacombs preserve several layers of this history. Their fuller relationship with Peter, Paul, the martyrs and Roman burial customs is far richer than the footprint tradition considered alone.
Visit the Quo Vadis footprints and St Sebastian
The St Sebastian Basilica with Catacombs Tour explores the basilica, its relics and its place within early Christian Rome with a practising Catholic guide.
St Sebastian is also one of Rome’s Seven Pilgrim Churches. Pilgrims wishing to encounter all seven across a coherent journey can choose the 7 Pilgrim Churches – 4-Day Rome Pilgrimage.