Mange ganger i museer i Italia har jeg sett bilder av en dominikaner med ei øks i pannen, og navnet på bildet har sagt at det er av martyren Peter. I går feira jeg for første gang (etter TLM’s kalender) messen til minne om ham – for han er blitt borte i den nye liturgiske kalenderen.
Han forkynte den katolske tro og kjempet mot vranglærerne (katarene), og ble drept av sine motstandere i 1252. Slik leser vi i Wikipedia (HER kan man også lese om ham, og på norsk HER):
In 1252, because of what was said to be his virtues, severity of life and doctrine, talent for preaching, and zeal for the orthodox Catholic faith, Pope Innocent IV appointed him Inquisitor for Lombardy; he had been fighting against what the Church deemed heretics since the 1230s under Pope Gregory IX.
As his superiors destined him to preach to the Cathars, he evangelized nearly the whole of Italy, preaching in Rome, Florence, Bologna, Genoa, and Como. Crowds came to meet him and followed him; and conversions were numerous. He typically attacked Catholics who confessed the Faith by words, but in deeds denied it. The Cathars, against whom he preached, were a heretical group that adhered to elements of dualism and Manichaeism and rejected the authority of the Church and many Christian teachings.
He was killed by a group of Cathars on April 6, 1252, when returning from Como to Milan. …