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Good evening father,

An old crucifix we have found has a skull and crossbones behind the feet of Jesus. Is there anything to worry about?

Thanks for all your precious help, God bless you!

The answer from Father Angelo

Dear reader,

1. The place where Christ was crucified is called Calvary.

It corresponds to the Hebraic word Golgota, which can be translated as “the skull”. It was a little bulge just outside of the city walls that resembled a cranium, hence the origin of the name.

2. The Calvary was a suitable place for crucifixions, mainly for three reasons: it was outside of the city walls; it was high enough for the condemned to be plainly seen; it was near to one of the city gates where many people passed by. 

3. Jerusalem endured many transformations, especially during the II century, that caused the disappearance of the cranium bulge and the nearby city walls, as well as the moat that separated the two. However, a small portion of the Cranium was incorporated into the construction of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre which was commissioned by Emperor Constantine during the fourth century.

4.  Regarding the Cranium, here is what father Marie Joseph Lagrange, founder of the École Biblique in Jerusalem, writes: “There was a Christian tradition, even though it was not taken seriously by Saint Jerome, that saw in this name a hint to the skull of Adam; thereby the blood of the Redeemer flowed upon the first father, guilty of the first sin” (The Gospel of Jesus Christ, page 555).

Even today, those in Jerusalem who visit the place of the crucifixion can see a cave behind the Calvary where a skull is kept; it is hard to believe that it belonged to Adam, as Father Lagrange points out.

5.  Anyway, that skull under the cross you have found is a reminder that death entered the world because of sin. It also symbolizes the fact that Christ is the redeemer of sin, represented by death and the skull.

6. In conclusion, you do not have anything to worry about.

It is also possible that the skull was put there without even knowing about this tradition. In the past, the symbol of a skull was frequently used to remind us that the life of man is brief and that everybody will soon appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

I bless you and I will remember you in my prayers.

Father Angelo