How was the Apostle Peter executed?

Answer 1

Non-Catholic Answer:

The third-century Church Father, Origen said that Peter was sentenced to crucifixion but, feeling unworthy of being crucified like Jesus, asked to be crucified upside down. An earlier tradition begun by the second-century Pope Anicetus, who wished to demonstrate that he spoke with the authority of Peter, was that Peter had been beheaded in Rome. Against these two versions of Peter's death is the testimony of Clement of Rome, writing around 95 CE (1 Clement), who spoke in general terms about the life and death of Peter but appears to have been unaware that he had even visited Rome. While Clement spoke of the 'labours' of Peter, he knew nothing of his execution.

Catholic Answer:
2000 years of Catholic Tradition have Peter crucified in Rome about the year AD65. The reason that Clement makes no mention of this fact is that the only surviving document from his reign as pope was his First Letter to the Corinthians. The purpose of the letter was to admonish the Church of Corinth for unacceptable behavior and not meant as a history of the Papacy. There are no surviving documents from the reign of Pope Anicetus so anything reported as 'factual information' from his reign must be considered as a legend or myth. Virtually nothing is known about the reign of Pope Anicetus. What is known is that he had a discussion with Saint Polycarp regarding the date the Church should celebrate Easter. Anicetus stated he spoke with the authority of Peter and Easter should be celebrated on the Sunday following Passover. Popycarp argues it should be celebrated on the anniversary date regardless of the day of the week. They agreed to disagree.

Answer 2

The third-century Church Father, Origen said that Peter was sentenced to crucifixion but, feeling unworthy of being crucified like Jesus, asked to be crucified upside down. An earlier tradition begun by the second-century Pope Anicetus, who wished to demonstrate that he spoke with the authority of Peter, was that Peter had been beheaded in Rome. Against these two versions of Peter's death is the testimony of Clement of Rome, writing around 95 CE (1 Clement), who spoke in general terms about the life and death of Peter but appears to have been unaware that he had even visited Rome just a few decades earlier. While Clement spoke of the 'labours' of Peter, he knew nothing of his execution.