EWTN Vatican Journalist Magdalena Wolinska Riedi explores the tombs of three remarkable women inside Saint Peter's Basilica. Their unwavering faith and loyalty to the papacy earned them the rare honor of being commemorated in one of Christianity's most significant churches, among the multitude of saints and popes.

Within the silence of the majestic Vatican Basilica, amid the resting places of nearly a hundred popes, lie the burial places of three distinguished women: Queen Matilda of Tuscany, Queen Christina of Sweden, and Maria Clementina Sobieska Stuart. Their steadfast faith and dedication to the Church led to their magnificent funerary monuments within this sacred space.

Queen Matilda of Tuscany, one of the most influential women of the 11th century, dedicated her life to the struggle between the Church and the state. Expert Church historian Patrizia Sestili remarks, "Matilda of Tuscany was a very important woman who made the Roman Emperor Henry IV kneel and submit to the power of the Church during those turbulent years of conflict between the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church."

Five hundred years after her death, Pope Urban VIII ordered her remains to be brought to Rome, and a monument inside St. Peter's Basilica was dedicated to her. The statue of the queen, holding the scepter of command in her right hand and the papal tiara in the other, stands above the sarcophagus containing her remains.

Queen Christina of Sweden, the second woman honored with a memorial inside the Basilica, lies in the papal crypt next to the tomb of Benedict XVI. Following scandals over her refusal to marry and her conversion to Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation, Queen Christina abdicated the throne to her cousin and settled in Rome. Her actions symbolized the intellectual freedom of women and marked a significant victory for the Church.

"Sweden is a Protestant nation, and by converting to Catholicism," Sestili explains, "Christina was forced to abdicate and leave her homeland. She came to Rome, where she was received with full honors and devoted the rest of her life to studies and politics."

The third woman honored with a memorial inside the Basilica is Maria Klementyna Sobieska. The granddaughter of Polish King John III, she married James Edward Stuart, the last Catholic pretender to the English and Scottish throne, placing her at the heart of the struggle for the English throne between Catholics and Protestants.

Pope Clement XI, who recognized the couple as the rightful king and queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, granted them asylum in Rome. Maria Klementyna's remains rest in a small tomb on the staircase descending from the roof of the Basilica.

"She is called the Queen of England, although she never ruled over England. Instead," Sestili continues, "she lived in Rome, in the Square of the Holy Apostles, together with her husband. While her heart was kept in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles, her body was laid to rest here in St. Peter's Basilica."

Although they have no memorials inside the Basilica, the remains of three more women are kept in the crypt below it: those of St. Petronilla, noblewoman Agnesina Colonna Caetani, and Queen Charlotte of Cyprus.

Vatican guide Jowita Ludwikiewicz reflects, "These were exceptional women. They lived in different periods of time, but they were all very strong, very bright, very powerful women who were not afraid to show their intelligence. And they did that fighting for the benefit of the Catholic Church and the Catholic faith."

Adapted by Jacob Stein