Some Thoughts on the Primacy of Rome
"But who do you say that I am?" Simon
Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus
answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matt
16:15-19).
It is here that many unique things about the role of St. Peter, the
Church, and the faith of the Church are revealed. As a passage, it has many layers,
complementary of each other, and not as many people have tried to suggest, contradictory
of each other. What is "this rock" which the Lord Jesus Christ mentioned? There
have been two main interpretations of this passage in the writings of the early Church
Fathers, and both are correct, and inter-related. The first is the message of faith which
St. Peter gave, that Jesus is the Messiah. It is indeed the foundation of the Church, for
Jesus is the foundation of the Church. The Fathers who deal with this aspect of the
passage are correct in establishing this as the rock of faith, the central teaching of the
Christian faith, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. However, connected to this
kernel of truth, is the relation of the one who spoke it, and how he spoke it. The
Apostle, Simon, was asked who he would say the Jesus is. He answers truly, "You are
the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." However, it is not of his own that he was
able to say this truth, but it was with prompting. Can this be the first real Papal
statement, a demonstration of the role that St. Peter and his See shall have from then
onward, as having the task of protecting this kernel of truth? And how is St. Peter and
his See to do that? Through the example which we have been given, that of an infallible
statement-- and this role, that of producing infallible statements, has been the gift to
St. Peter and his successors, so that the gates of Hades (Hell) would not be able to
prevail against the truth. And so, the role of Papal Infallible statements, as well, can
be seen as the rock-- not only the kernel of truth displayed at this one time, but the
role of St. Peter and his successors, through divine aid, to speak infallibly when there
is the need of such a proclamation. Of course, St. Peter himself is also the rock, which
is why he is changed from the name of Simon, to that of Peter. And upon St. Peter Christ
established the Church, for it is with St. Peter that He gave the task of leading and
protecting the Apostles: Christ made St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles. St. Peter is
the one who was given the role of "feeding the sheep" the Eucharist, that is,
providing Christ to all the Church as the food which nourishes the soul.
The other key note which must be remembered about the See of Rome, is
that it is not of itself founded by just one Apostle. If it had been the seat of St.
Peter, that would be enough to give it the position of Primacy, but God has provided more
than just St. Peter for the See of Rome: God provided the great Apostle, St. Paul, as
being co-founder of the See of Rome. It is with this we are shown, if ever there were to
be any doubts, the honor which God has provided to the See. It is given not only the
Prince of the Apostles, but also the greatest missionary of the Apostles, St. Paul, and is
therefore shown its double role of protecting the faith, and that of being the center of
the Church's missionary activity (and thus, the center of the Church in its Primal
authority). It is thusly that St. Irenaeus traces the authority of Rome from both St.
Peter and St. Paul.
Since, however, it would be very tedious in such a volume as this to reckon upon the successions of all the Churches, we do put up to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [for do this I say] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostle, of the very great, and very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the succession of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolic tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere. (St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book III Chapter III).