The Church believes that Peter was the first pope
and that his office was given to him by Christ Himself as we hear in today’s
Gospel. “You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church . . . To you I
give the keys to the Kingdom.”
From the very early Church the understanding that
the Bishop of Rome was Peter’s successor is quite evident as we can see in the
writings of the Church Fathers.
Ambrose of Milan
"[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon
this rock will I build my Church. . . .’ Could he not, then, strengthen the
faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom,
whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the
Church [Matt. 16:18]?" (The Faith 4:5 [A.D. 379]).
Pope Damasus I
"Likewise it is decreed . . . that it ought to
be announced that . . . the holy Roman Church has been placed at the forefront
not by the conciliar decisions of other churches, but has received the primacy
by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: ‘You are Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven . . . ’
[Matt. 16:18–19]. The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the apostle, that
of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like
it" (Decree of Damasus 3 [A.D. 382]).
From an even earlier text of St. Irenaeus:
"But since it would be too long to enumerate in
such a volume as this the succession of all the churches, we shall confound all
those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory,
or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is
proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and
most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most
glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the
faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles.
With that church (Rome), because of its superior origin, all the churches must
agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world, and it is in her that the
faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition" (Against
Heresies 3:3:2 [A.D. 189]).
I give you these three quotes as reference sources
to the great teaching we have, that Peter and his successors have been
entrusted with looking after the Church and steering her in the right path
towards Jesus.
The office of pope, however, is not just an office
based on authority, but one of service, as John Paul the Great would often
refer to himself in his office as a, “Servant of servants.” Pope Francis has taken up that motto in his
own pontificate, making himself available to as many as possible. He knows and understands that he is a son of the Church
and that with his office comes great responsibility, preaching, governing,
sanctifying, but he must also serve as did John Paul the Great and St. Peter and
to do so with his whole life as his example, which will be his greatest
preaching.
Pray for Pope Francis as he now holds the keys to
the kingdom, and I am sure those keys are quite heavy sometimes, but with our
prayers they will be a little lighter, lighter so that he can serve and serve
well. God bless you, FJ
Quotes are from Catholic Answers
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