Episode 17: Is the Pope the Head of the Church?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church the Pope is “The successor of St. Peter as Bishop of Rome and Pontiff of the universal Catholic Church. The pope exercises a primacy of authority as Vicar of Christ and shepherd of the whole Church; he receives the divine assistance promised by Christ to the Church when he defines infallibly a doctrine of faith or morals.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Papacy: “The supreme jurisdiction and ministry of the pope as shepherd of the Whole Church. As successor of St. Peter, and therefore Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Christ, the pope is the perpetual and visible principle of unity in faith and communion in the Church.”

CCC 881 states, “The Lord made Simon alone, whom he called Peter, the ‘rock’ of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the Whole flock (Mt 16:18-19; Jn 21:15-17). ‘The office of the binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head.’ (Lumen Gentium* 22) This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.”

CCC 882 states, “The Pope Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, ‘is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.’ (Lumen Gentium 23) ‘For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.’ (Lumen Gentium 22; cf. Christus Dominus** 2, 9)”

* Lumen Gentium is a document of Vatican II, November 21, 1964, which defines the nature and mission of the Catholic Church.

** Christus Dominus is the Vatican II Council “Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops,” October 28, 1965.

Summary of Catholic Position on the Pope

The Papacy is the supreme office of the Church, the Pope, being that Office holder. He is the Vicar of Christ.
Jesus appointed Peter as Pope and pastor of the entire Church (Matt. 16:18-19; John 21:15-17)
The Bishop of Rome is Peter’s successor and visible source of unity of the bishops and of the entire Church.
The bishops, who are successors of the apostles, and the entire priesthood receive the binding and loosing office from Peter.
The pope, as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church. This means he has the right and authority to “infallibly” define Church doctrine of faith and morals.

Defense of the Primacy of Peter

By James A. Corbett from The Papacy: A Brief History

The Primacy of Peter. The first and best source of our knowledge about the origin of the papacy is, of course, the New Testament. From it we learn that the first pope was Peter, a fisherman from Bethsaida on the left bank of the Jordan. Until he met Christ, he was called Simon, son of Jona. It was his brother Andrew who brought Simon to Christ. At this very first meeting Christ gave Simon a new name, one full of meaning for the role he was chosen to play. He renamed him Cepha, the Aramaic word for rock. The Greek word for rock is petros, whence the English Peter. The reason for giving him a new name was only made clear on another occasion before the Crucifixion when Christ said to Peter: “Thou art Peter, and it is upon this rock that I shall build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” In these simple but momentous words Christ singles out Peter from all the others to be the head of the Church and to have supreme power over it after Christ should have left them. The appointment was confirmed on His third appearance to the disciples after the Resurrection. Then He asked Peter three times whether he loved Him more than the other disciples. To Peter’s affirmative answers Christ replied: “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.” Peter, then was entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of teaching and caring for the whole body of the faith. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John never doubted the primacy which had been given to Peter: when naming the Apostles they always name Peter first.

Peter himself had no doubt of it. As the Apostles assembled in Jerusalem after the Ascension, it was Peter who presided at the election of Matthias to replace Judas. Ten days later when at Pentecost the Apostles received the gift of tongues, it was again Peter who explained to the astounded crowds how Christ had fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament about Him. It was Peter who, first of all the Apostles, performed a miracle by restoring a lame man to health, and who told the rulers and elders of Jerusalem by what power he had cured the cripple. It was Peter to whom the vision was given which explained that Christianity was to be for the Gentiles also, and who answered those insisting that the Gentiles be circumcised. “There was much disputing over it until Peter rose and said to them: Brethren, you know well enough how from early days it has been God’s choice that the Gentiles should hear the message of the Gospel from the lips and so learn to believe.”

After a number of years of preaching in the Near East, Peter went to Rome and was martyred there. These two historical facts are no longer seriously questioned by historians of the early Church. There is still, however, strong disagreement as to whether the supreme jurisdiction entrusted by Christ to Peter devolved upon his successors, the bishops of Rome.

The Church teaches, and it has always taught, that the primacy of Peter is held by all the successors of Peter. The popes, like Peter, are the vicars of Christ. Christ founded the Church and remains its true, though invisible, head. The popes, as successors of Peter, are the visible heads of the Church in this world and have the same powers and duties which Christ gave to Peter: to preserve intact the original deposit of faith entrusted to the Apostles by Christ, to teach it with authority and without error to all nations, to be the center of unity with supreme jurisdiction over the Church.

This teaching has been and remains a great stumbling block for those outside the Church. It has led historians to interpretations that differ all the way from complete acceptance to complete rejection. This does not mean that the methods of historical research are faulty, but rather that every historian has a philosophy or theology which will influence his interpretations of the documents he studies.

The Historian is limited in his search for the truth not only by the great loss and destruction of documents of other ages, but by the nature of historical knowledge, its methods and limitations. History is not the only way of knowing. The philosopher and the theologian use different methods to discover truths of a different and even higher order. Their conclusions do not contradict the truths learned by the historian; rather, they complete them and give us a richer and deeper understanding of reality.

The documents which have survived indicate an almost universal acceptance in the early Church of a belief that the Bishop of Rome actually possessed supreme authority. They indicate the continuing presence of a strong tradition in favor of the primacy of Rome.

Actually, the successors of Peter did not claim a primacy, they exercised it. Before the end of the first century, Pope Clement I, who had known Peter and Paul, intervened with gentle firmness in a schism in the church of Corinth: “If some shall disobey the words which have been spoken by Him through us,” Clement writes, “Let them know, that they will involve themselves in no small transgression.” Although St. John the Apostle was still living at Ephesus and there were other bishops closer to Corinth, it was the Bishop of Rome who exercised the right to settle the dispute. Corinth recognized the right of Rome to intervene by accepting the decision.

The letter of Bishop Ignatius of Antioch, which he wrote to the Roman church in 107 while on his way to Rome to be martyred, indicates the special position this eastern bishop recognized Rome as possessing: “Never have you envied anyone. You have been others’ teachers. I trust that what you have taught and prescribed to others may now be applied to yourselves.”

The pre-eminence of Rome is seen again in the book of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Against Heretics, written towards the end of the second century. In this, desiring to offer a simple means of learning with security what is the true tradition of Christian belief, Irenaeus refers his reader to the tradition of the Bishop of Rome, whose succession from Peter and Paul, he says, all men know. He adds a further reason for the security of the Roman tradition: “With this church, on account of its greater authority, every church must agree.”

When the churches of Asia were in disagreement as to the proper time to celebrate Easter, about the year 190, Pope Victor did not hesitate to intervene and to excommunicate those churches that refused to follow the Roman custom. There was a great controversy and Victor’s severity was blamed. But no one questioned his right to act. Later, in 260, Pope Dionysius condemned the bishop of the great and ancient see of Alexandria in Egypt, and Alexandria accepted the decision.

In this same third century, Cyprian, the Roman lawyer who after his conversion became Bishop of Carthage, was no doubt an independent-minded bishop, yet he recognized Rome as the center of unity of faith. Although he disagreed with Pope Stephen on the question of rebaptizing converts from heresy, he saw clearly the true position of the pope in the Church.

These examples bring out the traditional teaching of the Church and show that even in the early times there was a widespread acceptance of the special, though undefined, position of the Bishop of Rome. The many visits of outstanding Christian leaders to Rome from all over the empire, and numerous letters of Popes, condemning heresy and correcting discipline, indicate the prestige that the papacy enjoyed. Its prominence was recognized, not because the popes of the early centuries had great personal merits comparable to those of Cyprian, an Ambrose, or an Augustine, but because the see of Rome, no matter who held it, was founded by Peter to whom the keys had been entrusted. To be sure, the jurisdiction of the popes was not exercised as often as in later centuries, but exercised it was, even though the Church was outlawed and its heads lived in the very city of the emperors who were determined to destroy Christianity altogether.

The history of the popes of the first three centuries is not well known. Often forced to live in hiding, they were hunted down and martyred like other members of the Church. We have few documents which relate their lives and deeds—only occasional glimpses, sometimes only their names; but always they are acting like men conscious of their supreme authority. The see of Rome is the only one for which we have a complete list of names of the bishops. (James A. Corbett [professor of history, University of Notre Dame], The Papacy: A Brief History, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. Princeton, New Jersey, 1956. Pages 9-13).

Quick Points

There is no question that St. Peter had a special place among the Apostles.
- Along with James and John, he witnessed the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:51), the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1), and was brought with Jesus to Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37).
- Peter has the most private conversations with Jesus.
- Paul calls Peter, along with James and John, pillars of the Church (Galatians 2:9).
There is no question that Bishop of Rome has had a special significance in church history, including the recognition of papal supremacy from many early and throughout history.
But, does Scripture teach that Jesus gave Peter and all his successors supremacy over the Church on earth?
Has the entire church unanimously believed the Pope to have supremacy over the Church?
Does Scripture give the pope authority to establish or even change doctrine?

Relevant Biblical Texts

ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ Σίμων Πέτρος εἶπεν· Σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος. 17 ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Μακάριος εἶ, Σίμων Βαριωνᾶ, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψέν σοι ἀλλ’ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· 18 κἀγὼ δέ σοι λέγω ὅτι σὺ εἶ Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς· 19 δώσω σοι τὰς κλεῖδας τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ὃ [n]ἐὰν δήσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ὃ [o]ἐὰν λύσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 16:16-20
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:16-20
- Jesus calls Simon, Peter, which sounds like the Greek for rock. He then says, “on this rock I will build My Church.” Is Jesus saying the Church is built on Peter or on the confession, which Peter just made? Consider how the Lord is called a Rock throughout the Old Testament. Consider also how Jesus finishes the sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-27). The one who hears Jesus’ Words and does them is like a man who builds his house on a rock.
- Jesus uses the singular form of you σοι, whoever, later He repeats almost the exact same words and addresses all the Apostles, using the plural form of you, ὑμῖν.
  - ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅσα ^[^q^]ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένα ^[^r^]ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν λύσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένα ^[^s^]ἐν οὐρανῷ.
  - Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[^f^] in heaven. Matt. 18:18
Power and Primacy of the Pope by Philip Melanchthon:
- They cite against us certain passages, namely, [Matthew 16:18-19,] “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.” Also, “I will give you the keys.” Also, [John 21:15,] “Feed My lambs,” and some others. … In all these passages, Peter is representative of the entire assembly of apostles, as appears from the text itself. Christ does not ask Peter alone, when He says, “Who do you say that I am? [Matt. 16:15]. What is said here to Peter alone in the singular number, “I will give you [singular] the keys; and whatever you [singular] bind” [16:19], is elsewhere expressed in the plural [e.g., Matthew 18:18,] “Whatever you [plural] bind”; [John 20:23,] “if you [plural] forgive the sins of anyone”). These words show that the Keys are given to all the apostles alike and that all the apostles are sent forth alike.
  In addition, it must be recognized that the keys belong not to the person of one particular man, but to the Church. Many most clear and firm arguments show this. For Christ, speaking about the keys, adds, for example, “If two of you agree on earth” (Matthew 18:19). Therefore, He grants the Keys first and directly to the Church. This is why it is first the Church that has the right of calling. For just as the promise of the Gospel belongs certainly and immediately to the entire Church, so the Keys belong immediately to the entire Church, because the Keys are nothing else than the office whereby this promise is communicated to every one who desires it, just as it is actually manifested that the Church has the power to ordain ministers of the Church. And Christ speaks in these words: Whatsoever you shall bind, etc., and indicates to whom He has given the Keys, namely, to the Church: Where two or three are gathered together in My name. Likewise, Christ gives supreme and final jurisdiction to the Church when He says: Tell it unto the Church.
  Therefore, these passages demonstrate that Peter is the representative of the entire assembly of the apostles. They do not grant Peter any privilege or superiority or lordship. As for the declaration “on this rock I will build My church” [Matthew 16:18}, certainly the Church has not been built upon the authority of a man. Rather, it has been built upon the ministry of the confession Peter made, in which he proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God [Matt. 16:16]. Therefore, Christ addresses Peter as a minister, “On this Rock, that is, this ministry. Therefore, He addresses him as a minister of this office in which this confession, and doctrine is to be in operation and says: “Upon this rock,” i.e., this preaching and preaching office. PPP 22-25.

Did the Ancient Church Agree that the Pope was the Head of the Church?

Origen (d. 253): And also the saying, “Upon this rock I will build My church”? Are the keys of the kingdom of heaven given by the Lord to Peter only, and will no other of the blessed receive them? But if this promise, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, “ be common to the others, how shall not all the things previously spoken of, and the things which are subjoined as have been addressed to Peter, be common to them? For in this place these words seem to be addressed to Peter only, “Whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,” etc; but in the Gospel of John the Saviour having given the Holy Spirit unto the disciples by breathing upon them said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit,” etc. … And if anyone says this (namely, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”) to Him, not by flesh and blood revealing it unto Him but through the Father in heaven, he will obtain the things that were spoken according to the letter of the Gospel to that Peter, but, as the spirit of the Gospel teaches, to everyone who becomes such as Peter was. For all bear the surname of “rock” who are imitators of Christ, that is, of the spiritual rock…” Origen’s Commentary on Matthew 11. ANF 9:456.
Cyprian (d. 258): And although to all the apostles, after His resurrection, He gives an equal power, and says, “As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto him; and whose soever sins ye retain, they shall be retained;” yet, that He might set forth unity, He arranged by His authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one. Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honor and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity.” ANF 5:422.
Chrysostom (347-407): “Upon this rock,” not upon Peter. For He built His Church not upon man, but upon the faith of Peter. But what was his faith? “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Hilary (d. 367): The Father revealed to Peter that he should say, “You are the Son of the living God” [Matthew 16:17}. Therefore, the building of the Church is upon this rock of confession. This faith is the foundation of the Church.
Pope Gregory (590-604) OBJECTED TO BEING CALLED NIVERSAL BISHOP (Gregory I, Epistles, bk. VIII, no. 30, to Eulogius, bishop of Alexandria (NPNF, ser. 2, 12:241))
- “you address me saying, As you have commanded. This word, command, I beg you to remove from my hearing, since I know who I am, and who you are. For in position you are my brethren, in character my fathers. I did not, then, command, but was desirous of indicating what seemed to be profitable. Yet I do not find that your Blessedness has been willing to remember perfectly this very thing that I brought to your recollection. For I said that neither to me nor to any one else ought you to write anything of the kind; and lo, in the preface of the epistle which you have addressed to myself who forbade it, you have thought fit to make use of a proud appellation, calling me Universal Pope. But I beg your most sweet Holiness to do this no more, since what is given to another beyond reason demands is subtracted from yourself. For as for me, I do not seek to be prospered by words but by my conduct,. Nor do I regard that as an honour whereby I know that my brethren lose their honor. For my honour is the honour of the universal Church: my honour is the solid vigour of my brethren. Then am I truly honoured when the honour due to all and each is not denied them. For if your Holiness calls me Universal Pope, you deny that you are yourself what you call me universally. But far be this from us. Away with words that inflate vanity and wound charity.
  And, indeed, in the synod of Chalcedon, and afterwards by subsequent Fathers, your Holiness knows that this was offered to my predecessors. And yet not one of them would ever use this title, that, while regarding the honour of all priests in this world, they might keep their own before Almighty God.”

Conclusion

Scripture does not say that Jesus made Peter the head of the entire Church nor does it teach that Peter’s successors receive the office of Vicar of Christ. Rather, Jesus says, whoever would be great must be a servant. The rock referred to by Christ in Matthew 16 refers to Peter’s confession, which is common to the entire Church. Jesus repeatedly gives the Power of the Keys to the entire Church, to all the disciples, and not just to Peter, even saying, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” And “Whatever two of you agree it will be done.”
The early Church by no means universally agreed that the Pope was supreme over the Church. Not even all the popes agreed to this.
The Eastern Orthodox have never acknowledged the Pope’s supremacy.
The teaching that the Pope is the head of the Church usurps the place of Christ and Holy Scripture. Christ alone is the Lord of the Church. And Scripture alone is the source of the Church’s teaching.
- the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, Ephesians 2:19-20
The teaching that the Pope is the head of the Church has lead to great danger, as many popes have been immoral and corrupt and have changed Church doctrine. This was predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2: “For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Vs. 3-4