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21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Where Peter is, there is found the Church.

Jesus left us a Church, entrusting it to Peter and the Apostles. In changing Simon’s name to Cephas (Peter / Rock), he not only changes his name but provides him with an identity, a primacy in which, as first among equals, he sustains and leads the other Apostles. As ‘Vicar of Christ’, Peter is the ‘keeper of the Keys’ and by apostolic succession this office is continued by the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, his ‘See’ holding Primacy over the universal Church.

The ‘Acts of the Apostles’ describes the procession of the Church from Jerusalem to Rome, for if the gospel takes hold in centre of the Empire, it spreads to the world. The doctrine of Papal Primacy took time to develop fully and has faced opposition in history. There is a fine line claiming a primacy and imposing it! A Catholic (both Latin & Eastern Rite) has no problem in accepting that Peter’s successors reside in Rome and no other city. Being the place of Peter and Paul’s martyrdom, their burial sites quickly gain a reputation for pilgrimage. Indeed, many other bishops travelled to Rome to consult the Pope about issues affecting the Church, the Roman Church soon gains a pre-eminence and responsibility in leading the other Churches.

Even today, when the Pope speaks, people notice, including those in the secular arena; they listen (if not agree) in a manner not afforded to any other bishop. Whether you believe the Pope maintains this primacy depends on your ecclesial politics (e.g. Anglican & Canterbury, the Orthodox, both Greek and Russian). As Catholics, we believe that the Pope, as ‘Vicar of Christ’ has full, supreme power over the Church, for where Peter is, there is found the Church!