The Role of the Papacy

As I have mentioned and made a few posts about previously, the Catholic Church has a new Holy Father. This raises some important questions about the role of the papacy, the basis for it, and how it applies to the lives of Catholics throughout the world.

First of all it is important to look at the basis for why we have a pope. We here the pope spoken of as the “successor of St. Peter.” But what does that really mean? How did Peter come to be the first pope, and how is Pope Francis, the current pope, his successor?

The answer to the first of these questions is found in Scripture. In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asks the Apostles, “Who do men say that I am?” The disciples answered that some said He was John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other great prophets of the Jewish tradition, returned from the dead. Jesus then asks them, “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” (Italics added for emphasis). Now, none of the Gospel accounts of this exchange actually say this, but I imagine that the Apostles all stopped and probably looked around at each other nervously. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, even though these men all lived with Jesus, travelled with Him, were with Him constantly, they never truly understood all that He was saying. It took the fulfillment of His earthly mission, through His death and Resurrection, for them to fully grasp the answer to this question of who Jesus really was. So it must have been a difficult moment, being put on the spot like that. Finally, one man, Simon, spoke up and said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This is why keys are a major symbol of the papacy. In this passage, Jesus appoints Peter as the head of His church, vesting him with the responsibility to be the earthly leader of all of Christ’s followers.

Other passages of Scripture serve to further explain the role of the pope in the Church. The first instance of this is actually when Jesus calls Simon Peter to follow Him. He says, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).  Peter had, of course, been a fisherman by trade before he was called to be a follower of Christ. The pope, as head of the Church, must always be looking for new ways to spread the Gospel message. This is the call of all members of the Church, but the Holy Father hears this call in a special way. It is his example that the rest of the Church follows.

One other passage I would like to speak about comes in John’s Gospel, 21:1-19. It is one of the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. Seven of the disciples, among them Peter, went fishing. They were out all night, but caught nothing. At dawn, Jesus came to them on the seashore, and asked if they had caught anything. He then ordered them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and upon doing so, they caught a multitude of fish. Peter then realized that it was Jesus who was speaking to them, and he then jumped into the sea and swam to the shore, so great was his joy at seeing Jesus again. The disciples then cooked breakfast out of the fish they caught. After breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside, and asks him three times, “Do you love me?” Peter, of course, answers yes. It was a greatly troubling question for Peter, as it reminded him of how, on the night Jesus was arrested, Peter had three times denied even knowing Jesus. However, each time Peter answered that he loved Jesus, Jesus gave him an order. “Feed my lambs.” “Feed my sheep.” This command reaffirmed for Peter that he was to be the spiritual leader of all the followers of Christ, that he would be the one looked to for guidance and spiritual nourishment. To this day, Catholics continue to listen closely to the words of the Holy Father, as his teaching helps us to understand all that Christ taught us, and helps us to apply that message to our daily life.

In a future post, I will talk more about how we got from Peter, our first pope, to Pope Francis, our current Holy Father. But until then, please remember to say a prayer for our Holy Father, as he has repeatedly asked.