The Papacy

by Ty Jackson

Matthew 16:13-19

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I 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."

With these words Jesus Christ established the office of the Papacy. It is beyond the scope of this essay to address all that needs to be said when discussing this particular topic so I will instead focus on three critical areas that I hope will help to give a clearer picture of this unique institution. The areas that we will explore are:

1. Who the pope is and what he does and does not do as the universal pastor of the Church.

2. The practical reasons why the Papacy exists.

3. The scriptural basis for the Papacy.

The Pope is Vicar of Christ. He is the universal pastor of the Catholic Church. He is the Bishop of Rome. He is the Servant of the Servants of God. Pope Benedict XVI is the 265^th Pope from St. Peter. In an unbroken chain going back to Peter himself the Bishop of Rome has presided in a uniquely authoritative position within the Church, a place of primacy. He is the first among equals with his fellow bishops around the world who are in union with himself. Because Peter had a unique role within the chosen Disciples of Christ it has always been the belief of the Church that this authority was passed on to his successors in the office of Bishop of Rome. We will look at the scriptural support for the Papacy later in the essay and hopefully this will become much clearer. For now it is important to know that because Peter established the Church at Rome (along with St. Paul) and ruled there the majority of his life before his martyrdom this particular church was known from the beginning to be the See of Peter. It was the greatest Church in the first years of the faith and has remained so up to today. All others looked to Rome and its Bishop for guidance and surety regarding matters of the faith. Each Bishop of Rome knew that he was the direct descendant of Peter and they have throughout the history of the Church exercised authority because of this fact. But what specifically do they do when exercising this authority.

As the universal pastor of the Church the Pope helps to guide the Church in Her thoughts and expressions. Through his many letters, encyclicals, audiences, and speeches the Pope provides clarity on many of the issues of the day. He addresses the concerns and questions of the faithful in regards to social and cultural questions that are unique to each time in history. The Church is a dynamic institution, in that it lives within history and adjusts with the times without ever changing its morals and beliefs. Because it is an institution that must adapt (again without betraying its values) it is necessary that a unified voice gives it direction and leadership. This is what the Pope provides. As universal pastor he also addresses the particular concerns of his flock. The office of the Papacy is at its core the office of a shepherd. He tends to those concerns of the people of God by calling attention to their needs, whether it is Christians that are being persecuted, starving, or mired in poverty. Because his is a central voice that is “loud” when the Pope speaks much is practically achieved to alleviate the suffering of the people. As pastor though he not only sees to the worldly needs of the people but also to their spiritual needs. In fact this is the first and foremost responsibility that the Pope has. He is a spiritual shepherd helping to guide the faithful in growing closer to Jesus Christ. Again through his many communications the Pope can help clarify the moral and doctrinal questions of the day, giving emphasis to those areas that need special attention. The final area in which the Pope exercises his unique role is that of universal teacher when he calls upon the full authority of the See of Peter to issue dogmatic statements concerning the faith. This occurs when the Pope makes what is known as an “ex cathedra” statement, when he speaks from the Chair of Peter with the intent to proclaim to the entire church a dogma of the faith. When this happens the Pope is protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching error on matters of faith and morals. This is known as papal infallibility. This is also what a lot of people think of when they think of the Pope. The ironic thing is this has only been done twice in the history of the Church. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary were both defined in this manner. We will talk more about Papal Infallibility when we address both the scriptural reasons for the faith and the practical reasons for the Papacy. This highlights just a few of the things the Pope does as Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church.

Because there are so many misconceptions about the Papacy it is extremely important to address what the Pope does not do. The Pope does not sit in a big house in the Vatican and think up ways of how he can manipulate every action in the lives of the 1.5 billion Catholics worldwide. Every word that the Pope speaks is not binding on Catholics. We should of course give him great deference when he speaks and listen as children would listen to a father, but it is only when he is using the full weight of the office to proclaim official dogma that a Catholic is bound to obey. The Pope does not secretly tell catholic world leaders how to govern their respective nations. This of course was one of the great fears that many Americans had when electing John F. Kennedy to the presidency. Would Kennedy simply be a puppet controlled by the “Old Man in Rome”? This was a gross misunderstanding of the role of the Papacy but one that still occurs today. When the Pope speaks on matters of politics and specific national issues it is usually very rare. This is not the function of a spiritual father. This is not his realm of jurisdiction. Again great weight should be given to his viewpoint but a Catholic is not bound in a strict sense to adhere to what the Pope might say regarding political issues. When the Pope speaks however regarding moral issues that have become political then it is incumbent upon all Catholics to let their faith inform them properly. Moral issues are not simply political issues. They can never be divided from the spiritual and religious aspect or they cease to have any meaning as morality whatsoever. If the truth be told the Pope is in fact a lot less influential and powerful than your average, run of the mill Protestant. The Pope cannot change the faith in any way. He cannot all of a sudden wake up one morning and say, “I think baptism is really overrated and unnecessary.” Any Protestant however can pick up the bible and read it one way one day and then another the next day and go start a new church based on his own interpretation. To use an example, it has always been a grave moral evil to use contraception. The Pope can’t change that simply because we have the “Pill” now and all of society demands that the teaching be changed. The current Pope cannot contradict the dogmatically defined doctrines of the Church that have always been held. In this sense you can see how the Pope is a thousand times less “powerful” than any Christian of any other faith.

Now that you know some of the things the Pope does and does not do it is time to address why we need the Papacy at all. Of course we as Catholics think that Jesus Christ established the Papacy (we will address why we believe this in the last paragraph) so that is good enough for us, but for many others it might be more helpful to show the practical reasons for such an office. We all know that any group needs a leader. The buck has to stop somewhere. Without a single point of unity there is no unity. I can’t think of one single group, be it secular or religious, that does not have some type of leadership. Whether it is a group of people such as a body of elders in a church or just a single pastor there has to be some type of leadership. It is no different with the Catholic Church. Although each and every bishop is the head of his particular diocese they must all be in union with Rome (The Pope) or they do not belong to the Catholic Church. Christ elevated one particular apostle, Peter, over the others because He knew they could never stay united without a head. When all are in disagreement and nothing is being settled what would happen if there were not a place to turn to and petition to know who was right. Can you imagine a major corporation without a CEO? The company simply could not function. If there were two vice presidents of equal rank who wanted to take the company in two different directions, the company would be torn apart if there was no one person to settle the issue. And this is exactly what has a happened within Christendom. There are now approximately 30,000 different denominations all claiming to have the right understanding of the bible and no two of them agree on all doctrine. Without a single leader, a point of unity, a final arbiter, things always devolve into chaos. An army without a general or a country without a president doesn’t make sense and neither does a Church without a visible leader.

Just because something makes sense in a natural way (i.e. a central leader for an organization) does not necessarily mean that God intends that for His church. For the office of the Papacy to be a legitimate part of Christ’s Church its origins must be of a divine nature. Does the Papacy have its establishment from Christ or is it just a medieval invention to control the masses? We started this essay by quoting Matthew 16:18 and we will now look at this verse in more depth, along with two other key texts to show the biblical proof for the office of the Papacy.

Matthew 16:13-19

Here we see that Christ renames Simon to Peter which means “rock”. Christ goes on to say that He will establish His church on this “rock” and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Christ concludes this interaction with Peter by giving him, and him alone, the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ then uses language that denotes authority when He tells Peter that whatever he binds on Earth is bound Heaven and whatever He looses on earth is loosed in Heaven. Of course Peter and the other apostles knew what the allusion about keys meant because they were first century Jews that understood this kind of language. However if we are not familiar with this culture we might not immediately understand the significance of what Christ is saying.

The background and key to interpreting this text lies in Isa 22:19-22

19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be cast down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant Eli'akim the son of Hilki'ah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

This verse was written about Eliakim who was the prime minister in the Davidic Kingdom of the Old Testament. This would have immediately come to the apostles’ minds upon hearing Jesus’ words about “binding” and “loosing”. Christ is telling Peter that he will be His prime minister in the New Davidic Kingdom which is the Church. Just as this was an office in the Old Davidic Kingdom which was passed on successively so is the “steward of the house” in the New Davidic Kingdom passed on in a successive manner. We are in fact on our 265^th pope from St. Peter himself. Christ left a “steward” in His place when He returned to Heaven. Christ is always King but He left His people a servant to watch over the “House”.

The next verse that we will examine is Luke 22:31-32

31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren."

The key thing to notice about this verse is that Christ specifically prays for Peter and then tells him to “strengthen” his brethren. This implies some type of uniqueness and authority that Peter alone would have even over his fellow apostles.

The last verse we will explore is John 21:15-19

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16 A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Here again Christ specifically addresses Peter alone using language that clearly shows the pastoral nature of Peter’s office. Jesus never speaks to any of the other apostles the way He does with Peter. From the beginning we see that Peter was to have a unique role within the Church. It has always been the belief of the Catholic Church that this responsibility has been passed on to Peter’s successors.

The office of the Papacy has lasted longer, in an unbroken chain, than any other human institution that has ever existed. The Bishop of Rome serves the Church in a unique way as its earthly and visible leader in the name of Jesus Christ. He is both a father and a shepherd. Helping to guide the Church by provide stability and being the final arbiter in questions of the faith he is focal point for unity. The Pope is above all things the Servant of the Servants of God.

For a more in depth look at the Papacy please visit CathoilicFidelity.com