By Clement Harrold

May 1, 2025

Whenever a pope dies and a new pope is elected, all eyes turn to Rome. During these unsettled days, many Catholics and non-Catholics alike find themselves reflecting on the nature of the papacy. Does this ancient institution date back to the time of the apostles? And if so, then where is it found in Scripture? In this article, we’ll attempt to answer these questions by exploring the reasons for thinking the papacy was established by Christ Himself.

“Upon This Rock . . .”

The word “pope” comes from the ancient Greek word páppas, meaning father. The Catholic understanding of the papacy begins with the recognition that Jesus gave St. Peter a uniquely important mission of teaching authority and spiritual fatherhood:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare′a Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli′jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 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. 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. 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.” (Mt 16:13-19)

In this exchange, Simon Peter and Jesus both declare something about each other’s identity. To begin with, Simon Peter praises Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The name Christ is simply the Greek word for Messiah, a Hebrew term that means “Anointed One.” By declaring Jesus to be the Messiah, Simon Peter recognizes Him as the long-awaited heir to the throne of King David (see 2 Sam 7:8-17; Ps 89:3-4; 132:11).

For His part, Jesus declares that Simon Bar-Jona (son of Jonah) is Peter, the rock on which He will build His Church. Although “Peter” is a common first name today, before the advent of Christianity the Greek word which Jesus uses in this passage (petros) simply meant “rock.” New Testament scholars Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri explain:

The term [Peter] thus functions as a symbolic title given to Simon that announces his unique role in God’s plan. This is not as clear in English translation as it is in the original text, which uses synonymous words, having different grammatical genders, for Peter (petros, masculine) and the rock (petra, feminine) upon which Jesus will build his Church. Thus we are not to distinguish between Peter and the rock but to identify them as one and same foundation. In any case, the question of a distinction between them is probably moot, since Jesus almost certainly spoke these words in Aramaic and would have used the same word, kepha’, meaning a massive rock, in both instances. Perhaps the clearest indication of this background is that Peter is referred to as “Cephas” (a Greek form of the Aramaic word kepha’) nine times in the New Testament. [See Jn 1:42; 1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Gal 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14.] (The Gospel of Matthew, p. 207)

Having made His declaration, Jesus then promises to give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. This is a clear allusion to the Davidic royal dynasty, where the keeper of the keys was the chief steward, or prime minister, of the reigning monarch. This is highly significant: Peter has just declared Jesus to be the royal son of David; and Jesus in turn now appoints Peter as His chief steward.

The Old Testament background for this exchange is found in Isaiah 22, where the prophet announces God’s intention for one royal steward, Shebna, to be succeeded by another steward, named Eliakim:

In that day I will call my servant Eli′akim the son of Hilki′ah, 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. 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. (Is 22:20-22)

Like Eliakim before him, Peter has been given the authority to “open and shut,” or “bind and loose,” on behalf of his king. (Binding and loosing is a Jewish idiom referring to teaching authority and judicial power, as well as the ability to forgive sins; see John 20:23). This time, however, the king is no ordinary monarch, but rather the Davidic Messiah, the Son of the living God! Jesus is the eternal and divine King; and He chooses Peter as the rock on which to build His Church.

Going forward, Peter will be Christ’s chief steward, the one who has the power to bind and loose in His name. It would be strange, however, for Jesus to go to the trouble of bestowing this authority on Peter only for it to come to an end upon Peter’s death. But in fact, there’s good reason to think that Jesus intended for the authority to be passed on to His successors:

Inasmuch as the office of chief steward in Israel was occupied by a line of successors, it is reasonable to suppose that Peter’s authority is likewise intended for successors. In fact, Isa[iah] 22:22 is a text in which the focus is precisely the succession of office from one royal steward to the next. (Mitch and Sri, p. 209).

The Primacy of Peter

Protestant critics of the Church will sometimes object that Catholics have constructed their entire theology of the papacy on the basis of a single Gospel passage, namely, the passage we’ve just been discussing from Matthew 16. The objection is misplaced, however, since the New Testament repeatedly highlights the ways in which Peter enjoys a position of unique honor and authority among the twelve apostles. We find evidence for this throughout the Gospels:

• Matthew 10:2: Peter is described as the “first” (Greek, prōtos) among the twelve apostles.
• Matthew 14:22-33: Peter alone is given the miraculous ability to walk on water, and he is held up by Jesus when he begins to sink.
• Matthew 17:24-27: It is Peter alone whom the authorities approach when they wish to find out if Jesus pays the Temple tax.
• Mark 16:7: Following the Resurrection, an angel singles out Peter when he tells the women to “go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.”
• Luke 5:1-10: It is Peter whose boat Jesus steps into in order to preach to the crowds standing by the lake of Gennesaret. Likewise, it is Peter whom Jesus tells to put down His nets for a catch; and it is Peter to whom He says: “Do not be afraid; henceforth you [Greek, esē = singular] will be catching men.”
• Luke 22:31-32: Jesus warns Peter that Satan has singled him out for spiritual attack. Nevertheless, Jesus assures him: “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.”
• Luke 24:34: The Risen Jesus appeared to Peter before appearing to the other apostles.
• John 20:4-6: The beloved disciple shows deference to Peter by allowing him to enter the tomb of Jesus first, even though he arrived there sooner.

The evidence for Peter’s primacy is further corroborated in the Acts of the Apostles:

• Acts 1:15-26: Peter takes charge of the Church and provides authoritative instructions for how to choose the successor to Judas.
• Acts 2:14: Peter leads the apostles in preaching to the crowds on Pentecost.
• Acts 3:6-12: Peter performs the first miracle of the early Church, healing a lame man.
• Acts 5:1-11: Peter is the one who delivers judgment on Ananias and Sapphira.
• Acts 5:15: It is Peter to whom the common people bring the sick and disabled in the hopes that “at least his shadow might fall on some of them.”
• Acts 10: Peter receives a unique revelation from Jesus, instructing him to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles through the centurion Cornelius. And while Peter was preaching, “the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word” (v. 44).
• Acts 15: At the Council of Jerusalem, Peter rises “after there had been much debate” to clarify that the saving plan of Jesus encompassed all the Gentiles. As he spoke, “all the assembly kept silence.”

The Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong summarizes the New Testament evidence this way: “St. Peter’s name is mentioned more often than all the other disciples put together: 191 times (162 as Peter or Simon Peter, 23 as Simon, and 6 as Cephas). John is next in frequency with only 48 appearances.”

The One Shepherd

One of the reasons it makes sense that Jesus would establish the papacy is to ensure the unity of the Church. Without the divinely mandated authority of the papacy, other Christian bodies lack the assurance that their doctrines are true. Our Protestant brothers and sisters, for example, can’t even be sure which books belong in the Bible, since there is no final authority which can settle the question for them.

The situation is certainly better for our Orthodox brethren, who at least accept apostolic succession and the authority of bishops and patriarchs. Yet the Orthodox still suffer from not recognizing the primacy of the successor of Peter. For example, the divisions between the various Orthodox sects have meant that they haven’t held an ecumenical council since Second Nicaea, which took place all the way back in A.D. 787.

It therefore seems that there’s something to be said for Jesus establishing an earthly shepherd to serve as His representative in the guiding and guarding of His flock. This is precisely what we see in the Gospel of John, when Jesus declares: “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd [Greek, poimēn]” (Jn 10:16).

Who is the one shepherd? First and foremost, it is clearly Jesus Himself, whom the fourth Gospel identifies as the Good Shepherd (see Jn 10:11). But there’s good reason to believe that, in a secondary sense, the one shepherd also refers to Peter. We see this at the very end of John’s Gospel, when Jesus instructs Peter to “Tend my sheep” (Jn 21:16). The Greek verb Jesus uses for “tend” is poimaine, the same word He used for “shepherd” back in chapter 10. In other words, Jesus is commanding Peter to shepherd His sheep! (Note that Peter’s shepherding is not a replacement of Christ’s own shepherding, but rather an extension of it. Peter is only a shepherd insofar as he serves as Christ’s steward and representative.)

There’s one more point worth mentioning here. When Jesus declared that there would be one flock and one shepherd, He prefaced this remark by pointing out there were other sheep—namely, the Gentiles—not currently in the fold who needed to be brought in. Now fast forward again to John 21, and notice the build-up to Jesus telling Peter to shepherd His sheep:

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. (Jn 21:9-11)

As we’ve already seen, fish symbolize the souls that Peter is called to catch. 153 is a significant number because, according to St. Jerome, Greek biologists had identified 153 different kinds of fish in the natural world. According to this reading, the 153 fish are symbolic of all the nations.

So what does Peter do? He hauls the net ashore! On a literal level, this seems incredible. No man would be strong enough to perform such a feat on his own, and John even goes out of his way to point out that the fish were “large.” On a spiritual level, however, the text takes on a much deeper meaning.

Peter must have had help hauling the net, but John deliberately zeroes in on the chief apostle in order to highlight the unique role he is called to play in the life of the Church. Tim Staples explains:

Fish are symbols representing the faithful (recall Luke 5:8-10). And the symbol of “the net” is used elsewhere in the New Testament for the Church (see Matt. 13:47). Not only is Peter’s ability to carry these fish (all the faithful) a miracle, but the fact that the “net” is not broken is also extraordinary. The message seems to be that the Church Jesus establishes containing all of God’s faithful with Peter packing the power will never be destroyed! . . . Jesus the shepherd here commissions Peter to be the prophetic shepherd of John 10:16 to shepherd the entire people of God! How many of the sheep belong to Jesus? All of them. How many of his sheep did Jesus give to St. Peter to shepherd? All of them.

Jesus wanted His flock to be united in doctrine and practice, and that is why He appoints Peter and his successors as His earthly shepherds who will ensure that the Church forever remains “the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). This is the consistent testimony of the Scriptures, and it’s what Christians have believed since ancient times.

From the first century onward, Church Fathers like St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and St. Cyprian of Carthage give witness to the truth of apostolic succession and the authority of the papacy. As modern-day Catholics, we should therefore be grateful to Jesus for the immense treasure He has given us through the gift of the papacy. And we can be confident, too, that the rock on which Christ built His Church is one against which the powers of death will never prevail.

Further Reading

Joe Heschmeyer, Pope Peter: Defending the Church’s Most Distinctive Doctrine in a Time of Crisis (Catholic Answers Press, 2020)

Erick Ybarra, The Papacy: Revisiting the Debate Between Catholics and Orthodox (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2022)

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/the-papacy-in-scripture-no-rocks-required

https://www.catholic.com/tract/the-authority-of-the-pope-part-i

https://www.catholic.com/tract/the-authority-of-the-pope-part-ii

https://www.ncregister.com/blog/top-20-biblical-evidences-for-the-primacy-of-st-peter

About Clement Harrold

Clement Harrold earned his master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2024, and his bachelor’s from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2021. His writings have appeared in First Things, Church Life Journal, Crisis Magazine, and the Washington Examiner.