Pope Explains Primacy of Peter via Scripture

Draws From Gospels and Acts of the Apostles

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 7, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict
XVI used the Gospels and other biblical passages to explain how Christ
entrusted a pre-eminent role to Peter among the apostles, to guarantee unity in
the Church.

Addressing the 50,000 people gathered today in St. Peter's Square for the
weekly general audience, the Pope dedicated a third catechesis to the figure of
the fisherman from Galilee, presenting Peter on this occasion as "the rock
on which Christ founded the Church."

"Let us pray," the Holy Father said, "so that the primacy of Peter,
entrusted to poor human beings, may always be exercised in this original sense
desired by the Lord, so that it will be increasingly recognized in its true meaning
by brothers who are still not in communion with us."

Benedict XVI's meditation referred to those passages in the Gospel and the
Acts of the Apostles in which "Christ's will to attribute to Peter a special
prominence within the apostolic college is manifested with many clues."

Peter was, for example, the only apostle to whom Jesus assigned a new name
-- Cephas -- which means "rock," a name that will eventually replace his
original name, Simon, observed the Pope.

Peter is the only one called on numerous occasions by his name, the rest of
the apostles being mentioned as a group, and he is always mentioned as the
first of the group in the Gospels.

The first

Benedict XVI noted: "He was the first one whose feet [Jesus] washed in the
Last Supper, and he prays only for him so that his faith would not fail and so
that later he will be able to confirm the other disciples in it.

"On the other hand, Peter himself is aware of this particular position he
has. He is the one who speaks often on behalf of the others, asking for
explanations of a difficult parable, or to ask about the exact meaning of a precept,
or the formal promise of a recompense."

The Holy Father noted that in Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus pronounces "the solemn
declaration that defines, once and for all, Peter's role in the Church: '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; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'"

Benedict XVI continued: "The three metaphors to which Jesus takes recourse
are very clear in themselves: Peter will be the rock foundation upon which the
building of the Church will be based; he will have the keys of the Kingdom
of heaven to open and close to whom he thinks it is just; finally, he will be
able to bind or loose, that is, will be able to establish or prohibit what he
considers necessary for the life of the Church, which is and will continue
to be Christ's.

"It is always Christ's Church and not Peter's. He describes with plastic
images what subsequent reflection will describe with the term 'primacy of
jurisdiction.'"

Executive

And this pre-eminent position that Jesus willed to give Peter "is also seen
after the resurrection" in the birth of the first Christian community, said
the Pope. "In the so-called Council of Jerusalem, Peter carries out an
executive function, and precisely by the fact of being witness of the authentic
faith, Paul himself will recognize in him a 'first' role.

"Moreover, the fact that several of the key texts referring to Peter can be
framed in the context of the Last Supper, in which Christ entrusts to Peter
the ministry of confirming his brothers, shows how the Church, which is born
from the paschal memorial celebrated in the Eucharist, has in the ministry
entrusted to Peter one of its constitutive elements."

This context of the primacy of Peter in the Last Supper explains the essence
of the primacy. "Peter must be the custodian of the communion with Christ,"
Benedict XVI said. "He must guide in the communion with Christ so that the
net will not tear but sustain the great universal communion.

"Only together can we be with Christ, who is Lord of all. Peter's
responsibility thus consists of guaranteeing the communion with Christ with the charity
of Christ, guiding the realization of this charity in everyday life."