In my last post, I showed that Peter was chosen to be the leader of the Apostles. Among His many disciples, Christ chose 12 men. And among the twelve, He chose St. Peter to be the leader. It was on the man "Peter" whom Christ would build His Church on.
Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Our Christian brothers would often say that it is not on Peter that Christ would build His Church because the Greek name for "Peter" is not the same as the Greek name for "rock." The fallacy of this argument is that Christ never spoke Greek. He spoke Aramaic. The Aramaic name for "Peter" is Cephas which is the same Aramaic name for "Rock." So, essentially Jesus was saying, "You are Cephas, and on this cephas, I will build my Church...." By giving him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, Christ was giving him "authority". It was also St. Peter and only St. Peter whom Christ entrusted him to take care of his entire flock (John 21:15-17).
Sacred Tradition as well as the writings of the Church Fathers confirmed that the Apostle Peter was in Rome at the time of his death. The scriptural evidence showing Peter in Rome was 1 Peter 5:13. The word Babylon was a code name for Rome. Peter wrote this epistle before he was crucified upside down.
After Peter's death, the person who became the next Bishop of Rome was St. Linus. The Catholic Church is able to trace her lineage through the line of succession. Some of our Christian brothers argue that the Apostles did not carry any line of succession. Christ's ministry did not cease with the death of the Apostles. It continued on in their successors for it was impossible for only a few men to spread the Gospels to the entire world. Evidence of a line of succession is also found in the Acts of the Apostles. In order for Judas' ministry to continue, another person had to be chosen to take his place. This was the line of succession that continues on today. The Catholic Church is able to trace her lineage to the Apostle Peter. The Eastern Orthodox Church can also trace her lineage to an Apostle of Christ, but is through Peter whom Christ build His Church on. In other words, all other churches built by an Apostle through Christ must be in union with The Church of Rome. The Eastern Catholics, for example, are in communion with the Pope despite that they practice the same liturgies as the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Acts 1:15-21 In those days, Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, "Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in our ministry." With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood. "For," said Peter, "it is written in the Book of Psalms: "May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it, and, "Many another take his place of leadership. Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time, the Lord Jesus was living among us.
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