Peter's Primacy

In any organization, it is critically important to have good leadership. The success of the group – whether a business, a club, a non-profit – often stands or falls based upon the choices made by the one in charge. If you have a good leader, your organization is likely to succeed; if you don’t, it may not even survive.

In the Gospel today, Jesus entrusts the leadership of his Church to the apostle Peter. It might seem to be, either then or now, a surprising choice. The Gospels tell us that Peter had a lot of admirable qualities, some of which we see in this passage: he was bold and decisive; he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind; he had a deep love for Jesus and a trust in his relationship with him. And yet, we also see in the Gospels that Peter was flawed. Just two weeks ago, we heard how Peter started to walk on the water, but doubt and fear crept in and he began to sink. We know that, during Jesus’s Passion, Peter not only abandons the Lord but even denies knowing him at all. And if this week’s Gospel is something of a high point for Peter, we’ll see just next week that he still doesn’t completely get it, when Jesus tells him, “Get behind me, Satan.”

If Peter is so obviously imperfect, then why did Jesus entrust the leadership of his Church to him? Because for all of his flaws, there was something special about him, as we see in today’s Gospel. Jesus puts his finger on it: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” What was revealed to Peter? The true identity of Jesus – as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” – something that he arrived at no by his own powers of logical deduction but because he received a grace, an insight from God himself. Jesus recognizes that special grace, and makes it the basis for establishing his Church upon this Peter “the Rock”.

Pietro Perugino, The Delivery of the Keys (c. 1482) [detail], Sistine Chapel, Rome

This passage is at the heart of the Catholic belief in what we call the primacy of Peter. We believe that Jesus gave all of the apostles the mission of preaching the Gospel and shepherding the Church, but to Peter and to his successors he gave the unique privilege of having a certain supremacy over the whole body of believers, the universal Church. In other words, we look to this passage as the basis for our belief in the special authority of the Bishop of Rome – the Roman pontiff, the pope – from Peter as the first, all the way to Francis as the 266th and current pope. Even today, we refer to the pope in Rome as Peter, because just like the apostle long ago, the pope is still the universal pastor of the whole Church and the source of its unity.

So, today’s Gospel tells us something important about Peter, and about those who succeed him as the Bishop of Rome. But it also tells us something just as important, and maybe even more so, about Jesus himself. He says, “Upon this Rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” In other words, Jesus promises that his Church will not fail – it will not be conquered by the forces of spiritual darkness, and it will not fail in its mission to defeat those forces. As Catholics, we believe that the Catholic Church is that Church of Christ that he founded, built upon the Rock of Peter and his confession of faith, not because of Peter’s worthiness but because of the divine grace that he received. And having founded it, Jesus promises to be faithful to his Church, to see that it continues, that it never goes astray, and that it is always faithful to its mission of the salvation of souls by God’s grace.

There’s a lot more that could be said about these topics, such as what papal infallibility is, and what we believe about other Christians who don’t recognize the pope. But what is important for the moment is to be aware of the danger of the view, so common today even among Catholics, that the Catholic Church is just an earthly thing – just another human organization, with an agenda to accomplish like any other group, and with leaders who are to be doubted and distrusted. Sadly, we know of the many examples of Church leaders, clergy and lay, who have abused their authority and betrayed the trust given to them; and we know sometimes there are areas where the Church can and should be clearer and bolder and more prophetic in preaching the Gospel. BUT (and this is an important “BUT”), while there is always room for growth, we should never doubt the veracity of Jesus’s words in the Gospel today. We should never hesitate in believing the promise of his faithfulness to the Church. In the balance of things, the Catholic Church is trustworthy and speaks with moral authority not because of the worthiness of her human leaders, even the pope, but because she is guided by the Lord himself. The Church succeeds, and indeed survives, because of Jesus, the Son of the living God. He is its Head, and it is he who has promised that he will never let his Body fail.

For that reason, we need to have a special attentiveness to what our Church professes and teaches above all else, especially in an era where there are so many voices competing for our attention and our loyalty. Nowhere else do we find the fullness of the truth of Christ, and no other group – no state, no political party, no movement, no body except the Church – teaches with Jesus’s own authority. Perhaps we might ask ourselves a few questions today in light of this Gospel: Do I understand my faith in Jesus to be rooted in the act of faith that Peter made? Do I trust in what the Catholic Church teaches, and do I believe it myself, because of Jesus’s promise to it? Do I pray for the pope, who as the Successor of St. Peter deserves my special love and devotion, not because of his own worthiness but because of the office that he holds?

Pope Francis in Korea, 2014. Photo by Korean Culture and Information Service (korea.net)

Friends, in the end, there is a bit of Peter in all of us, flawed but faithful. Thanks be to God for the graces of his Church – such as the Eucharist, which we will celebrate in just a few moments – by which the Lord continues to perfect and purify us. Like Peter, may we too renew our confession of faith today in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And together with Pope Francis, the Successor of St. Peter – and indeed all of those in union with him, all of our Catholic brethren throughout the world – may we renewed in our belief that just as the Lord was faithful to Peter, so too he will be faithful to us.