If there is one passage in scripture that seems to define our Catholic faith, it would be what Jesus said to Peter in this gospel passage. “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it.” He then added, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Jesus said this after Peter affirmed him as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Many of us were around when Vatican II ended 55 years ago and witnessed a liturgical revolution that surprised us. The Mass went from Latin to the language of the assembly so they could participate, the altar was turned around, and the Eucharistic fast was reduced down to one hour.
But that wasn’t all that changed. Through its history, the papacy changed as well. The first Vatican council, which met in 1868, defined the pope as being infallible; a dogma of our Church, which states that papal authority is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine handed down in scripture and tradition. Contrary to what many think, not everything said by the pope is infallible, but since that council, the papacy has achieved an authority and influence never before seen in church history. That certainly has been the case for popes in our lifetime.
When he was pope, John Paul II once said, “In the course of 2000 years, these words, ‘You are Peter’ have been spoken 264 times to the ears and conscience of a fragile and sinful man. Two hundred and sixty four times a new Peter was set at the side of the first one to be the foundation stone of the Church. The last time, it was to me that the promise of Caesarea Philippi was repeated and it is in the office of Peter that I am in your midst. With what message?
“The same one that Peter proclaimed. Peter, ardent but fearful, the friend, the renegade, the penitent, had just received the Holy Spirit. And with the force of the Spirit he proclaims to a Jerusalem full of pilgrims: ‘God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’
“All that Peter will say up to the last confession on the hill of the Vatican, which crowns that of Caesarea Philippi, is reduced to this sentence: All that the Successor of Peter must say is perhaps contained in these simple words: ‘God made him Lord.’ Fundamentally, it is what the Pope feels: the sweet and urgent duty of proclaiming, wherever he passes, with the power and fervor of one who announces good news.”
The authority of the pope doesn’t belong to the human office holder; it belongs to the office itself and more profoundly to God. By entrusting the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter, Jesus in effect was saying that God would give him and his successors the knowledge and authority to act upon his behalf as the head of the community of believers.
266 men have done what Peter did. They served as Bishop of Rome, which put them in the unique position of being the visible head of the Church. In the course of time, many were called upon to settle differences that would arise.
These readings indicate that religious leadership is a sacred trust and that the religious leader appointed by God is accountable to God. Because Shebna didn’t faithfully fulfill his charge, God relieved him of his responsibilities and gave them to Eliakim. He placed the key of the House of David upon his shoulder. Likewise, centuries later, Jesus placed the keys to the kingdom of heaven upon Peter’s shoulders and that of his successors. Peter’s responsibility wasn’t managerial; it was juridical. His task was to interpret the law for the rest of the faith community.
Many popes have donned the mantle of prophet, proclaiming clearly and constantly the truth that saves and the values that matter. To put it theologically, Pope Francis as the 266th successor to Peter is literally a chip off the old rock, today’s successor of the original rock.
An important role of the Holy Father and the bishops whom he appoints is to preserve the faith of the Church from error. In today’s culture, heavily influenced by secularism and relativism, questions like what Jesus raised in this gospel are often debated and the opinions aired are often not true. For us Christians, truth is not determined by public opinion but by divine revelation.
Every bishop is true head of the Church in his own diocese, holding authority directly from Christ, not as a delegate for the pope. While the pope as bishop of Rome has supreme teaching authority in the Church, every bishop is the chief teacher in his diocese. Together they provide us with what is called the magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church.
This authority has remained intact through twenty centuries of popes, giving the Catholic Church a truly amazing record of unbroken unity of faith, worship and governance, in spite of its members’ many failings. This is the glory of the Church: we don’t get angry or rebellious or lose faith in God or in the church because a particular pope or bishop or pastor doesn’t lean as we do. We accept the human in our Church’s teachings and governance without denying the divine. We respect the divine in the human and accept the human in the divine. And we glory in the mix!