Sect. 237The Fathers on the Primacy of St. PeterThe Fathers on the Primacy of St. Peter

In the small space at our disposal it will not be possible for us to give more than a few of the passages in which the Fathers speak of the titles and prerogatives of St. Peter. The English reader will find the Patristic evidence given at length in Mr. Allnatt’s excellent work, Cathedra Petri; Waterworth’s The Fathers on St. Peter and his Successors.

I. St. Peter the Prince and Head of the Apostles

St. Clement of Alexandria: “The blessed Peter, the Chosen (ὁ ἐκλεκτός), the Pre-eminent (ὁ ἐξαίρετος), the First (ὁ πρῶτος) of the disciples” (Quis Dives Salvetur. Op., ed. Migne, ii. p. 625).

Origen: “Peter the Prince of the Apostles” (In Lucam, Hom. xvi. tom. iii. p. 952). “Jesus having adjudged him greater than the other disciples (κρίναντος αὐτὸν μείζονα τῶν λοιπῶν γνωρίμων)” (tom. xiii., In Matt., n. 14; tom. iii. p. 588).

Cyprian: “St. Peter, whom the Lord chose to be first, or chief (quem primum Dominus elegit)” (Epist. lxxi., Ad Quintum). “The Primacy is given to Peter (Primatus Petro datur)” (De Unit. Eccl, n. 4).

St. Peter of Alexandria: “Peter, set above the Apostles (Ὁ πρόκριτος τῶν ἀποστόλων Πέτρος)” (Canon. Penitent., n. 9; Galland. iv.; et ap. Hardouin, Concil., tom. i. p. 229).

Eusebius: “That powerful and great one of the Apostles, who on account of his excellence was the leader of the rest (Τὸν καρτερὸν καὶ μέγαν τῶν ἀποστόλων τὸν ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα τῶν λοιπῶν ἁπάντων προήγορον)” (Hist. Eccl., lib. ii. c. 14).

St. Hilary: “The Prince of the Apostolate (Apostolatus princeps)” (In Matt. vii. 6).

St. Athanasius: “Peter the Chief or Leader (ὁ κορυφαῖος)” (In Ps. xv. 8; tom. iii. p. 105, Migne).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: “Peter the chiefest and foremost leader of the Apostles (ὁ κορυφαιότατος καὶ πρωτοστάτης τῶν ἀποστόλων)” (Catech. ii. n. 19, Migne, p. 31).

St. Ephraem Syrus: “The Prince of the Apostles” (tom, ii., Serm. Syr., lvi., Adv. Hœr., p. 559). “The Chief of the Apostles” (ib. Serm. Gr. in Adv. Dom., p. 203).

St. Gregory of Nyssa: “The Leader and Coryphæus of the Apostolic Choir.… The Head of the Apostles” (Alt. Orat. de S. Steph., tom. iii. pp. 730–733).

St. Gregory of Nazianzum: “Peter the Chief of the Apostles (μαθητῶν ἄκρος)” (Carm. Theol., lib. ii. sect. 1, carm. xii. 222).

St. Basil: “Peter, who was preferred before all the disciples (ὁ πάντων μεν τῶν μαθητῶν προκριθεὶς)” (De Judic. Dei, n. 7, tom. ii. p. 221).

St. Epiphanius: “Peter became a Leader to his own brother. And God sees the dispositions of the heart, and knowing who is worthy to be appointed unto presidency (ἄξιος τάττεσθαι). He also chose Peter to be the Leader (ἀρχηγὸν) of His disciples, as in every way has been clearly shown” (Adv. Hœr., 51, n. 17, tom. i. p. 440).

St. Jerome: “Peter the first Pontiff of the Christians (Primus Pontifex Christianorum)” (Chron. Euseb. ad Ann., 44, tom. viii. p. 578). “The Prince of the Apostles (Princeps Apostolorum)” (Dial. adv. Pelag., n. 14). “Out of the Twelve, One is chosen in order that by the institution of a Head the occasion of schism might be removed” (Adv. Jovin., lib. i. n. 26, tom. ii. p. 279).

St. Chrysostom: “The Chief of the Apostles, the First in the Church (Ἡ κορυφὴ τῶν ἀποστόλων, ὁ πρῶτος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ)” (Hom. iii. de Pœnit., n. 4). “Peter it was to whom had been entrusted the government (τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐγκεχειρισμένος)” (Hom. xxxiii., In Act., n. 2). “He entrusted into his hands the Primacy over the Universal Church (τὴν ἐπιστασίαν τῆς οἰκουμενῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐνεχείρισε)” (Hom. V. de Pœnit., n. 2).

St. Augustine: “Who can be ignorant that the most blessed Peter is the first (primum) of the Apostles?” (In Joann. tract. lvi. n. 1). “Peter, by reason of the Primacy of his Apostolate, personified the Universal Church” (ib. tract., cxxiv. n. 5). (Cf. Serm. lxxvi. n. 4; De Bapt. cont. Donat., lib. ii. n. 2.)

General Council of Ephesus, 431: “The blessed Peter, the Head of the whole faith, and even of the Apostles (ἡ κεφαλὴ ὅλης τῆς πίστεως, ἡ καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων)” (Act. ii., Labbe, tom. iii. p. 619). “The Prince (ἔξαρχος) and Head (κεφαλὴ) of the Apostles” (Act. iii., Labbe, p. 625).

St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Set over (προεκκείμενος) the holy disciples;” “the Prince (πρόκριτος) of the holy disciples;” “Prince (πρόκριτος) of the Apostles;” “the Leader (ἡγούμενος)” (In Joann. lib. x. tom. vii. p. 924; ibid., lib. xii. p. 1064; Thesaur., tom. viii. p. 340; Hom, xiii., De Pest. Pasch., tom. x. Pt. ii. p. 105, ed. Migne).

Theodoret: “The Coryphæus of the Apostles” (In Ps. ii.); “the first of the Apostles” (Hist. Relig., c. ii.). “He (Paul) renders due honour to the Head (τὴν πρέπουσαι ἀπονέμει τῷ κορυφαίῳ τιμήν)” (Comm. in Gal., i. 18).

St. Leo: “Peter … not only the Prelate of this see (Rome), but the Primate (primatem) of all Bishops” (Serm. iii., De Natal. Ord., c. 4). “The Prince of the whole Church (totius ecclesiæ principem)” (Serm. iv. c. 4). “The Lord who committed the Primacy (primatum) of the Apostolic dignity to the most blessed Apostle Peter” (Epist. v., Ad Episc. Metrop. per Illyr. Constit., c. 2).

II. St. Peter the Rock of the Church

Tertullian: “Peter, who is called the Rock whereon the Church was to be built, and who obtained the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (De Præscr. Hœret., c. 22).

Origen: “That great foundation of the Church, and most solid Rock upon which Christ founded the Church (Magno Mi ecclesiæ fundamento, et petræ solidissimæ, super quam Christus fundavit ecclesiam)” (In Exod. Com., v. n. 4, Op. tom. ii. p. 145, Migne; cf. In Joann., tom. iv. p. 95; apud Euseb., Hist. Eccl., vi. c. 25). “Peter, against whom the gates of hell shall not prevail” (De Princ., lib. iii. c. 2, n. 5). “Neither against the Rock upon which Christ builds His Church, nor against the Church shall the gates of hell prevail (Οὔτε γὰρ τῆς πέτρας ἐφʼ ἧς ὁ Χριστὸς οἰκοδομεῖ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, οὔτε τῆς ἐκκλησίας πύλαι ᾅδου κατισχύσουσιν)” (In Matt., tom. xii. n. 11).

St. Cyprian: “Peter, whom the Lord chose as first, and upon whom He built His Church” (Epist. lxxi., Ad Quint, n. 3). “There is one Church, founded by the Lord Christ upon Peter, for the origin and purpose of unity (Una ecclesia a Christo Domino super Petrum origine unitatis et ratione fundata)” (Epist. lxx., Ad Januar. Cf. Epist. lxxiii., Ad Jubaian., n. 11; De Bono Patientiœ, n. 9; Epist. lxvi., Ad Pupianum, n. 8; Epist. lix., Ad Cornel., n. 9; Epist. xliii., al. xl. Ad Plebem., n. 5; De Exhort. Martyr., n. 11; De Habitu Virg., n. 10).

Eusebius of Cæsarea: “Peter, on whom the Church of Christ is built (ἐφʼ ᾧ οἰκοδομεῖται ἡ Χριστοῦ ἐκκλησία), against which the gates of hell shall not prevail” (Hist. Eccl., lib. vi. c. 25. Cf. Demonstr. Evang., lib. iii. c. 4).

St. Hilary of Poitiers: “Peter … upon whom He was about to build His Church.… Peter the foundation of the Church” (Tract, in Ps. cxxxi. n. 4). “The firm Rock upon which the Church was to be built (firma superædificandæ in ea ecclesiæ petra)” (In Ps. cxli. n. 8. Cf. De Trin., lib. vi. c. 20).

St. Gregory of Nyssa: “Peter the Head of the Apostles … is in accordance with the prerogative bestowed upon him by the Lord, the unbroken and most firm Rock (ἡ ἀῤῥαγὴς καὶ ὀχυρωτάτη πέτρα), upon which the Lord built His Church” (Alt. Orat. de S. Stephan. Op., tom. iii. p. 734, Migne; cf. Hom. xv. in Cant. Cantic., tom. i. p. 1088).

St. Gregory of Nazianzum: “Of the disciples of Christ, all of whom were great and deserving of the choice, one is called a Rock, and is entrusted with the foundation of the Church (τοὺς θεμελίους τῆς ἐκκλησίας πιστεύεται)” (Orat. xxxii. n. 18. Op., tom. ii. p. 591, Migne; cf. Carmin., sect. 2, Poem. Moral., n. 1, vers. 489, tom. ii. p. 325; Carm. Theol., loc. cit.; Orat. ix., Apol. ad Patr., n. 1, tom. i. p. 235).

St. Epiphanius: “The First of the Apostles, that firm Rock upon which the Church of God is built, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But the gates of hell are heresies and heresiarchs” (Anchorat., n. 9). “Peter … a firm Rock founding the faith of the Lord, upon which the Church was in every way (κατὰ πάντα τρόπον) built … A firm Rock of the building, and Foundation of the House of God” (Adv. Hœres. 59, nn. 7, 8).

St. Ambrose: “Whom He (Christ) pointed out as the Foundation of the Church, when He called him the Rock” (De Fide, lib. iv. c. 5, n. 56, tom. ii. p. 531, Migne). “It is that same Peter to whom He said, ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.’ Therefore, where Peter is, there is the Church (ubi ergo Petrus, ibi Ecclesia; ubi Ecclesia ibi nulla mors, sed vita æterna)” (In Ps. xl. n. 30, tom. i. p. 879; cf. In Lucam, lib. iv. nn. 70, 77; De Virginit., c 16, n. 105; De Incarnat., c. iv. n. 33; c. 5, n. 34; De Sp. Sancto, c. xiii. n. 158).

St. Chrysostom: “When I name Peter, I name that unbroken Rock, that firm Foundation, the Great Apostle, the First of the disciples (τὴν Πέτραν, λέγω τὴν ἀῤῥαγή, τὴν κρηπῖδα τὴν ἀσάλευτον, τὸν ἀπόστολον τὸν μέγαν, τὸν πρῶτοι τῶν μαθητῶν)” (Hom. iii., De Pœnit, n. 4; cf. Hom. in illud, Hoc Scitote, n. 4; Ad eos qui scandalizati sunt, n. 17; In illud, Vidi Dom. Hom. iv. n. 3; Hom. De Dec. Mil. Talent, n. 3; Hom. liv. n. 2; Hom, iii., In Matt., n. 5; Hom. xix., In Joann., n. 2.)

St. Jerome: “Peter, upon whom the Lord founded the Church” (Epist. xl., Ad Marcellam). “Peter the Prince of the Apostles, upon whom the Church was founded in stable massiveness (super quem ecclesia Domini stabili mole fundata est)” (Dial. adv. Pelag., lib. i. n. 14). “As Christ Himself gave light to the Apostles, that they might be called the light of the world, and as they obtained other names from the Lord; so to Simon also, who believed on the Rock Christ, He bestowed the name of Peter; and according to the metaphor of a rock, it is rightly said of him, ‘I will build My Church upon thee.’ The gates of hell are vices and sins, or certainly the doctrines of heretics by which men enticed are led to hell (In Matt. xvi. tom. vii. p. 124). “Upon this Rock (the See of Peter) I know that the Church is founded” (Epist. xv., Ad Pap. Damas., tom. i. p. 39).

St. Augustine: “Peter, who had confessed Him the Son of God, and in that confession had been called the Rock upon which the Church should be built (Petrus … in illa confessione appellatus est petra super quam fabricaretur ecclesia)” (In Ps. lxix. n. 4). “Number the bishops from the See itself of Peter, and in that order of Fathers see who succeeded to whom: this is the Rock which the proud gates of hell overcome not (ipsa est petra quam non vincunt superbæ inferorum portæ)” (Ps. in Part. Donat., tom. ix. p. 30; cf. Epist. liii., Generoso, n. 2).

St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Allusively to the name from the rock, He changed his name to Peter; for on him He was about to found His Church (Φερωνύμως δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πέτρας μετωνόμαζε Πέτρον• ἐπʼ αὐτῷ γὰρ ἔμελλε τὴν αὐτοῦ θεμελιοῦν ἐκκλησίαν)” (In Joann., 1:42, lib. ii. Op., tom. vi. p. 131, Migne). “Calling, I think, the rock the immoveableness in the faith of the disciple” (In Isai., lib. iv. tom. iii. p. 593; cf. In Matt., c. xvi. tom. v. p. 54).

St. Leo the Great: “The Lord willed that the mystery of His gift should so belong to the office of all the Apostles, as to seat it chiefly in the most blessed Peter, highest of all the Apostles; and from him, as it were from the Head, He wills His gifts to flow as into the whole body; that whosoever dares to recede from the solidity of Peter, may know that he has no part in the Divine mystery. For this man, assumed into the participation of His indivisible unity, He willed to be named what He Himself was, by saying, ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church;’ that the rearing of the eternal temple, by the wonderful grace of the gift of God, might consist now in the solidity of Peter, strengthening with his firmness this Church, that neither the rashness of men might attempt it, nor the gates of hell prevail against it” (Epist. ad Episc. per Prov. Vienn. in causa Hilarii, c. 1; cf. Serm, iv. In Natal. Ord., c. 2, quoted above, p. 311). “The Rock of the Catholic Faith, which name the blessed Apostle Peter received from the Lord” (Epist. cxix. n. 2, Ad Maxim. Ep. Antioch). “By the loftiness of his faith he gave so much pleasure as to receive the sacred firmness of an inviolable Rock, upon which the Church being founded, it should prevail over the gates of hell and the laws of death; and that neither in loosing nor in binding should anything be ratified in heaven but what it may have settled by the decision of Peter” (Serm. li., Hom. Sabbat, ante 2 Dom. Quadr., c. 1; cf. Epist. xxviii, Ad Flav.).

Council of Ephesus, 431. In this Council the Legate Philip called Peter “the Pillar of the Faith, the Foundation of the Catholic Church (ὁ κίων τῆς πίστεως, ὁ θεμέλιος τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας)” (Act. iii., Labbe, tom. iii. p. 625; ed. Paris, 1671).

Council of Chalcedon, 451. In the sentence against Dioscorus, approved of by all the bishops (mostly Easterns), Peter is called “the Rock and Foundation of the Catholic Church, and support of the orthodox faith (πέτρα καὶ κρηπὶς τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τὴς ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως ὁ θεμέλιος)” (Act. iii., Labbe, tom. iv. p. 425).

St. Gregory the Great: “Who is ignorant that the Holy Church is established on the firmness of the Chief of the Apostles, who in his name expressed the firmness of his mind, being called Peter from the Rock?” (lib. vi., Epist. 3, Ad. Eulog. Alexandr.)

St. John Damascene calls Peter “that Coryphæus of the Apostles, the Firm Foundation, the unbroken Rock of the Church (τὴν κρηπῖδα τὴν ἀσάλευτον, τὴν πέτραν τὴν ἀῤῥαγῆ)” (In Sacr. Parallel., tom. ii. p. 591, Migne).

Photius says that “upon Peter rest the foundations of the faith (Πέτρος ἐφʼ ᾧ τὰ τῆς πίστεως κεῖται θεμέλια)” (Epist. ccxliii. al. xcix.).

It may be objected that many of the Fathers (notably St. Augustine) take the Rock to be, not Peter himself, but the confession which Peter made; and that others explain that the Rock was Christ. To this we reply that these interpretations are not opposed to that which we have given, but are rather collateral to it: the three taken together give us an adequate interpretation of the passage. In Christ’s words, ‘Thou art Peter,’ etc., a threefold truth is contained: (1) Peter is the Rock of the Church, i.e. the person of Simon, who is made a Rock or is endowed with the Primacy, is the basis on which the Church rests; (2) Faith is the Rock of the Church, i.e. Peter’s faith is that which constitutes him the foundation of the Church; (3) Christ is the Rock of the Church, i.e. He is the principal, original Rock on which Peter rests. See Palmieri, l.c, 248, sqq.; and on St. Augustine’s interpretation, Franzelin, De Eccl., p. 136 sqq.

III. Peter the Key-bearer

As the Fathers naturally speak of this prerogative of Peter in connection with the foregoing, it will here suffice to quote only two or three passages.

Tertullian: “If thou thinkest heaven is closed, remember that the Lord left here the keys thereof to Peter, and through him to the Church” (Scorpiace, cap. 10; cf. De Præscr. Hœret., n. 22).

Origen: “If we carefully examine the writings of the Evangelists, we may discover much difference and preeminence (ὑπεροχὴν) in the words spoken to Peter (Matt. 16:19), over and above those spoken to the Apostles generally (ibid. 18:19) in the second place. For it is no small difference that Peter received the keys, not of one heaven, but of many, and that whatsoever things he should bind upon earth should be bound, not in one heaven, but in all (the heavens) … for they (the other Apostles) do not transcend in power as Peter, so as to bind and loose in all the heavens” (Comment. in Matt., tom. xiii. n. 31).

St. Ambrose: “What fellowship can these (the Novatians) have with Thee: men who take not up the keys of the kingdom, denying that they ought to forgive sins; which indeed they rightly confess of themselves; for they have not Peter’s inheritance who have not Peter’s chair, which they rend with impious division” (De Pœnit., lib. i. nn. 32, 33).

St. Chrysostom: “Great was God’s consideration towards this city (Antioch), as He manifested by deeds; inasmuch as Peter, who was set over the whole habitable world, into whose hands He put the keys of heaven; to whom He entrusted to do and to support all things (τὸν γοῦν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπιστάτην ἁπάσης Πέτρον, ᾦ τὰς κλεῖς ἐνεχείρισε τῶν οὐρανῶν, ᾧ πάντα ἄγειν καὶ φέρειν ἐπέτρεψε)” (Hom, in S. Ign. Mart., n. 4; cf. In Matt. Hom., liv. n. 2; In Matt. Hom, lxxxii. n. 3).

St. Leo the Great: “The right of this power (of the keys) passed also indeed to the other Apostles, and the constitution of this decree has flowed on to all the princes of the Church; but not in vain is that entrusted to one which is intimated to all. For to Peter is this therefore entrusted individually, because the pattern of Peter is set before all the rulers of the Church. The privilege of Peter therefore remains, whatever judgment is passed in accordance with his equity (Non frustra uni commendatar quod omnibus intimatur. Petro enim ideo hoc singulariter creditur, quia cunctis ecclesiæ rectoribus Petri forma prœponitur. Manet ergo Petri privilegium, ubicunque ex ipsius fertur æquitate judicium)” (Serm, iv., In Nat. Ordin., c. 3; cf. Epist. x., Ad Episc. per Prov. Vienn. in causa Hilarii, c. 2, supra, p. 322).

St. Gregory: “Behold he (Peter) receives the keys of the heavenly kingdom; the power of binding and of loosing is given to him; to him the care and government of the whole Church is committed (Ecce claves regni accipit, potestas ei ligandi atque solvendi tribuitur, cura ei totius ecclesiæ et principatus committitur)” (lib. v., Epist. xx., Ad Manric. August).

Venerable Bede: “Blessed Peter in a special manner received the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the Headship of judiciary power, that all believers throughout the world might understand that all those who in any way separate themselves from the unity of his faith and communion, such can neither be absolved from sins, nor enter the gate of the heavenly kingdom” (Hom, xvi., In Die SS. Pet. et Paul, Migne, Patr. Lat., tom. xciv. p. 223).

IV. St. Peter the Confirmer of his Brethren.

St. Ambrose: “Peter, after being tempted by the devil, is set over the Church. The Lord therefore signified beforehand what that is, that He afterwards chose him to be the Pastor of the Lord’s flock. For to him He said, ‘But thou, when thou art once converted,’ etc. (Petrus ecclesiæ præponitur … postea eum pastorem elegit dominici gregis)” (In Ps. xliii. n. 40; cf. De Fide, lib. iv. c. 5, n. 56).

St. Chrysostom: “He (Peter) first acts with authority in the matter (the election of Matthias), as having all put into his hands; for to him Christ said, ‘And thou,’ etc. (πρῶτος τοῦ πράγματος αὐθεντεῖ, ἅτε αὐτὸς πάντας ἐγχειρισθείς)” (Hom. iii., In Act., nn. 1–3; cf. St. Cyril of Alexandria, In Lucam, tom. v. p. 420; Theodoret, Hæret. Fab., lib. v. c. 28).

In the General Council of Ephesus St. Peter is called “the Pillar of the Faith (ὁ κίων τῆς πίστεως)” (Act. iii., Labbe, tom. iii. p. 625). And in the General Council of Chalcedon, “the Foundation (ὁ θεμέλιος) of the orthodox faith” (Act. iii., Labbe, iv. p. 425). For St. Leo, see above, p. 308.

V. St. Peter the Chief Pastor.

Origen: “To Peter was the Supreme Power to feed the sheep delivered, and upon him as on the earth was the Church founded (Petro cum summa rerum de pascendis ovibus traderetur, et super ipsum velut super terram fundaretur ecclesiæ)” (lib. v., In Ep. ad Rom., n. 5).

St. Cyprian: “Peter, to whom the Lord commends His sheep to be fed and guarded, on whom He placed and founded the Church (cui oves suas Dominus pascendas tuendasque commendat)” (De Habitu Virg., n. 10).

St. Ephraem Syrus: “Blessed the flock committed to thy care! How much it has grown!… O thou blessed one, that obtainedst the place of the Head and Tongue in the body of thy brethren,” etc. (Bibl. Orient, ed. Asseman., tom. i. p. 95; cf. Serm. lvi., Adv. Hær., tom. ii., Syr., p. 559).

St. Ambrose: “Chosen to feed the flock by the judgment of the Lord Himself” (De Fide, lib. v. prolog. n. 2; cf. the foregoing heading).

St. Chrysostom on John xxi. 15: “And why, then, passing over the others, does He converse with Peter on these things? He was the chosen one of the Apostles, and the Mouth of the disciples and the Leader of the choir. On this account Paul also went up on a time to see him rather than the others, and withal, to show him that he must have confidence, as the denial was done away with. He puts into his hands the presidency over his brethren (ἐγχειρίζεται τὴν προστασίαν τῶν ἀδελφῶν). And He brings not forward that denial, neither does He reproach him with the past, but says to him, ‘If thou love Me, rule over the brethren (εἰ φιλεῖς με, προΐστασο τῶν ἀδελφῶν)’ (cf. εἰ φιλεῖς με ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατα μοῦ).… And the third time He gives him the same injunction, showing at what a price He sets the presidency over His own sheep. And if any one should say, ‘How, then, did James receive the throne of Jerusalem?’ I would answer, ‘That He appointed this man (Peter) teacher, not of that throne, but of the world’ “ (In Joann. Hom, lxxxviii.; cf. Hom. v. de Pœnit., n. 2; De Sacerdotio, lib. ii. c. 1).

St. Augustine: “I am held in the communion of the Catholic Church by … the succession of priests from the very chair of the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after His resurrection, committed His sheep to be fed (Tenet me ab ipsa sede Petri Apostoli, cui pascendas oves post resurrectionem Dominus commendavit, successio sacerdotum)” (Contra Ep. Fundam Manich, n. 5). “Peter was made the Pastor of the Church, as Moses was made the Ruler of the Jewish people” (Contra Faust., lib. xxii. c. 70; cf. Serm. xlvi. n. 30; Serm. ccxcv. nn. 2, 4).

St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Over the Church He sets Peter as Shepherd (καὶ ταύτης ποιμένα τὸν Πέτρον ἐφίστησιν)” (In Matt., xvi. tom. v. p. 55, ed. Migne).

St. Leo the Great: “Out of the whole world the one Peter is chosen to be set over both the calling of the nations, and over all the Apostles and all the Fathers of the Church; that, although in the people of God there be many priests and many shepherds, Peter may rule all, as made his, whom Christ also rules by supreme headship (omnes tamen proprie regat Petrus, quos principaliter regit et Christus)” (Serm, iv., In Nat. Ord., c. 1; cf. Ep. x., Ad Episc. per Prov. Vienn. in Causa Hilarii, c. 2; Serm. lxxiii., De Ascens. Dom., n. 2).

St. Gregory the Great: “By the voice of the Lord the care of the whole Church was entrusted to holy Peter, Prince of all the Apostles; for to him it is said, ‘Peter, lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep’ “ (lib. v., Epist. xx., Ad Maurit. August.).

Palmieri, De Rom. Pont., p. 225 sqq.; Billot, De Ecclesia, p. 528 sqq.; Turmel, Hist. de la Théol. Posit., etc., p. 151 sqq.; Atzberger, op. cit., sect. 342; Allies, St. Peter: His Name and Office.