Founding of the Roman Church

[Perceivence]

Why do Catholics believe that Peter founded the Roman church? Can I see any writings from church fathers or Scripture that support it?

Thanks

 

[Dark_Lite]

Matthew 16:18.

Edit: and Jesus founded it and put Peter at the head of it.

 

[InnerPhyre]

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. -- KJV

 

[Paul S]

We don't believe Peter founded the Catholic Church; we believe Jesus founded it with Peter as its earthly head after He ascended to heaven.

Matthew 16 (KJV) says:

18 And I say also unto thee [Simon], That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

In Isaiah 22, God appoints Eli'akim as a sort of prime minister, to act in place of the king. He says: "And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."

When you look at this compared with what Jesus said to Peter, He is doing the same thing - appointing Peter to act in his place.

The Church is often called Roman because Peter ended up in Rome, and when he was crucified there, he was the Bishop of Rome. Since then, Peter's successors, the Bishops of Rome, have been the earthly head of the Church.

 

[isshinwhat]

"Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its pre- eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere."
Irenaeus,Against Heresies,3:3:2 (A.D. 180),in ANF,I:1415-416

God bless,

Neal

 

[JeffreyLloyd]

A. Jesus appoints Peter
1. St. Peter 32 67
2. St. Linus 67 76
3. St. Anacletus (Cletus) 76 88
4. St. Clement I 88 97
5. St. Evaristus 97 105
6. St. Alexander I 105 115
7. St. Sixtus I -- also called Xystus I 115 125
8. St. Telesphorus 125 136
9. St. Hyginus 136 140
10. St. Pius I 140 155
11. St. Anicetus 155 166
12. St. Soter 166 175
13. St. Eleutherius 175 189
14. St. Victor I 189 199
15. St. Zephyrinus 199 217
16. St. Callistus I 217 222
17. St. Urban I 222 230
18. St. Pontain 230 235
19. St. Anterus 235 236
20. St. Fabian 236 250
21. St. Cornelius 251 253
22. St. Lucius I 253 254
23. St. Stephen I 254 257
24. St. Sixtus II 257 258
25. St. Dionysius 260 268
26. St. Felix I 269 274
27. St. Eutychian 275 283
28. St. Caius -- also called Gaius 283 296
29. St. Marcellinus 296 304
30. St. Marcellus I 308 309
31. St. Eusebius 309 310
32. St. Miltiades 311 314
33. St. Sylvester I 314 335
34. St. Marcus 336 336
35. St. Julius I 337 352
36. Liberius 352 366
37. St. Damasus I 366 383
38. St. Siricius 384 399
39. St. Anastasius I 399 401
40. St. Innocent I 401 417
41. St. Zosimus 417 418
42. St. Boniface I 418 422
43. St. Celestine I 422 432
44. St. Sixtus III 432 440
45. St. Leo I (the Great) 440 461
46. St. Hilarius 461 468
47. St. Simplicius 468 483
48. St. Felix III (II) 483 492
49. St. Gelasius I 492 496
50. Anastasius II 496 498
51. St. Symmachus 498 514
52. St. Hormisdas 514 523
53. St. John I 523 526
54. St. Felix IV (III) 526 530
55. Boniface II 530 532
56. John II 533 535
57. St. Agapetus I -- also called Agapitus I 535 536
58. St. Silverius 536 537
59. Vigilius 537 555
60. Pelagius I 556 561
61. John III 561 574
62. Benedict I 575 579
63. Pelagius II 579 590
64. St. Gregory I (the Great) 590 604
65. Sabinian 604 606
66. Boniface III 607 607
67. St. Boniface IV 608 615
68. St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) 615 618
69. Boniface V 619 625
70. Honorius I 625 638
71. Severinus 640 640
72. John IV 640 642
73. Theodore I 642 649
74. St. Martin I 649 655
75. St. Eugene I 655 657
76. St. Vitalian 657 672
77. Adeodatus (II) 672 676
78. Donus 676 678
79. St. Agatho 678 681
80. St. Leo II 682 683
81. St. Benedict II 684 685
82. John V 685 686
83. Conon 686 687
84. St. Sergius I 687 701
85. John VI 701 705
86. John VII 705 707
87. Sisinnius 708 708
88. Constantine 708 715
89. St. Gregory II 715 31
90. St. Gregory III 731 741
91. St. Zachary 741 752
92. Stephen II 752 752
93. Stephen III 752 757
94. St. Paul I 757 767
95. Stephen IV 767 772
96. Adrian I 772 795
97. St. Leo III 795 816
98. Stephen V 816 817
99. St. Paschal I 817 824
100. Eugene II 824 827
101. Valentine 827 827
102. Gregory IV 827 844
103. Sergius II 844 847
104. St. Leo IV 847 855
105. Benedict III 855 858
106. St. Nicholas I (the Great) 858 867
107. Adrian II 867 872
108. John VIII 872 882
109. Marinus I 882 884
110. St. Adrian III 884 885
111. Stephen VI 885 891
112. Formosus 891 896
113. Boniface VI 896 896
114. Stephen VII 896 897
115. Romanus 897 897
116. Theodore II 897 897
117. John IX 898 900
118. Benedict IV 900 903
119. Leo V 903 903
120. Sergius III 904 911
121. Anastasius III 911 913
122. Lando 913 914
123. John X 914 928
124. Leo VI 928 928
125. Stephen VIII 929 931
126. John XI 931 935
127. Leo VII 936 939
128. Stephen IX 939 942
129. Marinus II 942 46
130. Agapetus II 946 955
131. John XII 955 963
132. Leo VIII 963 964
133. Benedict V 964 964
134. John XIII 965 972
135. Benedict VI 973 974
136. Benedict VII 974 983
137. John XIV 983 984
138. John XV 985 996
139. Gregory V 996 999
140. Sylvester II 999 1003
141. John XVII 1003 1003
142. John XVIII 1003 1009
143. Sergius IV 1009 1012
144. Benedict VIII 1012 1024
145. John XIX 1024 1032
146. Benedict IX 1032 1045
147. Sylvester III 1045 1045
148. Benedict IX 1045 1045
149. Gregory VI 1045 1046
150. Clement II 1046 1047
151. Benedict IX 1047 1048
152. Damasus II 1048 1048
153. St. Leo IX 1049 1054
154. Victor II 1055 1057
155. Stephen X 1057 1058
156. Nicholas II 1058 1061
157. Alexander II 1061 1073
158. St. Gregory VII 1073 1085
159. Blessed Victor III 1086 1087
160. Blessed Urban II 1088 1099
161. Paschal II 1099 1118
162. Gelasius II 1118 1119
163. Callistus II 1119 1124
164. Honorius II 1124 1130
165. Innocent II 1130 1143
166. Celestine II 1143 1144
167. Lucius II 1144 1145
168. Blessed Eugene III 1145 1153
169. Anastasius IV 1153 1154
170. Adrian IV 1154 1159
171. Alexander III 1159 1181
172. Lucius III 1181 1185
173. Urban III 1185 1187
174. Gregory VIII 1187 1187
175. Clement III 1187 1191
176. Celestine III 1191 1198
177. Innocent III 1198 1216
178. Honorius III 1216 1227
179. Gregory IX 1227 1241
180. Celestine IV 1241 1241
181. Innocent IV 1243 1254
182. Alexander IV 1254 1261
183. Urban IV 1261 1264
184. Clement IV 1265 1268
185. Blessed Gregory X 1271 1276
186. Blessed Innocent V 1276 1276
187. Adrian V 1276 1276
188. John XXI 1276 1277
189. Nicholas III 1277 1280
190. Martin IV 1281 1285
191. Honorius IV 1285 1287
192. Nicholas IV 1288 1292
193. St. Celestine V 1294 1294
194. Boniface VIII 1294 1303
195. Blessed Benedict XI 1303 1304
196. Clement V 1305 1314
197. John XXII 1316 1334
198. Benedict XII 1334 1342
199. Clement VI 1342 1352
200. Innocent VI 1352 1362
201. Blessed Urban V 1362 1370
202. Gregory XI 1370 1378
203. Urban VI 1378 1389
204. Boniface IX 1389 1404
205. Innocent VII 1406 1406
206. Gregory XII 1406 1415
207. Martin V 1417 1431
208. Eugene IV 1431 1447
209. Nicholas V 1447 1455
210. Callistus III 1445 1458
211. Pius II 1458 1464
212. Paul II 1464 1471
213. Sixtus IV 1471 1484
214. Innocent VIII 1484 1492
215. Alexander VI 1492 1503
216. Pius III 1503 1503
217. Julius II 1503 1513
218. Leo X 1513 1521
219. Adrian VI 1522 1523
220. Clement VII 1523 1534
221. Paul III 1534 1549
222. Julius III 1550 1555
223. Marcellus II 1555 1555
224. Paul IV 1555 1559
225. Pius IV 1559 1565
226. St. Pius V 1566 1572
227. Gregory XIII 1572 1585
228. Sixtus V 1585 1590
229. Urban VII 1590 1590
230. Gregory XIV 1590 1591
231. Innocent IX 1591 1591
232. Clement VIII 1592 1605
233. Leo XI 1605 1605
234. Paul V 1605 1621
235. Gregory XV 1621 1623
236. Urban VIII (-) 1623 1644
237. Innocent X (-) 1644 1655
238. Alexander VII 1655 1667
239. Clement IX 1667 1669
240. Clement X 1670 1676
241. Blessed Innocent XI 1676 1689
242. Alexander VIII 1689 1691
243. Innocent XII 1691 1700
244. Clement XI 1700 1721
245. Innocent XIII 1721 1724
246. Benedict XIII 1724 1730
247. Clement XII 1730 1740
248. Benedict XIV 1740 1758
249. Clement XIII 1758 1769
250. Clement XIV 1769 1774
251. Pius VI 1775 1799
252. Pius VII 1800 1823
253. Leo XII 1823 1829
254. Pius VIII 1829 1830
255. Gregory XVI 1831 1846
256. Ven. Pius IX 1846 1878
257. Leo XIII 1878 1903
258. St. Pius X 1903 1914
259. Benedict XV 1914 1922
260. Pius XI 1922 1939
261. Pius XII 1939 1958
262. John XXIII 1958 1963
263. Paul VI 1963 1978
264. John Paul I 1978 1978
265. John Paul II 1978 today

 

[JeffreyLloyd]

Apostolic Succession (Fathers*)

The Authority of the Pope Part 1 (Fathers*)

The Authority of the Pope Part 2 (Fathers*)

Origins of Peter as Pope (Fathers*)

Papal Infallibility

Peter and the Papacy

Peter the Rock

Peter's Primacy (Fathers*)

Peter's Roman Residency (Fathers*)

Peter's Successors (Fathers*)

Was Peter in Rome?

 

[Brother Charlie]

...there are tons of writings that say Peter went to Rome. Where could I start? And could you show me any evidence otherwise?

 

[Perceivence]

I said the Roman Church - not the Roman Catholic Church - ie, the Church in Rome.

Thank you, isshinwhat.

Brother Charlie

...there are tons of writings that say Peter went to Rome. Where could I start? And could you show me any evidence otherwise?

Start with the earliest.

And what makes you think that I have evidence otherwise?

 

[Paul S]

I said the Roman Church - not the Roman Catholic Church - ie, the Church in Rome.

What's the difference?

 

[Perceivence]

What's the difference?

-_-

The Church in Rome is the Church that was located in Rome. The Roman Catholic Church refers to the group of churches under the authority of the Bishop of Rome (or something similar to that).

 

[Brother Charlie]

The Church in Rome is the Church that was located in Rome. The Roman Catholic Church refers to the group of churches under the authority of the Bishop of Rome (or something similar to that).

...ok, sure....

 

[Adammi]

What Percieveance means (I think) is to prove to him that Peter actually went to Rome and was the Bishop there.

~Adam

 

[Perceivence]

...ok, sure....

What?

 

[Perceivence]

So is Irenaeus' testimony the only one?

 

[Wolseley]

Clement of Alexandria

"[T]he blessed Peter, the chosen, the preeminent, the first among the disciples, for whom alone with himself the Savior paid the tribute [Matt. 17:27], quickly grasped and understood their meaning. And what does he say? ‘Behold, we have left all and have followed you’ [Matt. 19:27; Mark 10:28]" (Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 21:3–5 [A.D. 200]).

Tertullian

"For though you think that heaven is still shut up, remember that the Lord left the keys of it to Peter here, and through him to the Church, which keys everyone will carry with him if he has been questioned and made a confession [of faith]" (Antidote Against the Scorpion 10 [A.D. 211]).

"[T]he Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. . . . Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to you the keys, not to the Church; and whatever you shall have bound or you shall have loosed, not what they shall have bound or they shall have loosed" (Modesty 21:9–10 [A.D. 220]).

The Letter of Clement to James

"Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus himself, with his truthful mouth, named Peter, the first fruits of our Lord, the first of the apostles; to whom first the Father revealed the Son; whom the Christ, with good reason, blessed; the called, and elect" (Letter of Clement to James 2 [A.D. 221]).

Origen

"f we were to attend carefully to the Gospels, we should also find, in relation to those things which seem to be common to Peter . . . a great difference and a preeminence in the things [Jesus] said to Peter, compared with the second class [of apostles]. For it is no small difference that Peter received the keys not of one heaven but of more, and in order that whatsoever things he binds on earth may be bound not in one heaven but in them all, as compared with the many who bind on earth and loose on earth, so that these things are bound and loosed not in [all] the heavens, as in the case of Peter, but in one only; for they do not reach so high a stage with power as Peter to bind and loose in all the heavens" (Commentary on Matthew 13:31 [A.D. 248]).

Cyprian of Carthage

"The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ . . . On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?" (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251]).

Cyril of Jerusalem


"The Lord is loving toward men, swift to pardon but slow to punish. Let no man despair of his own salvation. Peter, the first and foremost of the apostles, denied the Lord three times before a little servant girl, but he repented and wept bitterly" (Catechetical Lectures 2:19 [A.D. 350]).

"[Simon Magus] so deceived the city of Rome that Claudius erected a statue of him. . . . While the error was extending itself, Peter and Paul arrived, a noble pair and the rulers of the Church, and they set the error aright. . . . [T]hey launched the weapon of their like-mindedness in prayer against the Magus, and struck him down to earth. It was marvelous enough, and yet no marvel at all, for Peter was there—he that carries about the keys of heaven [Matt. 16:19]" (ibid., 6:14).

"In the power of the same Holy Spirit, Peter, both the chief of the apostles and the keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, in the name of Christ healed Aeneas the paralytic at Lydda, which is now called Diospolis [Acts 9:32–34]" (ibid., 17:27).


Ephraim the Syrian

"[Jesus said:] Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on Earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples. Through you I will give drink to all peoples. Yours is that life-giving sweetness which I dispense. I have chosen you to be, as it were, the firstborn in my institution so that, as the heir, you may be executor of my treasures. I have given you the keys of my kingdom. Behold, I have given you authority over all my treasures" (Homilies 4:1 [A.D. 351]).

Ambrose of Milan

"[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church. . . .’ Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]?" (The Faith 4:5 [A.D. 379]).

Pope Damasus I

"Likewise it is decreed . . . that it ought to be announced that . . . the holy Roman Church has been placed at the forefront not by the conciliar decisions of other churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven . . . ’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the apostle, that of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like it" (Decree of Damasus 3 [A.D. 382]).

Jerome

"‘But,’ you [Jovinian] will say, ‘it was on Peter that the Church was founded’ [Matt. 16:18]. Well . . . one among the twelve is chosen to be their head in order to remove any occasion for division" (Against Jovinian 1:26 [A.D. 393]).

"Simon Peter, the son of John, from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, brother of Andrew the apostle, and himself chief of the apostles, after having been bishop of the church of Antioch and having preached to the Dispersion . . . pushed on to Rome in the second year of Claudius to overthrow Simon Magus, and held the sacerdotal chair there for twenty-five years until the last, that is the fourteenth, year of Nero. At his hands he received the crown of martyrdom being nailed to the cross with his head towards the ground and his feet raised on high, asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord" (Lives of Illustrious Men 1 [A.D. 396]).

Pope Innocent I

"In seeking the things of God . . . you have acknowledged that judgment is to be referred to us [the pope], and have shown that you know that is owed to the Apostolic See [Rome], if all of us placed in this position are to desire to follow the apostle himself [Peter] from whom the episcopate itself and the total authority of this name have emerged" (Letters 29:1 [A.D. 408]).

Augustine

"Among these [apostles] Peter alone almost everywhere deserved to represent the whole Church. Because of that representation of the Church, which only he bore, he deserved to hear ‘I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven’" (Sermons 295:2 [A.D. 411]).

"Some things are said which seem to relate especially to the apostle Peter, and yet are not clear in their meaning unless referred to the Church, which he is acknowledged to have represented in a figure on account of the primacy which he bore among the disciples. Such is ‘I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,’ and other similar passages. In the same way, Judas represents those Jews who were Christ’s enemies" (Commentary on Psalm 108 1 [A.D. 415]).

"Who is ignorant that the first of the apostles is the most blessed Peter?" (Commentary on John 56:1 [A.D. 416]).

Council of Ephesus

"Philip, presbyter and legate of [Pope Celestine I] said: ‘We offer our thanks to the holy and venerable synod, that when the writings of our holy and blessed pope had been read to you . . . you joined yourselves to the holy head also by your holy acclamations. For your blessednesses is not ignorant that the head of the whole faith, the head of the apostles, is blessed Peter the apostle’" (Acts of the Council, session 2 [A.D. 431]).

"Philip, the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See [Rome] said: ‘There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors’" (ibid., session 3).

Pope Leo I

"Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . has placed the principal charge on the blessed Peter, chief of all the apostles, and from him as from the head wishes his gifts to flow to all the body, so that anyone who dares to secede from Peter’s solid rock may understand that he has no part or lot in the divine mystery. He wished him who had been received into partnership in his undivided unity to be named what he himself was, when he said: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’ [Matt. 16:18], that the building of the eternal temple might rest on Peter’s solid rock, strengthening his Church so surely that neither could human rashness assail it nor the gates of hell prevail against it" (Letters 10:1 [A.D. 445).

"Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . established the worship belonging to the divine [Christian] religion. . . . But the Lord desired that the sacrament of this gift should pertain to all the apostles in such a way that it might be found principally in the most blessed Peter, the highest of all the apostles. And he wanted his gifts to flow into the entire body from Peter himself, as if from the head, in such a way that anyone who had dared to separate himself from the solidarity of Peter would realize that he was himself no longer a sharer in the divine mystery" (ibid., 10:2–3).

"Although bishops have a common dignity, they are not all of the same rank. Even among the most blessed apostles, though they were alike in honor, there was a certain distinction of power. All were equal in being chosen, but it was given to one to be preeminent over the others. . . . [So today through the bishops] the care of the universal Church would converge in the one See of Peter, and nothing should ever be at odds with this head" (ibid., 14:11).

 

[Carrye]

Ignatius of Antioch

"Not as Peter and Paul did, do I command you [Romans]. They were apostles, and I am a convict" (Letter to the Romans 4:3 [A.D. 110]).

Dionysius of Corinth

"You [Pope Soter] have also, by your very admonition, brought together the planting that was made by Peter and Paul at Rome and at Corinth; for both of them alike planted in our Corinth and taught us; and both alike, teaching similarly in Italy, suffered martyrdom at the same time" (Letter to Pope Soter [A.D. 170], in Eusebius, History of the Church 2:25:8).

Irenaeus

"Matthew also issued among the Hebrews a written Gospel in their own language, while Peter and Paul were evangelizing in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church" (Against Heresies, 3, 1:1 [A.D. 189]).

"But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the succession of all the churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the succession of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles. With that church [of Rome], because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world, and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition" (ibid., 3, 3, 2).

"The blessed apostles [Peter and Paul], having founded and built up the church [of Rome], they handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus. Paul makes mention of this Linus in the letter to Timothy [2 Tim. 4:21]. To him succeeded Anacletus, and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was chosen for the episcopate. He had seen the blessed apostles and was acquainted with them. It might be said that he still heard the echoes of the preaching of the apostles and had their traditions before his eyes. And not only he, for there were many still remaining who had been instructed by the apostles. In the time of Clement, no small dissension having arisen among the brethren in Corinth, the church in Rome sent a very strong letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace and renewing their faith. ... To this Clement, Evaristus succeeded . . . and now, in the twelfth place after the apostles, the lot of the episcopate [of Rome] has fallen to Eleutherius. In this order, and by the teaching of the apostles handed down in the Church, the preaching of the truth has come down to us" (ibid., 3, 3, 3).

Gaius

"It is recorded that Paul was beheaded in Rome itself, and Peter, likewise, was crucified, during the reign [of the Emperor Nero]. The account is confirmed by the names of Peter and Paul over the cemeteries there, which remain to the present time. And it is confirmed also by a stalwart man of the Church, Gaius by name, who lived in the time of Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome. This Gaius, in a written disputation with Proclus, the leader of the sect of Cataphrygians, says this of the places in which the remains of the aforementioned apostles were deposited: ‘I can point out the trophies of the apostles. For if you are willing to go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who founded this Church’" (Disputation with Proclus [A.D. 198] in Eusebius, Church History 2:25:5).

Clement of Alexandria

"The circumstances which occasioned . . . [the writing] of Mark were these: When Peter preached the Word publicly at Rome and declared the gospel by the Spirit, many who were present requested that Mark, who had been a long time his follower and who remembered his sayings, should write down what had been proclaimed" (Sketches [A.D. 200], in a fragment from Eusebius, History of the Church, 6, 14:1).

Tertullian

"But if you are near Italy, you have Rome, where authority is at hand for us too. What a happy church that is, on which the apostles poured out their whole doctrine with their blood; where Peter had a passion like that of the Lord, where Paul was crowned with the death of John [the Baptist, by being beheaded]" (Demurrer Against the Heretics 36 [A.D. 200]).

"[T]his is the way in which the apostolic churches transmit their lists: like the church of the Smyrneans, which records that Polycarp was placed there by John, like the church of the Romans, where Clement was ordained by Peter" (ibid., 32:2).

"Let us see what milk the Corinthians drained from Paul; against what standard the Galatians were measured for correction; what the Philippians, Thessalonians, and Ephesians read; what even the nearby Romans sound forth, to whom both Peter and Paul bequeathed the gospel and even sealed it with their blood" (Against Marcion 4, 5:1 [A.D. 210]).

The Little Labyrinth

"Victor . . . was the thirteenth bishop of Rome from Peter" (The Little Labyrinth [A.D. 211], in Eusebius, Church History 5:28:3).

The Poem Against the Marcionites

"In this chair in which he himself had sat, Peter in mighty Rome commanded Linus, the first elected, to sit down. After him, Cletus too accepted the flock of the fold. As his successor, Anacletus was elected by lot. Clement follows him, well-known to apostolic men. After him Evaristus ruled the flock without crime. Alexander, sixth in succession, commends the fold to Sixtus. After his illustrious times were completed, he passed it on to Telesphorus. He was excellent, a faithful martyr . . . " (Poem Against the Marcionites 276–284 [A.D. 267]).

Eusebius of Caesarea

"[In the second] year of the two hundredth and fifth Olympiad [A.D. 42]: The apostle Peter, after he has established the church in Antioch, is sent to Rome, where he remains as a bishop of that city, preaching the gospel for twenty-five years" (The Chronicle [A.D. 303]).

Peter of Alexandria

"Peter, the first chosen of the apostles, having been apprehended often and thrown into prison and treated with ignominy, at last was crucified in Rome" (Penance, canon 9 [A.D. 306]).

Lactantius

"When Nero was already reigning, Peter came to Rome, where, in virtue of the performance of certain miracles which he worked . . . he converted many to righteousness and established a firm and steadfast temple to God. When this fact was reported to Nero . . . he sprang to the task of tearing down the heavenly temple and of destroying righteousness. It was he that first persecuted the servants of God. Peter he fixed to a cross, and Paul he slew" (The Deaths of the Persecutors 2:5 [A.D. 318]).

Cyril of Jerusalem

"[Simon Magus] so deceived the city of Rome that Claudius erected a statue of him. . . .While the error was extending itself, Peter and Paul arrived, a noble pair and the rulers of the Church, and they set the error aright. . . . [T]hey launched the weapon of their like-mindedness in prayer against the Magus, and struck him down to earth. It was marvelous enough, and yet no marvel at all, for Peter was there—he that carries about the keys of heaven. And it was nothing to marvel at, for Paul was there—he that was caught up into the third heaven" (Catechetical Lectures 6:14 [A.D. 350]).

Optatus

"You cannot deny that you are aware that in the city of Rome the episcopal chair was given first to Peter; the chair in which Peter sat, the same who was head—that is why he is also called Cephas [‘Rock’]—of all the apostles; the one chair in which unity is maintained by all" (The Schism of the Donatists 2:2 [A.D. 367]).

Epiphanius of Salamis

"At Rome the first apostles and bishops were Peter and Paul, then Linus, then Cletus, then Clement, the contemporary of Peter and Paul" (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 27:6 [A.D. 375]).

Pope Damasus I

"Likewise it is decreed: . . . [W]e have considered that it ought to be announced that although all the Catholic churches spread abroad through the world comprise one bridal chamber of Christ, nevertheless, the holy Roman Church has been placed at the forefront not by the conciliar decisions of other churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall have bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall have loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the apostle, that of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like it.

"In addition to this, there is also the companionship of the vessel of election, the most blessed apostle Paul, who contended and was crowned with a glorious death along with Peter in the city of Rome in the time of Caesar Nero. . . . They equally consecrated the above-mentioned holy Roman Church to Christ the Lord; and by their own presence and by their venerable triumph they set it at the forefront over the others of all the cities of the whole world.

"The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the apostle, that of the Roman Church, which has neither stain nor blemish nor anything like it. The second see, however, is that at Alexandria, consecrated in behalf of blessed Peter by Mark, his disciple and an evangelist, who was sent to Egypt by the apostle Peter, where he preached the word of truth and finished his glorious martyrdom. The third honorable see, indeed, is that at Antioch, which belonged to the most blessed apostle Peter, where first he dwelt before he came to Rome and where the name Christians was first applied, as to a new people" (Decree of Damasus 3 [A.D. 382]).

Jerome

"Simon Peter, the son of John, from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, brother of Andrew the apostle, and himself chief of the apostles, after having been bishop of the church of Antioch and having preached to the Dispersion . . . pushed on to Rome in the second year of Claudius to overthrow Simon Magus, and held the sacerdotal chair there for twenty-five years until the last, that is the fourteenth, year of Nero. At his hands he received the crown of martyrdom being nailed to the cross with his head towards the ground and his feet raised on high, asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord" (Lives of Illustrious Men 1 [A.D. 396]).

Augustine

"If all men throughout the world were such as you most vainly accuse them of having been, what has the chair of the Roman church done to you, in which Peter sat, and in which Anastasius sits today?" (Against the Letters of Petilani 2:118 [A.D. 402]).

Catholic Answers

 

[Michelina]

Peter's Tomb is beneath the High Altar of St Peter's. The archeological and other evidence for this:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13374a.htm

 

[Spence06]

You also may want to look at our Orthodox Brethren opinion on the matter. Though they disagree with us on the Primacy issue details, they still believe that Peter is the "First Amoung Equals". But that he holds weight, but we believe Jesus gave him more weight.

So looking at historical beliefs of other groups may be useful.

Also,


St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 424): He suffers him no longer to be called Simon, exercising authority and rule over him already having become His own. By a title suitable to the thing, He changed his name into Peter, from the word 'petra' (rock); for on him He was afterwards to found His Church. (Cyril, T. iv. Comm. in Joan., p. 131)

 

[KennySe]

Where are the historical testimonies through the ages which say Peter was not in Rome?