"The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me." Luke 10:16
Please let me try to clarify some points about what we Catholics truly believe
(note: what we believe can be backed up by scripture).
Christ is the King, Mary is the Queen, the Church is the Bride of Christ and the Pope holds the position of Prime minister, Jesus himself gave saint Peter the Keys (authority) by saying:
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Before I continue and dwelve into a deeper explanation please let me also say that we Catholics believe that only Christ is saviour, the Holy Father(Pope) is not our saviour, but we truly believe in the autority of the church (unlike thousands of protestant denominations and secs that cannot fully agreed in all matters, hence why such churches keep breaking and multiplying when someone does not agreed with something), I would go further and say that my perception on behalf of us Catholics is that all forces who may fight against the authority given to the Holy Father are simply doing the work of the enemy (satan himself). I certainaly do not believe the the pope is in any away above our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Himself, the same goes for all other Catholics that I have known, however the perception by those outside the church is typical of comments taken out of context like yours.
So here is an explanation:
1-Jesus gave only to Peter the Keys of the kingdom in Matthew 16
Jesus asked his disciples "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" The disciples then offered various answers - "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." But the question that Jesus then asked was crucial: "But who do you say that I am?"
The answer provided by Simon Peter set in motion the formation of the Catholic Church by Jesus. "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." With this answer, Jesus established the Catholic Church with Simon Peter designated the first Pope.
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Many try to imply that it was Peter's faith on which Jesus established the Church. But closer examination of the words of Jesus reveal that the selection was of divine nature.
"For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." His knowledge of Jesus was not the reason for Peter's confession to the true identity but it was the fact that it had been revealed to him by God. In the words of Jesus gives Peter his new name - "The Rock". A foundation on which his Church will be built.
Many separated from the Catholic Church cling to the notion that the Church was built on the faith of Peter and not him as a man as justification for their position. Unfortunately, their understanding is incorrect.
The bible is full of references to the need for respect of authority. It is also full of references for the need for unity. In one parable Jesus is explaining how he could not be of Satanic origin (Mark 3:22), "How can Satan drive out Satan?" In this parable he points out the importance of leadership. "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." Throughout the scripture we always see - One God, One Son, One Holy Spirit, One Church.
2-Jesus' words in Matthew are a QUOTATION of the Old Testament.
Matthew 16 says:
"I will give to you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
This is a quote of Isaiah 22:22
Isaiah 22:19-22 reads:
"I will thrust you from your office (speaking of Shebna who is the Prime Minister of the kingdom) and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakin, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open."
We learn from this passage several things (which, by the way, all Protestant scholars that I know of admit these points on the Isaiah passage) ….
1) The keys are a symbol of the
authority given to the chief official – the Prime Minister.
2) The Prime Minister is a
father-figure (note: Pope is "father" (papa) in Italian)
3) The office implies dynastic
succession
The office of Prime Minister continued as long as the Kingdom of David continued. The king is still the king, but the King has his Prime Minister to help administer the Kingdom for him.
Peter was the first Prime Minister of what is commonly called the "new covenant".
In addition, there was a Prime Minister in the Old Testament days too. It was the Chair of Moses. Those who sat in the Chair of Moses were the Magisterium of the Old Testament. Jesus even mentions this in Matthew 23:2 and tells his disciples to "obey" those sitting in the Chair of Moses when they proclaim officially from that authority.
The bottom line is that any "literal" interpretation of Scripture comes to the obvious conclusion that Peter was the first Pope.
ANYONE who says otherwise is not interpreting Scripture literally and is asserting their own personal opinions and agenda into Scripture – something that Protestants consider a sin.
Here is an excellent video talking about the ECF, entitled
"10 things that marcus grobi never saw when he was a protestant"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5001018275166568920