Many people wonder how the papacy — this unique and enduring office of the Pope — first began. To understand it, we must return to the time of Jesus Himself, for the roots of the papacy are not found in history books or political power, but in the words of Christ and the faith of His Apostles.
When Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:18), He did something extraordinary. He gave a fisherman from Galilee a new name and a new mission. “Peter” — Petros, meaning “rock” — became the foundation upon which the visible Church would stand. Jesus entrusted him with the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:19), a sign of authority that in Jewish tradition symbolized stewardship over the royal household.
After the Resurrection, this calling became even clearer. Three times, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” and each time commanded, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15–17). In that tender exchange by the Sea of Galilee, Peter was confirmed as the shepherd of Christ’s flock — the first visible leader of the Church on earth.
In the early years of Christianity, Peter led the Church in Jerusalem, then Antioch, and finally in Rome, where he gave his life as a martyr around the year 64 AD during Nero’s persecution. His leadership in Rome established that city as the spiritual center of the universal Church. The bishops who succeeded him in Rome continued his role as shepherds and guardians of the faith — this is how the papacy began.
The first successors of Peter, such as Saint Linus and Saint Anacletus, carried forward the same mission: to preserve the unity of believers and to safeguard the teaching of the Apostles. Over the centuries, the Bishop of Rome came to be called the Pope, from the Latin papa, meaning “father.” He was seen as the spiritual father of all Christians, entrusted with guiding the Church in love and truth.
The papacy, then, is not a human invention but a divine calling rooted in the mission Christ gave to Peter. It has endured for two thousand years — a living sign of Christ’s promise that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” His Church.
Every Pope, from Saint Peter to our time, carries the same humble task: to feed the flock of Christ. The papacy reminds us that the Church stands not on human strength, but on the enduring faithfulness of God.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
