Relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Church
Some of the issues between what JPII called the "two lungs" of the Church

Wasn't the Pope simply the Bishop of Rome, and therefore equal to all the other Bishops?

I recently went to lunch with a friend of mine who is an American Orthodox Christian. She explained her underderstanding of the hierarchy of the bishops. She believes that in the early Church, all bishops were equal in power, and that Rome gained primacy only because it was a bigger and more imposing church, not because Peter was given that role by Jesus. She said that the early Church never gave primacy to Rome. On the other extreme, there are some Roman Catholics who think of the Pope as a kind of "chief executive officer " of a company, as if all the other bishops "work for him." They think of Rome as kind of a "corporate headquarters" and all the other dioceses are just "branch offices." Although, this is not the contemporary magisterial position

The truth falls somewhere between those two extremes. The Pope, is the bishop of Rome. He is not "above" the other bishops, but is just a bishop like all the others. However, while Peter was just one of the Apostles, he was also the Apostle who held the primacy which was the Christ-given leadership among them. (Mt 16:18) As the successor of Peter, Catholics believe that the Bishop (Pope) of Rome holds same role among his brother bishops. He is like the chairman of a board of directors. Another analogy is that he is like the captain of a basketball team. While he is just a player like all the others, he is also the player with the additional responsibilty of holding the team together (i.e., Church unity) and maintaining its game plays (i.e., Church orthodoxy).

In normal circumstances, a bishop of a given dioceses has ultimate authority within that diocese. It is only when this bishop violates Church dogma or canon law that the Pope of Rome has the responsibility to intrude into that dioceses -- that is, for the good of maintaining the universal unity of the Church. So, it's not like the Pope has to directly manage every diocese on earth. Rather, he is just there as the final court of appeal when something goes wrong and cannot be handled at the regional or local level in the Church. He is also there to lead the Church on a universal level and to manage its universal affairs -- the affairs that all dioceses share in common. Other than that, he just manages the Roman diocese.

The Scriptural and historical evidence that Peter and his successors were given primacy among the bishops is overwhelming. The Eastern Chruch recognized this, for the most part. (a timeline of Orthodox/Catholic relations is here) However, that does not mean that, at various points in history, Rome did not overstep its role. Historically, this balance between the role of "captain" and "fellow player" has been the source of much of the division between East and West. There have been times when Rome has overmanged some dioceses. On the other hand, there have been times when dioceses have overstepped their authority, sullying Dogma and/or negatively affecting the entire Universal Church, necessitating intervension by the Bishop of Rome. Pope John Paul II and our new Pope, Benedict XVI have moved to provide more autonomy to the Bishops. They have worked hard to restore goodwill. We really want to see unity with the Orthodox Church.

St. John Lateran Church is the main Church for the Diocese of Rome. So why does the Pope live at the Vatican?

St. John Lateran Basilica is the cathredral of the Roman archdiocese and so it is the Pope's real cathedral as Bishop of Rome. The Vatican (St. Peter's) is just his residence and a shrine to the Apostle Peter. Popes of Rome did not live exclusively at the Vatican until the 19th Century when the Republic of Italy was formed and the Popes lost political control of central Italy and of the city of Rome itself.

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. There is no separate bishop in charge of Rome. The Pope himself is responsible for the management shepherding of the Roman diocese (the archdiocese of Rome). He is the patriarch of the Roman Rite (that is, Roman Catholicism) and is also the successor of St. Peter. In that respect he is the head of the universal Church -- that is, the primal bishop over both Roman Catholics and non-Roman Catholics, such as the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches (e.g. the Byzantines, Maronites, Melchites, Armenians, Copts, Ethiopians, Malabar, etc. all of whom are in communion with Rome). He has auxiliary bishops to help him with his diocese while he deals with the affairs of the Universal Church.

Where did the word "Pope" come from? Were there other Popes outside of Rome?

The "Pope" is not really an office, but merely a nickname for the Bishop of Rome. St. Peter ended his days as the Bishop of Rome, and the Bishop of Rome succeeds to the ministry of St. Peter as the head of the universal Church . "Pope," is merely a nick-name from the early 300s. It comes from the Greek word "papa," that means "father" or "patriarch." It was not exclusive to the Bishop of Rome himself. Rather, in the very ancient Church, there were three regional patriarchal bishops (1) Rome, (2) Alexandria (in Egypt), and (3) Antioch (in Syria)in that order of primacy. All three of these bishops derived their authority from St. Peter and from ties of discipleship between Peter (in Rome) and his disciples Mark (in Alexandria) and Evodius (in Antioch). It was necessary to have partriarchs in different parts of the world when fast communication and transportation systems did not exist. Here's how Pope St. Damasus I describes the Tradition, writing in A.D. 382. He says:

"Although all the Catholic Churches spread abroad throughout the world comprise but one bridal chamber of Christ, nevertheless, the holy Roman church has been placed at the forefront not by the conciliar decisions of the churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, Who says: "You are Peter ...(Matt 16:18-19)." In addition to this, there is also the companionship of the vessel of election, the most blessed Apostle Paul who, along with Peter in the city of Rome in the time of Caesar Nero, 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 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 that. The second see is that of Alexandria, consecrated on behalf of the 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 see is that of Antioch, which belonged to the most blessed Peter, where first he dwelled before he came to Rome, and where the name "Christians" was first applied, as to a new people." (Decree of Damasus # 3, 382 A.D.)

So, there were three patriarchal bishops, each in charge of directly managing the churches on the three known continents ---Rome managed Europe and the West, Alexandria managed eastern Africa, and Antioch managed Asia. Yet, Rome itself held the primacy and was the final court of appeal among the three patriarchates. And, since each of these three bishops were patriarchs, all three of them were called "Popes." ...that is, the "Pope of Rome," the "Pope of Alexandria," and the "Pope of Antioch." Rome did not hold primacy because its bishop was a "pope/patriarch," but because the Bishop of Rome happened to be the actual successor of St. Peter.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is led by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Constantinople was not a patriarch in the early Church. The Byzantine Empire tried to make the bishop of Constantinople into a patriarch several times because Constantinople was the Emperor's church and the political capital of the Eastern Empire. But, Rome repeatly refused to ratify these attempts. It was only in the Middle Ages, after Alexandria and Antioch fell to the Muslims, that Rome recognized Constantinople as the ranking patriarch for the East.

Did the Eastern Orthodox Church recognize the Primacy of Rome?

The forefathers of Eastern Orthodox Church recognized the universal authority of the Pope of Rome. For example, St. Maximus the Confessor, a famous monk from Constantinople and a father of the Eastern Orthodox Church, writes ...

"How much more in the case of the clergy and church of the Romans, which from old until now presides over all the churches which are under the sun? Having surely received this canonically, as well as from councils and the apostles, as from the princes of the latter (Peter & Paul), and being numbered in their
company, she is subject to no writings or issues in synodical documents, on account of the eminence of her pontificate .....even as in all these things all are equally subject to her (the Church of Rome) according to sacerodotal law. And so when, without fear, but with all holy and becoming confidence, those ministers (the popes) are of the truly firm and immovable rock, that is of the most great and Apostolic Church of Rome." (Maximus, in J.B. Mansi, ed. Amplissima Collectio Conciliorum, vol. 10)

Likewise, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the famous Byzantine "Apostles to the Slav" (and founders of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the Balkans), writes ....

"Because of his primacy, the Pontiff of Rome is not required to attend an Ecumenical Council; but without his participation, manifested by sending some subordinates, every Ecumenical Council is as non-existant, for it is he who presides over the Council." (--Methodius ---N. Brian-Chaninov, The Russian Church (1931), 46; cited by Butler, Church and Infallibility, 210) (Upon This Rock (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1999), p. 177).

"It is not true, as this Canon states, that the holy Fathers gave the primacy to old Rome because it was the capital of the Empire; it is from on high, from divine grace, that this primacy drew its origin. Because of the intensity of his faith Peter, the first of the Apostles, was addressed in these words by our Lord Jesus Christ himself 'Peter, lovest thou me? Feed my sheep'. That is why in hierarchical order Rome holds the pre-eminent place and is the first See. That is why the leges of old Rome are eternally immovable, and that is the view of all the Churches" (Ibid)

Some modern Eastern Orthodox members are not aware of the tradition of recognizing the primacy of Rome. The Orthodox friend of mine said that Peter is not the Rock upon which Jesus built the Church. (Mat 16:18) I found this to be very similar to some of the dialogues I have had with Evangelicals so I did some tracing back to the roots of this theory. It is clear that the theory that the Peter is not the Rock is a new and has been obtained from Evangelical Christians. The Eastern Orthodox Church always acknowledged Peter as the Rock, although at various times in history they have said he does not have primacy. I have a fuller exploration of Peter as the Rock here, it includes quotes from many Church Fathers. Catholics think that it is necessary to have a "team captain" for the Bishops in order to maintain unity. We think that the absence of unanimity and agreement among many Orthodox bishops from the Greek, Russian, American backgrounds is good evidence to the wisdom of Jesus' pronouncement that Peter be the leader among equals.

Examples of Peter's leadership among the Apostles

• You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church (Mat 16:18)
• Next to Jesus, Peter is mentioned more than any other apostle in Scripture (152 times).
• He stood up and spoke on behalf of the apostles to lead in their replacement of Judas.(Mt 19:27, Acts 1:15, 2:14)
• He stood up to lead the apostles at the birth of the Church at the Pentecost (Acts 2:14)
• The disciples were referred to as Peter and the Apostles. (Acts 2:37, 5:29)
• Peter was given the authority to forgive sins before the rest of the apostles. (Mat 16:18)
• He was always named first when the apostles were listed (Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13) -- sometimes it was only "Peter and those who were with him" (Luke 9:32);
• John ran ahead of Peter to the tomb but upon arriving he stopped and did not go in. He waited and let Peter go in. (Jn 20:4)
• Jesus told Peter to "feed my lambs...tend my sheep... feed my sheep." (Jn 21:15-17) The difference between a sheep and a lamb might be significant. A lamb is a baby, a sheep is an adult. Perhaps Jesus was asking Peter to take care of both the general people (the lambs), and the apostles (sheep). Regardless of that interpretation of sheep and lambs, it is clear Jesus is asking Peter to feed and tend his flock. That is what a shepherd does. It appears to me that he is asking Peter to shepherd his Church on earth, on his behalf.

It is because of the scriptural and historical primacy of Peter over the Apostles, that Catholics believe the Bishop of Rome has primacy over the other Churches. We Catholics pray that we will be able to come into union with the Orthodox Church under the premise that Peter holds the keys to the kingdom, but that each Bishop is largely responsible for his own diocese.

Thanks to Mark Bonocore for the basis of this article.
David MacDonald

Lord Jesus, let Your prayer of unity for Christians
become a reality, in Your way, we have absolute confidence
that you can bring your people together,
we give you absolute permission to move, Amen

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