Some Protestant faiths believe almost everything the Church teaches… but they reject the authority of the Pope. They ask, “why do Catholics have a Pope and bishops?”
For Catholics, the Pope is a direct successor of the apostles. We can trace a line directly from the current Pope back through the centuries to St. Peter. Where did St. Peter get the authority to become the first Pope? That commissioning came directly from Jesus, when he said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. Whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19). In this passage, Jesus was clearly giving Peter authority over the Church on earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment